Housing in Great Yarmouth
Are we to see a return to the policies of shipping Asylum Seekers out of the major cities and into seaside towns where B&B is significantly cheaper? If the reported policies of the coalition Government are enacted the answer is - Probably. But this time the Asylum Seekers will just be the poor and disenfranchised of our own caring 'Big Society' - victims yes, but not of other States repressive policies.
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See below what the Independent and the BBC are reporting
London 'will be as segregated as Paris' after cuts
By Oliver Wright, Whitehall Editor
Wednesday, 27 October 2010
Independent
Nick Clegg reacted with fury yesterday to accusations that ministers were "sociologically cleansing" the poor out of parts of London with planned cuts to housing benefit payments.
A visibly angry Deputy Prime Minister told Chris Bryant, Labour's shadow minister for constitutional reform, that his comments were "outrageous" and "deeply offensive to people who have witnessed ethnic cleansing".
Last night Mr Bryant said he stood by his remarks on the Coalition's plans to cap housing benefit at around £400 a week for a house rented in the private sector. Critics say this will force up to 80,000 families out of London and other major metropolitan areas because they will no longer be able to afford their homes. "Personally I prefer to live in cities which are not ghettos," he added.
This from the BBC
Downing Street denies housing benefit climbdown
Iain Duncan Smith Iain Duncan Smith has reportedly met London Mayor Boris Johnson
Downing Street has denied the government is set to revise its plans to cap housing benefit payments.
It comes after reports Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith was ready to rethink the policy after pressure from MPs.
The proposed cap could force people out of cities where rent is higher, some MPs and charities have argued.
A Downing Street spokeswoman said: "We are absolutely committed to the changes we announced."
Asked if there was any flexibility on limiting payments to £400 on a four-bedroomed rented house, she said: "No, we are not planning to concede on that."
'Hardship and distress'
She said the government would listen to concerns raised by MPs but was committed to the policy.
Lib Dem backbencher Tim Farron indicated to the BBC that MPs plan to force a Commons vote on the issue, following reports that the government was planning to make the changes without primary legislation.
Some Lib Dem and Conservative MPs are understood to be seeking meetings with Mr Duncan Smith to discuss their concerns.
One of the Lib Dem rebels, Torbay MP Adrian Sanders, said he was confident of gaining concessions from the work and pensions department.
He said the changes were not just unfair on those living in cities, as London MPs have claimed, but also on people like his constituents who were in receipt of Local Housing Allowance, a benefit based on average rents in the local area which is facing the axe as part of the planned changes.
He said the reforms would result in people being evicted because they were not able to pay their rent, which would lead to them claiming housing benefit at a higher rate.
"The whole thing is completely and utterly unrealistic and it is going to cause hardship and distress," Mr Sanders told the BBC News website.
The planned reforms would also remove the "safety net" for single people aged under 35 who were sufferering from mental illness, added Mr Sanders, as it would force them to give up their flats and houses for shared accomodation.
Sources told the BBC Mr Duncan Smith was listening to MPs, especially those in and around London who had raised issues, and had already met the capital's mayor Boris Johnson.
'Draconian'
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Simon Hughes has held talks with his party leader, Nick Clegg, over the plans.
Mr Hughes has described them as "draconian" and vowed to try to block them in Parliament.
Nick Clegg: "To refer to 'cleansing' would be deeply offensive."
In the Commons, Mr Clegg denied that large cities would be "cleansed" of poor people following cuts to housing benefits.
He said the suggestion, made by Labour's Chris Bryant, was "deeply offensive to people who have witnessed ethnic cleansing".
Other critics of the plans to cap benefits say they would penalise the long-term unemployed genuinely seeking work.
The changes were announced in the government's Spending Review last week.
It also said spending on new social housing would be cut by 50% - but hoped to make up the shortfall by allowing housing associations to charge close to the full market rate for rent.
COALITION HOUSING PLANS
* A commitment to build an extra 150,000 social homes in this parliament
* Ending the right to a council house for life with new shorter tenancies for families on waiting lists
* Higher social rents which could be 80% of the market rent
* A cap on housing benefit of around £400 a week for a house rented in the private sector
* A 10% cut in housing benefit for anyone on jobseeker's allowance for more than a year
* From April 2012 the age threshold for the shared room rate will rise from 25 to 35
