LABOUR'S commitment to a house building renaissance is essential to tackle the country's housing crisis.
The government’s ‘Help to Buy’ scheme and its 'Builders Finance Fund' do not go far enough, and Help to Buy could actually make matters worse.
Although the Builders Finance Fund is supposed improve access to finance for small house builders, the minimum threshold of 15 units will exclude many small and micro-house builders.
The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) has pointed out that most of its members build schemes of fewer than 15 new homes. The FMB’s chief executive says it is “disappointing” that this fund will not be open to micro-house builders.
He said: “If Ministers want to see a meaningful spike in SME house building, the 15 to 250 unit is wrong.
Wednesday 30 April 2014
Friday 11 April 2014
LET’S EARN OUR WAY OUT OF THE COST-OF-LIVING CRISIS THROUGH HIGH QUALITY, HIGHLY PAID JOBS
The cost-of-living crisis has been going on for far too long, for far too many people in Derby. Youth unemployment is all too commonplace, public service jobs have been slashed and the pernicious attacks on Derby's poorest communities has led to a surge in demand for foodbanks in the city
Every time I hold an advice surgery and even when I am out shopping people tell me how they are struggling and that things are getting harder, not easier for them. The prices of essentials such as food, clothes and heating are rising much faster than wages thanks to the slowest economic recovery in over a century.
That is why the government’s talk of recovery rings hollow for local people in Derby who are still struggling with the cost of living crisis. The workers, pensioners and unemployed people I speak to know that one set of figures on an economist’s spreadsheet isn’t going to help them pay their bills.
This is the nature of the economic recovery under this dreadful Tory-Lib Dem government: tax cuts for millionaires while people on lower and middle incomes get left behind.
The government’s dismissal of the cost of living crisis demonstrates how out of touch it is with the reality facing people in places like Derby. The government can’t deal with the long-term challenges we face because it’s committed to a race to the bottom built on low pay, low skills, low prospects and low productivity.
Since David Cameron became Prime Minister, there has been a surge in the number of insecure jobs, with the number of people on zero hours contracts tripling since 2010. And too many of these jobs are low paid, with employment growing twice as fast in low paid sectors as in higher paid sectors.
A hundred years ago today Keir Hardie made his "Sunshine of Socialism" speech in which he referred to the accpeted view of the Conservatives and Liberals of his era who thought it "an offence against laws of nature and ruinous to the State for public authorities to provide food for starving children, or independent aid for the aged poor. Even safety regulations in mines and factories were taboo. They interfered with the ‘freedom of the individual’. As for such proposals as an eight-hour day, a minimum wage, the right to work, and municipal houses, any serious mention of such classed a man as a fool."
Keir Hardy described these views as "cruel, heartless dogmas." The incredibly sad fact is that these selfsame cruel, heartless dogmas are the mainstream opinion in the modern day Tory and Lib Dem parties.
As Keir Hardy identified 100 years ago, the way to make a real difference in people’s lives is to make sure the economy works for working people. That begins by creating decent, secure, well-paid jobs so we can all benefit from the recovery.
The next Labour government will build a highly skilled, higher wage economy. This will mean more jobs in skilled construction trades, better quality jobs in health and caring professions and more growth in the technology sector.
But this can’t be just imposed from Westminster – real change needs local people to make the difference and create the jobs we need. We will back city and county regions to become engines of growth so they can develop their own economic strategies, clearly focused on the creation of well-paid jobs for local people.
The cost of living crisis is far from over for people on lower and middle incomes. Too many people have been locked out of the economic recovery and are unlikely to feel the benefits under this appalling Tory-Lib Dem government. By creating more high-quality, well paid jobs Labour will ensure that we all benefit from our future economic prosperity.
Every time I hold an advice surgery and even when I am out shopping people tell me how they are struggling and that things are getting harder, not easier for them. The prices of essentials such as food, clothes and heating are rising much faster than wages thanks to the slowest economic recovery in over a century.
That is why the government’s talk of recovery rings hollow for local people in Derby who are still struggling with the cost of living crisis. The workers, pensioners and unemployed people I speak to know that one set of figures on an economist’s spreadsheet isn’t going to help them pay their bills.
This is the nature of the economic recovery under this dreadful Tory-Lib Dem government: tax cuts for millionaires while people on lower and middle incomes get left behind.
The government’s dismissal of the cost of living crisis demonstrates how out of touch it is with the reality facing people in places like Derby. The government can’t deal with the long-term challenges we face because it’s committed to a race to the bottom built on low pay, low skills, low prospects and low productivity.
Since David Cameron became Prime Minister, there has been a surge in the number of insecure jobs, with the number of people on zero hours contracts tripling since 2010. And too many of these jobs are low paid, with employment growing twice as fast in low paid sectors as in higher paid sectors.
A hundred years ago today Keir Hardie made his "Sunshine of Socialism" speech in which he referred to the accpeted view of the Conservatives and Liberals of his era who thought it "an offence against laws of nature and ruinous to the State for public authorities to provide food for starving children, or independent aid for the aged poor. Even safety regulations in mines and factories were taboo. They interfered with the ‘freedom of the individual’. As for such proposals as an eight-hour day, a minimum wage, the right to work, and municipal houses, any serious mention of such classed a man as a fool."
Keir Hardy described these views as "cruel, heartless dogmas." The incredibly sad fact is that these selfsame cruel, heartless dogmas are the mainstream opinion in the modern day Tory and Lib Dem parties.
As Keir Hardy identified 100 years ago, the way to make a real difference in people’s lives is to make sure the economy works for working people. That begins by creating decent, secure, well-paid jobs so we can all benefit from the recovery.
The next Labour government will build a highly skilled, higher wage economy. This will mean more jobs in skilled construction trades, better quality jobs in health and caring professions and more growth in the technology sector.
But this can’t be just imposed from Westminster – real change needs local people to make the difference and create the jobs we need. We will back city and county regions to become engines of growth so they can develop their own economic strategies, clearly focused on the creation of well-paid jobs for local people.
The cost of living crisis is far from over for people on lower and middle incomes. Too many people have been locked out of the economic recovery and are unlikely to feel the benefits under this appalling Tory-Lib Dem government. By creating more high-quality, well paid jobs Labour will ensure that we all benefit from our future economic prosperity.
Wednesday 9 April 2014
DEVOLVING POWER TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT IS GOOD FOR DEMOCRACY AND GOOD FOR THE ECONOMY
Ed Miliband made an important speech yesterday about devolution of power to local government. It was a bold speech and long overdue. Devolving power to local councils is something for which I have been campaigning for over 25 years.
The centralising tendency of both parties over the last 100 years got completely out of hand when Margaret Thatcher’s Tory government came to power in 1979. Our period in office from 1997 to 2010 did little to reverse that.
It is therefore excellent news that Ed has set out Labour’s intentions should we win the election next year. I have just come back from Lyon, which I was visiting with the CLG Select Committee as part of our enquiry into fiscal devolution. I was incredibly impressed by what they have archived and the scale of their ambition.
France is itself going through a transition from what they consider to be an over centralised state to greater autonomy at a local level. However, under the pre-existing arrangements, French local authorities were able to raise a far bigger proportion of their budget without recourse to their government. It is clear that the French value their public services and that government trusts locally elected representatives to make decisions on behalf of their electorate without meddling.
This is something we need to learn in England and Ed’s speech sets out an alternative vision that will see Labour will introduce the biggest devolution of power to English cities in the last century. We need our cities and towns to be engines of growth, so that we can create well paid jobs and tackle the cost-of-living crisis. At least £20billion will be devolved from Whitehall over the Parliament.
It will mean stronger local democracy, more and better economic growth and jobs, and public services that better meet the needs of local people.
If we also restructure local government to remove the two tier structure, that still pertains in many counties, we could free up valuable resources. This would also have the additional benefit of creating a system of local government that it is more easily understood by the public.
Our Victorian forebears built our cities, including their banks, parks, libraries, factories, and town halls. They were the engines of our industrial revolution, sources of our prosperity, and monuments to patriotic pride.
When the CLG Select Committee reports on its enquiry into fiscal devolution, it will add another useful dimension to the debate about tackling our overly centralised state, which is no longer fit for purpose – if it ever was!
The centralising tendency of both parties over the last 100 years got completely out of hand when Margaret Thatcher’s Tory government came to power in 1979. Our period in office from 1997 to 2010 did little to reverse that.
It is therefore excellent news that Ed has set out Labour’s intentions should we win the election next year. I have just come back from Lyon, which I was visiting with the CLG Select Committee as part of our enquiry into fiscal devolution. I was incredibly impressed by what they have archived and the scale of their ambition.
France is itself going through a transition from what they consider to be an over centralised state to greater autonomy at a local level. However, under the pre-existing arrangements, French local authorities were able to raise a far bigger proportion of their budget without recourse to their government. It is clear that the French value their public services and that government trusts locally elected representatives to make decisions on behalf of their electorate without meddling.
This is something we need to learn in England and Ed’s speech sets out an alternative vision that will see Labour will introduce the biggest devolution of power to English cities in the last century. We need our cities and towns to be engines of growth, so that we can create well paid jobs and tackle the cost-of-living crisis. At least £20billion will be devolved from Whitehall over the Parliament.
It will mean stronger local democracy, more and better economic growth and jobs, and public services that better meet the needs of local people.
If we also restructure local government to remove the two tier structure, that still pertains in many counties, we could free up valuable resources. This would also have the additional benefit of creating a system of local government that it is more easily understood by the public.
Our Victorian forebears built our cities, including their banks, parks, libraries, factories, and town halls. They were the engines of our industrial revolution, sources of our prosperity, and monuments to patriotic pride.
When the CLG Select Committee reports on its enquiry into fiscal devolution, it will add another useful dimension to the debate about tackling our overly centralised state, which is no longer fit for purpose – if it ever was!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
