Merseyside Anti-Bedroom Tax Anti-Oppression Statement

This motion was unanimously passed by Merseyside Anti-Bedroom Tax Federation on Saturday 18th of May:

 

Introduction 

 

The bedroom tax is an attack on the working class and affects people of all races, 

nationalities, genders and sexualities. In order to prevent people of colour (PoC), migrants, 

women, LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) and people with disabilities 

(sensory, mental & physical) from being excluded, we cannot allow far right organisations 

like the EDL, BNP and the National Front, who act to threaten and discriminate against 

people on the basis of race, nationality, gender and sexuality, to gain a foothold in the 

movement 

 

Reasoning and evidence 

 

Far right organisations pose a real threat to the groups that they discriminate against. They 

seek to control the streets through violence and their involvement in demonstrations and 

meetings risks creating a hostile environment for PoC, LGBTQ people and women. 

 

Far right organisations also have a history of attacking trade unionists and left wingers, 

including some who have been involved in organising against the bedroom tax since the end 

of last year when the local campaign began 

 

Therefore: 

 

As a federation, we will not associate with racist, sexist, homophobic or otherwise 

oppressive organisations and/or their members 

 

Racist, sexist, homophobic organisations and/or their members are not welcome at 

meetings, demonstrations or other events that the federation or its member groups 

have organised. 

 

The federation will not support or promote events or local groups that involve 

racist, sexist and homophobic organisations.

 

Merseyside Anti-Bedroom Tax Federation Gets Organised

Merseyside anti-bedroom tax groups on the march

The following is a repost from the Combat the Bedroom Tax blog:

It’s been a tense slog but after months of meetings and discussion: today, anti-bedroom tax groups across Merseyside met to conclusively set in place the Merseyside Anti-Bedroom Tax Federation.

The federation is run by the members of local groups through a meeting of local group-mandated, recallable delegates. Delegate meetings are open, but only group-mandated delegates can vote. A one group one vote system is in place. Organisations (trade unions, etc) are encouraged to affiliate and participate with/within their local anti-bedroom tax group.

Federation delegates elected recallable officers to the following roles:

Chair – Celia Ralph (Dingle Combat the Bedroom Tax)

Secretary – Juliet Edgar (ReClaim Anti-Bedroom Tax Group)

Treasurer – Andrea Wall (Halton Against the Bedroom Tax)

Press Officer – (Paul Jones, Dingle Combat the Bedroom Tax; Paul Cooke: ReClaim Anti-Bedroom Tax Group)

On attempts to divide working class people:

"The Federation stands in solidarity with all those fighting the cuts to the welfare state, and against those who wish to divide us. We will brook no such attempts, on the grounds of race, religion, gender, status, or any other spurious grounds [to divide the working class]"

On this basis, the Merseyside Anti-Bedroom Tax Federation have adopted the following anti-oppression statement:

"The bedroom tax is an attack on the working class and affects people of all races, nationalities, genders and sexualities. In order to prevent people of colour (PoC), migrants, women, LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) and people with disabilities (sensory, mental & physical) from being excluded, we cannot allow far right organisations like the EDL, BNP and the National Front, who act to threaten and discriminate against people on the basis of race, nationality, gender and sexuality, to gain a foothold in the movement.

• As a federation, we will not associate with racist, sexist, homophobic or otherwise oppressive organisations and/or their members 

• Racist, sexist, homophobic organisations and/or their members are not welcome at meetings, demonstrations or other events that the federation or its member groups have organised. 

• The federation will not support or promote events or local groups that involve racist, sexist and homophobic organisations."

On fighting the bedroom tax:

"The federation will fight these iniquitous cuts, starting with the bedroom tax, by any means necessary. This may include a non-payment campaign and direct actions: it is better to break the law than to break the poor."

(The above is a composite of the Merseyside Anti-Bedroom Tax Federation founding motion & anti-oppression statement. Fully amended copies of the motion will be made available during the week.)
 
The fight against the bedroom tax reaches a crucial stage over the next few months, as a bedroom tax eviction battle looms on Merseyside. With a federation in place and with continuing efforts to strengthen the movement, we've just taken a level-up in a rapidly escalating class war.

Next federation delegate meeting is Sat 1st of June.

combatbedroomtax@gmail.com

Bedroom Tax Eviction Battles Loom Ahead

No apologies to Inside Housing for the use of their disgusting image

As I've reported numerous times now, the Bedroom Tax is the big battleground in Merseyside activism so far this year, with neighbourhood groups being formed all over the region, and a federation of those groups was founded last weekend. So far the appeals process has been a large part of most groups' work, but there is evidence that battles against evictions may have to become the primary focus in the months ahead.

The appeals tactic has been used for a couple of reasons. Firstly, a number of bedroom tax activists - whether directly affected or not - have found it a good 'in' with people on the doorstep. You go round someone's house, you ask if they are affected by the bedroom tax, and if they say yes, you hand them an appeal form. You've given them something, so they are willing to go on your database if you have one. Secondly, some - most prominently housing law expert Joe Halewood - have promoted the idea that a vast number of appeal claims could potentially 'crash the system' by forcing councils to pay hundreds of pounds per case.

There's certainly a lot to be said for this strategy, and I continue to promote it. A mass filling in of forms is a type of mass action - albeit one where the capitalist state firmly in charge of things. And for the most part, people directly affected by the bedroom tax aren't yet that interested in how their personal struggle fits into ideas of class struggle - they just want to be rid of a vicious attack on their living standards. So 'what works' is most important. But what if the system doesn't crash?

Two big articles in this week's Inside Housing give us a clue. According to the first, "Tenants fail to pay the bedroom tax":

"Liverpool-based Riverside Group said around half of its 6,193 affected households receiving full housing benefit have not paid anything at all to cover the shortfall, while a quarter contributed something but did not pay their rent in full. Just one in four affected tenants paid the full amount."

If this figure holds more or less true for Liverpool alone, then there are around eight thousand households no longer paying full rent in the area. We must reach all of these, so that we can build for what seems to be around the corner. So far we can only be in contact with a fraction.

Inside Housing's second article, "Weapon of mass eviction", reports that: "It’s not something they shout about much but social landlords filed 96,742 possession claims in the county courts last year (that’s 265 every day stat fans)." With the government's welfare cuts hitting the poorest and most vulnerable:

"A snap survey of housing associations by Inside Housing at the end of March certainly indicates they are preparing to change their approach. It found that 23 out of 37 respondents now plan to use ground 8 [of the 1988 Housing Act] to evict tenants who rack up arrears, with just 11 ruling it out. First Choice Homes and Helena Partnerships were among associations which said they were in the process of amending tenancy agreements to include use of ground 8."

Inside Housing explains:

"Ground 8 is the big Kahuna of eviction threats simply because it is a mandatory ground, which removes the ability of a court to exercise any discretion based on the circumstances of the case. The main requirement is that an assured tenant has arrears of at least eight weeks at the time the notice is served and at the time of proceedings."

In other words, for all that housing association executives are sometimes prepared to say they consider the bedroom tax "unfair", or 'campaign against it' when they are Labour councillors, they are worried that the court system may be too compassionate, and refuse to throw thousands of people on the streets, or on the ever more stretched mercy of local councils.

The bedroom tax can be defeated, but the resistance must prepare for every eventuality. It seems our class enemies are doing just that.

Merseyside Anti-Bedroom Tax Federation Formed

Merseyside has already seen a few large demos over the bedroom tax

At the end of the first week in April, the first Merseyside anti-bedroom tax conference was held at the Unite building on Islington in Liverpool city centre. The mood at that event was buoyant and confident, with people discussing various strategies and listening to talks given by invited speakers. At the end of that meeting a proposal for a Merseyside-wide federation was put forward, with the aim of better coordinating certain collective activities and most importantly direct actions.

At the end of my article on the events of that day, I reported that "a federal motion was put forward, which will debated in local groups over the next couple of weeks." Those two weeks turned into three and then five, as a total communication breakdown between the ever-growing number of local groups meant that not only did many not see the federal motion until this week, but some neighbourhood collectives do not seem to be in contact with any others at all.

While work on anti-bedroom tax campaigns continued on a neighbourhood basis, some felt a frustration that we appeared no closer to the long-discussed phone tree, and other practical measures which will become important as time goes on. In groups with only a handful of regular activists, a creeping sense of isolation grew, and some doubted stories told by those who had been in contact with activists from other communities.

We are building a new movement. This will inevitably be an uneven process, and it's still stunning that we've got as far as we have in four short months. But we can do better with greater organisation, and we will need to if we are to overcome the challenges coming our way. The problems confirmed - rather than weakened - the need for a highly organised federation. In that spirit, yesterday's much-delayed second Merseyside-wide meeting unanimously agreed that:

"[...] we will set up a Merseyside Federation of anti-Bedroom Tax groups. This Federation stands in solidarity with all those fighting the cuts in the welfare state, and against those who wish to divide us. We will brook no such attempts, on the grounds of race, religion, gender, status, or any other spurious grounds. The Federation will stand against all such cuts - not just the Bedroom Tax."

A few amendments to the original motion were debated, and it was agreed that each local group would send two delegates to each federal meeting, with one vote per group. Everyone agreed that it would be preferable if people currently directly affected by the bedroom tax could be delegated, but a proposal for this to be made mandatory fell on practical and pro-local autonomy grounds. The idea of trade unions being asked to send delegates was also rejected, with the overwhelming majority feeling that the bedroom tax was primarily a community issue rather than a workplace one, and that any trade unionists offering their skills would be more than welcome at their neighbourhood meetings.

Arrangements are being made for the first full federation meeting, at which the formation of an organising committee will be considered and an anti-oppression motion will be proposed.

Brighton Bin Workers Wildcat Against Pay Cuts

Striking workers occupied their canteen for two days

Bin workers in Brighton and Hove have taken two days of unofficial, 'wildcat' strike action after the city's Green-led council announced it would be imposing a £4,000 per year pay cut on them. This afternoon, the workers voted to return on a 'work to rule' basis tomorrow, pending further developments.

On Tuesday, Brighton & Hove council revealed sweeping cuts to the pay and allowances of some staff. While it is being claimed that the majority will not lose out, two hundred and sixty refuse and recycling staff at the Hollingdean depot are set to lose multiple thousands.

The wildcat began at 7am on Wednesday, with staff launching an occupation of the depot canteen. No vehicles left the depot, leaving bank holiday bins unemptied. The workers demanded a discussion with council executive Penny Thompson and council Jason Kitcat before "even considering working".

On Thursday, workers voted to continue their strike and occupation, and decided to hold a protest rally outside the town hall in the afternoon. With Kitcat coming under pressure from internal party rivals, an agreement was reached whereby the council will 'review' their own proposals, and the demands of the workers for "not one penny" off the pay. In the meantime, the GMB union will ballot for an official strike.

Kitcat and Thompson will no doubt be looking to impose a deal without a) conceding too much to the refuse workers and therefore encouraging others in his authority area and even nationwide, and b) giving too much ammunition to those Green politicians who are currently presenting themselves as critics of austerity. This will be a tricky political manoeuver, and the militancy of the refuse staff puts them in a potentially strong position if they reach out to other council workers and the local community.

Importantly, the dispute also exposes the Greens' 'progressive' posture as a filthy lie. Faced with a restricted budget, they - like the Tories, Labour and Lib Dems in councils across the country - have imposed cuts on the back of the working class. While the Greens are currently not in overall control of Brighton & Hove council, they had a majority in 2012 when a cuts budget won the vote of all but one Green councillor. In Bristol, the Green Party has supported a "rainbow cabinet", which has also imposed brutal cuts. One street cleaner's description of the Greens as "fucking Tories on bikes" is very appropriate.

But this is far from an isolated UK phenomenon. Wherever they have taken any power Greens have revealed themselves to be enemies of the working class. In Germany, their coalition with the Social Democrats proved hugely unpopular after drastically attacking working class living standards, and supporting war in Afghanistan and Iraq. And in Ireland, the Fianna Fail-Green coalition of 2007-2011 imposed some of the harshest austerity measures yet seen in Europe.

The Greens - like every party in power anywhere - are the enemy of the overwhelming majority of the population. They represent the interests of a dying petit bourgeois layer, and are prepared to side with anyone - no matter how reactionary - to do so. Wildcat strikes point the way to how we can all effectively fight back.

Solidarity and Comradeship at Bootle May Day

Around two hundred made their way through Bootle on one of two May Day marches and rallies taking place on Merseyside today. While the numbers were noticeably smaller than on the Stand Up in Bootle launch event at the end of February, the moving speeches from working class people outside the town's one stop shop will perhaps last longer in the memory.

The crowd gathered outside Bootle town hall on Oriel Road at noon before marching for some three quarters of an hour through the area, centring on The Strand. The atmosphere was far less celebratory than back in February - something not helped by the rather sombre choice of music coming from the 'battle bus'. However, chants of 'they say cutback - we say fightback' and 'axe the bedroom tax' were raised, winning widespread support from shoppers, people smoking outside Hugh Baird college, and those waiting at bus stops. Cars horns sounded almost continuously, and more than a few people who'd never previously heard of Stand Up in Bootle were persuaded to join the march when they spotted friends.

It say a lot about the times we are living through that two reasonably sized marches were held within four miles of each other today. But in all likelihood few were particularly torn over which to attend. The Bootle May Day was not a ritualistic repetition of lefty cliches about solidarity from class collaboratoan, like Liverpool May Days have been for at least a decade. No - the placards were hand-made, and the passion was real.

The 'rally' section of the proceedings were often breathtaking - and I've never said that before. Everyone who spoke did so 'from the heart'. Everyone was either directly in the personal struggle to survive Cameron's Britain, or the political struggle against the bedroom tax and others of the countless attacks on working class living standards underway. But of course the personal is political - and it really felt like it. Many speakers were inexperienced, but they received great encouragement from those who had come to listen. There was a sense that this is an infant movement, we're all a bit scared by some of the steps we find ourselves compelled to take, but we seriously are 'all in it together'. People openly wept in anger at the brutalisation meted out to working class people far beyond the reach of the decayed trade union bureaucracy. A kind of instant comradeship existed between everyone present. In short, it was a small but stunning taste of what could be.

As the alienation of everyday life in neoliberal capitalism melted away, a teenage girl felt the confidence to give a beautiful rendition of Emeli Sandé's 'Read All About It', adopted as a Stand Up in Bootle anthem by her and a 'backing group' of activists off to the side. A young couple who had just happened upon the demo felt the confidence to tell us that they "couldn't afford a proper meal", and had experienced severe weight loss over the last few months, yet were very aware of being labelled "scroungers" by bloated politicians and the media. Another guy who'd been sacked for vomiting at work a few months back told of his twin battles with clinical depression and the Department for Work and Pensions. All received an outpouring of warm empathy from the crowd.

Hugely important and valuable though this kind of group catharsis is, if a working class movement is going to grow in Bootle, it will have to demonstrate that solidarity can improve people's lives. And that won't happen - as even march organiser Darren Procter admitted - with "poxy A to B marches", no matter how amazing events at Point B are. Big plans seem to be in the works - a "Bootle general strike" was even mentioned at one point. If that happens, then Bootle will be setting the pace for the entire UK working class, and next May Day will be even more exciting.

Am I Too White, Able-Bodied, Straight And Male To Be An Intersectionalist?

The answer, of course, is a huge 'no'!

I'm just one white, able-bodied, straight male (I might add cis-gendered to the list provided by Zoe Williams' terrible article in The Guardian). My opinion shouldn't matter that much. Except that according to those supposedly most worried about dividing what they call 'the left', I shouldn't exist. Because I love intersectionality, 'despite' having all that privilege. Privilege checking has become a reflex over the last few years. The reason is in two 'intersecting' parts: 1) I don't want to oppress anyone if I can possibly help it, and 2) I need a revolution to secure my own material well-being, for which I need comrades, and intersectionality can help with that.

Over the past week or so, the online world has exploded into argument over intersectionality. This was sparked when New Statesman deputy editor Helen Lewis was revealed to have storified tweets made by a proponent of intersectionality, who had made mistaken allegations against historian Mary Beard back in January. The individual had then removed the tweets and apologised. Beard accepted this apology, but Lewis dug up old ground in an effort to attack this person's reputation. As if on cue, a horde of anonymous followers than started posting vile racist, sexist and ableist abuse.

In the context of all human life, this might seem like a small thing. But it was emblematic of wider social issues. Firstly, the nature of the abuse showed the desperate need for intersectionality, and secondly, Lewis had used her position of - yes - privilege to ad hominem attack someone with a much smaller platform. By flattening the individual, she had hoped to dismiss a cause she had railed against in the past.

It is easy to see why intersectionality would be seen as a threat by those paid by the establishment to be court 'lefts'. These media liberals often make money writing about one form of oppression - patriarchy in the case of Lewis, and socio-economic class in the case of Owen Jones, who leapt to Lewis' defence on Twitter. Williams used The Guardian website to chime in with a total misrepresentation of both 'Beardgate' and intersectionality itself.

However it is important and all to the good that media talking heads do feel challenged. Intersectionality is not a silencing tactic - those who complain as such normally have a disproportionately large say anyway, and are merely being told to let others get a word in edgeways. But it is a demand that everyone - no matter how traditionally excluded from political discourse - is given a chance to shape debate and shape the world.

It is no mere coincidence that this most democratic of philosophies has gained traction on Twitter over the last few years. Twitter - notable access issues aside - resembles a mass global parliament in which everyone with internet access can have - at least in theory - an equal say. It is this which most worries the likes of Jones, who yesterday alleged that his opponents "hunt in packs". On some level, he likely feels that his position as 'spokesman of the left' is threatened by such mass participation.

I came to Twitter in the midst of the student uprising against the tripling of tuition fees and the scrapping of EMA. I was mainly interested in this, and class-based responses to the economic crisis. But gradually I learned more about intersectionality, and that 'check your privilege' - far from being something like the insult it is often portrayed as being - means something like 'try seeing it from the persepective of someone who faces struggles that you do not'. Without Twitter - and particularly without the target of Helen Lewis' spite - I don't know how this would have happened.

I'll never be perfect, but I'm now less of a nobhead to people who don't have my privilege than I was. I never meant to be oppressive, I never saw what I was doing, but that's the whole thing about privilege. Multiply my modest results by billions, and if that was all the use that privilege theory and intersectionality could be, it would be enough.

But much, much more than that, it offers away of encouraging people to link up their struggles, of becoming stronger through solidarity, and building a movement that can challenge the whole oppressive system. White men - and it nearly always is white men - who claim that we can deal with racism, sexism and other forms of oppression 'after the revolution' entirely miss the point. Dealing with them is an integral part of the revolution.

As the Anarchist Federation women's caucus described in last year's inspirational pamplet 'The Class Struggle Analysis of Privilege':

"A black, disabled working class lesbian may not necessarily have had a harder life than a white, able-bodied working class straight cis-man, but she will have a much greater understanding of the intersections between class, race, disability, gender and sexuality. The point isn’t that, as the most oppressed in the room, she should lead the discussion, it’s that her experience gives her insights he won’t have on the relevant points of struggle, the demands that will be most effective, the bosses who represent the biggest problem, the best places and times to hold meetings or how to phrase a callout for a mass meeting so that it will appeal to a wider range of people, ways of dealing with issues that will very probably not occur to anybody whose oppression is along fewer intersections. He should be listening to her, not because she is more oppressed than him (though she may well be), but because it is vital to the struggle that she is heard, and because the prejudices that society has conditioned into us, and that still affect the most socially aware of us, continue to make it more difficult for her to be heard, for us to hear her."

In short, the revolution will be intersectional, or it won't happen.

Liverpool Reds Rejoice At Mass Thatcher Death Party

A small section of the jubilant crowd. Photo: I am un chien andalusia

On Wednesday, a huge crowd gathered at St George's Hall in the centre of Liverpool, to celebrate the death of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Though the corporate media claimed that only a couple of hundred had shown up - or one hundred in the preposterous case of Sky News - all the steps and down the Plateau were quickly filled with partygoers, with a steady flow of people coming and going all the time. I am un chien andalusia has some great photos and YouTube links of the festivities, but I want to consider the meaning of the event - for participants, opponents, and the media.

The event had long been 'scheduled' at that venue on the day of Thatcher's funeral. For years, people locally have whispered that we should all meet up on the joyous occasion. When she finally pegged it, Liverpool fans on Twitter started publicising it, and asking people to turn up dressed in red. After this, a group of radical activists started spreading it on a Facebook event page which eventually got over eight hundred confirmations.

From everything I've seen, it was one of the biggest such parties in the country - rivalling even the much trumpeted Trafalgar Square event last weekend in terms of sheer numbers. The reasons for this should be obvious - Thatcher waged pitiless war on the working class population of the city during the 1980s - from the repression of the Toxteth uprising in 1981, through to the smashing of municipal-based resistance and 'needs budgets' a few years later, then the Poll Tax and ever-increasing urban despair. Only last year, the truth about the establishment's lies over the Hillsborough disaster at least partly emerged, and this was a significant factor for some of the Liverpool fans too young to remember anything about her other policies.

So in many ways this was an eruption of the tribal locality-based Liverpool solidarity so hated feared by the likes of Boris Johnson. Chants of "Merseyside, Merseyside, Merseyside" broke out frequently, emphasising the unity felt by football reds, blues, and dare I say even whites over Thatcher's attacks. Having said that, it is doubtful that many from Mossley Hill or Heswall were present - this was very much a working class party, and people could often be heard declaring themselves "working class and proud", or a variation on this.

For the local mass media, and particularly the Liverpool Echo, this was all a bit embarassing. Though they wrap themselves in parochialism too, it is a parochialism focused on business interests. Such layers are forever concerned with "Liverpool's image", and avoiding a return to "the bad old days" of mass working class resistance to capital. Liverpool is to be presented as a "modern city", which of course means a neoliberal one indistinguishable from any other in the globalised world, apart from in terms of accents, The Beatles saturation, and the marketing of a 'chirpy' - i.e. socially and politically compliant but humorous - scouse stereotype which bears little relation to reality.

Following a sheepish and lying (on the numbers) Echo article, the letters page was flooded with people complaining that such 'mindless yobs', who 'were not even born' in Thatcher's time, risked 'turning the clock back'. The average Echo correspondent - entirely unrepresentative of the city's population - clearly despises any display of defiance.

And that - primarily - is what occurred on Wednesday evening. Against the background of mass media hagiographies of Sainted Margaret, some of us got together to say a big 'fuck you' to all that. It wasn't the revolution - or the beginning of anything which could develop politically, but it was an awesome party.

Housing Associations Respond to Wirral Bedroom Tax Activists

Wirral Combat The Bedroom Tax have so far received three email responses to their appeal for local housing associations to make their position on the bedroom tax clear. Each housing association was invited to send a representative to one of the group's meetings, but each declined. The emails from Riverside, Wirral Partnership Homes and Symphony Housing are reproduced below.

I am writing in response to your recent open letter, entitled Axe the Bedroom Tax which was emailed to a number of Housing Associations operating in the Wirral. I am sorry that I was unable to attend your recent open meeting in Wallasey, however we didn’t find out about in time to make arrangements to attend. If you would like to discuss the bedroom tax in more detail, I would be more than happy to meet a representative of your group. Please let me know.

Like you, Riverside is deeply concerned about the impact of the bedroom tax on tenants’ incomes, and the wider effect on communities. We will continue to campaign against this highly damaging and unfair measure, and wish you well in your work.

We have received a number of similar requests for information and thought it would be helpful to set out our position clearly.

Campaigning: Riverside (along with many of our tenants) campaigned intensively against the introduction of the bedroom tax in its current form. This included:  issuing a series Parliamentary briefings; meeting Ministers, members of the opposition, constituency MPs and Members of the House of Lords; commissioning research into the impact on tenants (quoted in Parliament); and working with the media to raise general awareness.

We have taken a pragmatic stance, supporting Lord Best’s amendment to the Welfare Reform Bill, which would have adopted a more generous definition of under-occupation, allowing an extra bedroom. This would have reduced the number of tenants affected by 75% - a much more manageable challenge – whilst recognising the need to tackle higher levels of under-occupation in a measured way.

We still believe that this is the best way forward and will continue to campaign for a change in the definition of under-occupation.

Supporting Tenants: We have been running a major communications initiative over the past year called The B!G Changes. This has focused on contacting tenants who are affected by the bedroom tax by mail, phone and through face to face meetings, and we have now engaged with over 6,000 tenants, around 90% of those affected. We have offered clear advice about options, as well as more specialist money and affordable warmth advice.

Our local teams are able to offer a range of support options to tenants. They have access to increased resources to assist tenants with removal costs for downsizing moves (depending on circumstances), and we are active members of two national schemes helping tenants to ‘swap’ their homes. Whilst we know that there is a general shortage of smaller properties (especially 1 beds), this varies by area. Overall we estimate that around 1500 tenants currently affected by the bedroom tax are likely to want to downsize to 1 bedroom properties. Around 1,000 become available for re-letting each year.

We have also boosted our money advice team, taking on 12 additional members of staff. Already this team has helped tenants claim over £2 million each year in extra benefits, and reduce their arrears by over £200,000. A specialist in-house affordable warmth service is available on Merseyside, providing vital money-saving advice on reducing fuel bills and practical assistance for tenants wanting to move from pre-paid meter arrangements etc. We also have an active programme to help tenants into employment and volunteering opportunities and in the past year we have helped 521 people into work.

Collecting the rent: Collecting the rent is essential if Riverside is to continue to provide high quality services and build much needed homes. Our approach needs to be fair to all our tenants - whether they receive housing benefit of meet their housing costs themselves – and it has been agreed with tenant representatives.

We have looked at our approach to income management in the light of welfare reform and discussed it with tenant representatives and our Board. It places a real emphasis on responsibility for paying the rent, whilst aiming to sustain tenancies and support vulnerable tenants. We think it is balanced, and we are not proposing to make major changes, using a consistent approach whatever reason rent arrears have arisen.

The main change we are introducing as a response to welfare reform is boosting support for tenants, whilst making sure our teams intervene as early as possible where tenants are falling behind with their rent. This includes supporting tenants claim benefits, and assisting those who are appealing decisions around benefit awards and discretionary housing payments. We have provided more training and support to staff, so that they can help tenants facing the challenges of welfare reform where we can.

Re-designating properties

We do not believe that re-designating properties is a viable way of helping tenants escape the bedroom tax. Re-designation would lead to a reduction in rent, threatening services to existing tenants.

Under regulations, it is for local authorities to determine the number of bedrooms in a property, and in doing this they have requested information from Riverside and other landlords. We have answered factually, stating the number of bedrooms recorded on the tenancy agreement.

In addition, most housing associations have borrowed money to build new homes, using existing homes as security. To re-designate properties could potentially lead to a breach of lending conditions, with very serious financial consequences.

We hope this information is of assistance. If you are aware of any tenants who are worried about the impact of the bedroom tax on them, please encourage them to contact our customer service centre on 0845 1110000.

Yours Sincerely

Neil Townsend – Director – The Riverside Group

Dear all

I am replying to your open letter which you handed to us during our discussions following your protest at WPH’s offices on Monday 8 April. 

As discussed on Monday I can confirm that the implementation of the Housing Benefit changes for households who are under-occupying their current tenancies will have a major impact upon this organisation.  Those who under-occupy by one bedroom will have their Housing Benefit reduced by 14 per cent and those who under-occupy by two bedrooms will have a reduction of 25 per cent.

Speaking to all Tenants Potentially affected by the Housing Benefit Changes

WPH currently has 12,170 tenancies across Wirral and around 2,200 of our households will be affected by the under-occupation charge.

We have been contacting all of the tenants who are affected to raise awareness to the changes and to discuss the various options with them.  From our discussions with these households, we have found the following:

26% are interested in moving to smaller accommodation (234 tenants)
41% are not willing to move (372 tenants)
43% will look to pay the charge (386 tenants)
25% of tenants have been referred to Wirral Council to consider Discretionary Housing Payment (223 tenants)

WPH has been working to re-house those who wish to move and to date our project team has re-housed over 120 tenants. However, 117 households (13%) have advised us that they are not willing to pay the charge.

Please be aware that these are figures for WPH only.  From the Council’s figures, we understand that a total of around 4,500 households in all social rented housing across Wirral will be affected by the under-occupation charge.

WPH is working on a number of fronts to advise our tenants.  We have included articles in our tenants’ newsletters and provided useful information including a benefits calculator on our website. 

We are concerned that some people may still not be aware of the changes and we are distributing an information DVD, highlighting that those affected should contact WPH.  The awareness-raising film is also on our website. We will soon be undertaking a Welfare Reform road show across all of our estates in Wirral, again to encourage those who have not yet contacted us to come along so that we can discuss their situation. 

Access to the Internet to make Claims

It was raised about some of our tenants’ ability to have access to the internet to make benefit claims.  We have started a digital champions scheme with our local tenants’ groups to help train people up in the use of PCs and the internet, helping our residents build IT skills. The first scheme is at Courtney Park, Woodward Estate, Rock Ferry. Our new offices in Hamilton Street will also have ICT equipment for use by tenants and we signpost tenants to libraries and One-Stop Shops which have ICT access. We have also provided computer skills training, via our colleagues at Wirral Metropolitan College to over 205 of our tenants and this is an ongoing programme.

The trades’ union movement is also involved in providing much-valued equipment and skills training for our tenants as we develop our Digital Inclusion Strategy.

Financial Advice

As part of our approach, we wish to assist our tenants to better manage their money by improving their money management skills.  We have supplemented our Welfare Benefit Advisors with two new posts of Money Management Advisors to provide direct support to customers who are struggling to meet their financial commitments.  Our welfare benefit officers have managed to get our tenants around £200,000 in unclaimed benefits in one month. In 2012 they claimed £1,258,742 in additional benefits for tenants. Thirty tenants have been trained as “champions” in welfare benefits awareness and over 100 have attended “money management” courses.  We would encourage tenants to contact us.

Re-housing

In terms of re-housing households who have requested a move to smaller accommodation, as I stated on Monday, there is a shortage of smaller property vacancies with all 12 of the housing providers who participate in the Property Pool Plus choice-based lettings scheme in the Wirral.  We are talking to our colleagues in the other housing associations and at Wirral Council to consider how we may ensure households who wish to move due to the under-occupation charge can be assisted under the current scheme.  WPH has set up a team to deal with those households requiring re-housing and to help them with the practicalities of moving home.  We will arrange and pay for removals and the disconnection and reconnection of utilities.  We are also setting up a mutual exchange database, putting households in touch with each other if they wish to swap homes of different sizes. 


In terms of the specific points you raise in your letter:

Reclassifying Properties Bedrooms

Like all registered housing providers, WPH has to abide by regulations to bring our rents in line for the target rent set for the area.  The rate of increase is prescribed by central government.  Our 30-year business plan, which includes a completed £166m investment programme to bring up properties to the ‘decent homes standard’, is built on this formula and has taken account of existing property sizes. All future services and property improvements are funded from this plan.

WPH has considered the case for reclassifying properties with small bedrooms but, because of the impact it would have on our income stream and in turn the viability of our business plan, we have no large scale plans to reclassify at this time.  We are aware that KHT has classified over 560 properties which followed a review of their stock that indicated that the properties had been incorrectly identified as being larger than they actually were and where they had a complete lack of demand.  WPH has come across a small number of homes where third bedrooms have been reduced in size following investment works such as locating gas central heating boilers and the installation of vertical lifts, and we have already adjusted the number of bedrooms accordingly. If we come across similar examples we will consider reclassifying these cases as well.

If we were to reclassify all properties to a lesser number of bedrooms such as a three bedroom to a two bedroom for those affected by the HB changes as you have requested then we would have to do this for all similar properties including those that would be occupied by those in employment.  This would involve around 8,000 of our homes and this would have a major impact on WPH with the reduction in rent income over the next 30 years of the business plan.  Such a reduction in income would bankrupt us and we would be in breach of our covenants with our funders.  In such a situation WPH would have to seek a rescue through the Government’s Homes and Communities Agency.  The Board and management team of WPH could not knowingly allow such a situation to happen.

There would also be implications for those waiting for housing on the Property Pool Plus housing waiting list.  There would then be a shortage of two- and three-bedroomed properties to re-house families or other larger households as they would have been reclassified to two- and one-bedroomed properties.  This would make the housing situation in the borough much worse.

WPH’s Approach to Court Action and Evictions

WPH will continue to be as supportive as we possibly can be to assist all tenants who are struggling to pay their rent. As highlighted above, we have an in-house provision for welfare benefit advice, we have a very good debt advice partner to refer cases to, we are about to recruit two Money Advisors to assist with budgeting and we have dedicated staff assisting tenants who wish to downsize.  Our income team continues to be professional and competent in providing assistance to avoid eviction.    

When we do come across a tenant who clearly cannot afford to maintain their tenancy, we will discuss all the alternatives on an individual basis and in the case of the under- occupation charge, that is likely to include discussions about downsizing where appropriate accommodation is available.

We will work with tenants who are appealing against a reduction in their benefit and who may be awaiting decisions on Discretionary Housing Payments.  WPH has referred 223 tenants so far to the Council for DHP.

However, the Board of WPH has a clear duty to protect the long-term financial wellbeing of the organisation to ensure that the homes and services provided to all tenants can be maintained.  WPH staff will assist tenants but, ultimately, tenants will be expected to pay their rent. If, however, they do fail to pay their rent despite the support offered by WPH staff, we will have little alternative but to consider applying for possession via the County Court but only as a last resort.  On this basis WPH cannot give a categorical assurance that it will never evict anyone but we will have been looking to give as much assistance as we can before getting to such a stage.

I will not be in a position to send a representative to your evening meeting on Wednesday 10 April but, hopefully, these written comments and my verbal comments made on Monday outline the position of WPH on this issue for you.

Yours sincerely

Brian Simpson
Chief Executive

Hello,

Thank you for your invitation to this evening’s meeting in Wallasey (Wednesday, 10 April). Unfortunately, we’re unable to attend, but we wanted to make sure you had a response from us to your email.

We agree that the Government’s Bedroom Tax is unfair and, like you, we are deeply concerned that it will penalise our customers.

From the on-going help and support we are providing to people, we fully understand the impact this will have upon them. We are continuing to do whatever we can to assist them to manage the additional financial pressures that have come as a result.

Over the past two years we’ve lobbied hard to persuade the Government that their approach was unfair, but the Government chose not to listen. We continue to call upon them to think again and we’d urge everyone affected to raise it with their constituency MP.

We are aware that many of our tenants are already struggling to make ends meet and understand that they are very worried about how they will cope. Over recent weeks and months we have contacted thousands of our customers to offer support. We have staff dedicated to helping people understand the benefit changes and we are doing everything we can to assist. This includes supporting tenants with advice on budgeting and financial matters, as well as applications for Discretionary Housing Payments, assisting people to save money on household energy, and making sure people are claiming the benefits to which they are entitled.

Re-classification of properties is not practicable as a real solution to the Bedroom Tax.

We will continue to support all our customers who fall into arrears and arrange suitable payment plans. Our rents are below market levels and we have arrears policies that set out the importance of helping to support anyone who is struggling with payment and to make ends meet. 

We encourage people to speak with us about their situation so we can help in any way that we can. However, our customers rely on us to collect rent to pay for the services that we deliver, and we will take recovery action against anybody that refuses to engage with us. We urge anyone who is struggling to meet their payments, or who may be unsure of how the changes will affect them, to contact us as soon as possible.

If any of our tenants are worried or need our support, they can call us on these numbers:

Liverpool Housing Trust - 01928 796000
Beechwood Ballantyne Community Housing Association - 0151 606 6262
Contour Homes - 0345 602 1120
Best wishes,

Richard Bramwell
Symphony Housing Group Communications

On behalf of Liverpool Housing Trust, Beechwood Ballantyne Community Housing Association and Contour Homes – part of Symphony Housing Group

Wirral Combat The Bedroom Tax Activists Pay Visit To Housing Association

On Monday afternoon, a group of twenty Wirral Combat The Bedroom Tax activists demonstrated at the Birkenhead offices of Wirral Partnership Homes, before securing a meeting with three executives from Wirral's largest 'social housing' provider.

During that session, chief executive Brian Simpson refused to redesignate properties so that tenants wouldn't be fined benefits, and conceded that he couldn't rule out evictions, even though he didn't consider the bedroom tax "fair". Throughout, a picture emerged of well-paid bureaucrats mainly concerned with maintaining their own privileges, and caught between the government's aim of privatising them on the one hand and the anger of tenants on the other.

We arrived at the WPH building for noon, and held a short demonstration outside with our placards, before venturing into the main lobby. A representative took our letter, which called on "Social Housing Association Landlords with properties on the Wirral to commit themselves to:

1) Follow the example of Knowsley Housing Trust and redesignate properties from 3 to 2 bedroom + boxroom
2) An assurance that court action involving Tenants who fall into arrears as a result of this Bedroom Tax, will not be taken. 
3) No Evictions of those who fall into arrears as a result of the Bedroom Tax."

We were initially told that Brian Simpson was in a meeting, but we didn't budge, and eventually Simpson, (assistant director) John Mycock and (head of policy and strategy) Mark Armstrong emerged. Simpson offered to meet "a few of you", but when this was refused he agreed to meet with our whole gang. The alternative would have been to call the police, and this would have been very bad public relations.

The discussion with the WPH executives went on for quite a while, even as the news of Thatcher's death filtered through. The first part of the video can be seen below, and others can be clicked through to from there.