“Hackney Housing Group urges the coalition government to strongly reconsider David Cameron’s plan to end lifetime council tenancies. This plan, if put into action, will intimidate thousands of people who will never know whether their future in their own homes is secure. Mr Cameron has avoided tackling the fundamental issue of there simply not being nearly enough affordable housing in this country.

Council housing was not originally created for “people in need”, it was created simply to house people and it should be for everyone. We need affordable and secure rented accommodation to be able to work, raise our families and not fall into debt.

David Cameron does not take into account that our financial, family and work situations change. We might have a good wage one month and no job the next. Insecure work coupled with insecure and unaffordable housing puts us at risk of debt and homelessness.”

This is a deliberate attempt to scapegoat people who earn a wage and who stay in their council homes. Council tenants are not to blame for a lack of available social housing. This is a result of the failure of the Labour and Conservative governments to invest in building new social housing and the ideologically driven policy of selling off council estates.

Hackney Housing Group proposes that people living in council housing should pay a fixed percentage of their income towards their rent, a maximum of 25%, across the board, making it easier for everyone to have affordable housing.”
LCAP is a voluntary coalition of co-operative groups which are based on the idea that through solidarity and direct action, ordinary people have the power to change our own lives. For more information please call 07931 698 438, email londoncoalitionagainstpoverty@gmail.com or visit www.lcap.org.uk.

Where is our £15 million worth of housing?

Hackney Council’s response to the housing crisis ­is to not bother spending the housing budget!

In the Hackney Gazette on the 15th July it was reported that Hackney Council failed to spend £3 million pounds of its Housing Revenue Account on repairs and maintenance to its housing stock while almost £12 million of its budget which could have been used to increase housing was left unspent. The need for housing in Hackney is huge. Nearly 19% of people in Hackney live in unsuitable conditions, around 2,000 households including 2,000 children are living in temporary accommodation (2008 figures, Shelter) and 9,000 households are overcrowded. Hackney Housing Group demand that the unspent money in the Council’s housing budget be spent where it is desperately needed; on providing us good quality housing and that the Council tell us immediately what has happened to the unspent money in their housing budgets.

We are often told that there is not enough money to house us in decent conditions. An example is the terrible conditions found in many of the flats that are, after a long process awarded to households in severe need. One mother recently visited a flat that had clearly been used to house several dogs. If she had accepted the disgusting flat she would have had to spend her own money to make it liveable for her toddler, including replacing the floor. Some of the unspent £3 million could have been used to make vacant properties decent before they are offered to homeless families, who do not have the resources to refurbish themselves and are forced into debt to do so.

While many of us spend years raising our children in temporary housing or trying to move from unsuitable properties Hackney council leaves properties empty. Some whole estates like Haggerston estate (waiting to be demolished and partly replaced with housing for sale) have been left unused for years. If money had been spent in the first place on maintaining those estates then we would have more housing now.

The Hackney Housing Group (part of the London Coalition Against Poverty) campaigns for good housing we can afford for everyone. We say the Council must, at minimum, spend the money that they have on increasing the amount of social housing. Hackney Council must scrap their current housing policy that does not prioritise social housing.

Statement Against Cuts to Housing Benefit:

Hackney Housing Group condemns the cuts to local housing allowance included in the June budget. These will mean many more people made homeless, who if eligible to be housed will join the 2,000 households already in Hackney’s temporary accommodation, and if not may end up on the streets. Those of us on the waiting list for housing will have even less chance of being housed. Recently several members of Hackney Housing Group have ‘bid’ successfully for social housing but discovered that the flat offered was a housing association property with market level rent of up to £400 a week. If we had accepted these properties then we would soon not be able to pay the rent under the new benefit rules and would be homeless again soon.

Some of us are on benefits but our situations do change. We may find work and we may lose our work. We need affordable housing that is actually affordable, where we will not be immediately made homeless when our situation changes. Mayor of Hackney, Jules Pipe, has spoken out about the cuts to housing benefit as chair of London Councils [http://www.cypnow.co.uk/news/1016678/Housing-allowance-cap-force-thousands-Londoners-homes/], but his own Council’s housing strategy is to push us into private housing that we can not afford. We demand more social housing and that Hackney Council scrap their housing strategy which does not prioritise social housing.

Contact Hackney Housing Group on 07931 698 438 www.lcap.org.uk

Wed 16th June, 11am, outside Working Links on Mare St
Join Hackney Unemployed Workers group for the Defend Welfare network’s national day of action. We will be outside Working Links on Mare Street, exposing the private company that makes money while letting us down. Working Links does not work! We are forced to do pointless job searches, we are not given the training we want, and even when they find us jobs, they are temporary, low-paid and don’t reflect our interests.

The Coalition Government is talking about more use of private companies like this to “help us into work” (work that doesn’t exist: there are 43 JSA claimants for every job in Hackney). They want to penalise us into work, when their cuts mean there are even fewer jobs to go around.

Take part in the day of action with us:
11am-1pm Expose Working Links!
Write your own placard saying what you think Working Links is good at… e.g. wasting tax payers’ money, wasting our time….
Contribute to our “Welfare for all statement”: we are collecting messages which set out what is wrong with the way things work now and the changes people want to see that would help us. Add your message on the day, on our website, or at our stalls on 14th (Dalston) and 15th June (Mare St)

1pm-3pm Join the delegation to The Department for Work and Pensions
Cuts are in the air: job cuts, welfare cuts, wage cuts. But we want to put our alternative to the new Secretary of State. Forcing people to work for their benefits reduces the number of jobs, making people redundant does too, and wasting money on private companies like Working Links gets us nowhere. We want a fair benefit system that recognises our right to live – not just to survive!
(London Coalition Against Poverty can pay your bus fare if you want to come along)

Add your message on our website: http://hackneyunemployedworkers.wordpress.com/
Come along to one of our drop-in sessions, every Thursday at noon at Cafe Bohemia by Hackney Central.
See the National Network website: http://defendwelfare.org/

on: 5th June from 4.30pm (straight after Hackney Unites event)
at: 17 Lilian Close N16 0SG (behind Barbauld Rd, 3 min walk from Stoke Newington School)
bring: unwanted (but useable!) clothes, jewellery, furniture, toys, bric-a-brac, music, films, games shoes and smiles
free tea, coffee and biscuits. children welcome.
50p per item taken from clothes swap. jumble sale items to be priced by previous owner. for more information or directions on the day please call Cathy on 07950105336

Tuesday 25^th May from 6pm – 11pm

at

Pogo Cafe

76 Clarence Road, London, E5 8HB**

Featuring some of London’s top spoken word performers:

Angry Sam, Rebellion between the lines

Tim Wells, Legendary Hackney poet

Yap, Motor mouth rebel rouser, frontman of ‘Pink Punk’

Plus special guests to be confirmed

All to be enjoyed with delicious Indian dishes from Shirley’s Kitchen

Get in touch at hackneyunemployedworkers@gmail.com or on 02072476101 or 07932241737 for more information

* Not our words, the words of many satisfied diners

** (At the top of the Narroway, just a short walk from Hackney Central station and buses 254, 253 and 106 stop nearby)

Our eyes are on Durban, but not for the World Cup

Today, Friday 14 May, a deputation from London Coalition Against Poverty visited the South African High Commission to deliver a message in solidarity with their sister group in Durban, the shackdwellers’ movement,  Abahlali baseMjondolo. Even with the world’s attention focused on their city, the group is experiencing massive repression and its leaders have been driven into hiding.

The letter was delivered to coincide with the court appearance of twelve Abahlali activists, arrested during two days of massive attacks on their settlement. Amnesty International states that an armed mob of 500 people attacked their community on 26 and 27 September last year, targeting members of Abahlali in particular.  Not a single person has been arrested for this violence, yet the Kennedy 12 are still facing the courts – with no evidence led thus far.

London Coalition Against Poverty was joined by members of War on Want today to deliver their message to the High Commissioner. They want the charges against the Kennedy 12 to be dropped and the five activists to be released from prison.  They are also calling an independent and credible commission of inquiry into the attack and ongoing intimidation in Kennedy Road.

Georgie, an member of LCAP says:

Abahlali had won promises for better housing from the local government before the World Cup came to town. Now their movement is being crushed and they’re in a worse position than before. Our Housing Group in Hackney is worried that the Olympics will mean broken promises for us too.  That’s why we want to link up and show that movements around the world are willing to defend each other’s rights.

Anna, also from LCAP said:

Our eyes are on Durban, but not for the World Cup.  Abahlali is a democratic voice for people in its communities and we will not watch it be stamped out.  We want justice for the Kennedy 12 and for Abahlali to have the freedom to organise its movement again.

Notes to editors

1. London Coalition Against Poverty is an organisation based on the idea that through solidarity and direct action, ordinary people have the power to change our own lives. We undertake direct action casework and campaign on housing, benefits and workers’ rights: www.lcap.org.uk

2.  Amnesty International has also condemned the treatment of the Kennedy 12 and called for an independent investigation, as well as expressing concerns about the involvement of political officials in the violence at the Kennedy Road Settlement: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AFR53/011/2009/en/53fce922-d49e-4537-b3bb-84060cf84c85/afr530112009en.html

3. ‘Speak to us not about us’ is one of Abahlali’s demands. Read about Abahlali baseMjondolo in their own words: http://www.abahlali.org/

4. This is the full text of our letter to the High Commissioner:

His Excellency Dr Zola Skweyiya

South Africa House
Trafalgar Square

London WC2N 5DP

14 May 2010

Dear High Commissioner,

Justice for the Kennedy 12!

Today twelve people will appear in court in Y Court, Durban. In our view they were arrested not because they committed any crime, but because as members of Abahlali baseMjondolo they demanded justice for their community at Kennedy Road.

Their experience of the justice system so far has been appalling: Five of those in court have been held in Westville Prison since September last year. None of their court appearances this year have been recorded. Their defence lawyer has been denied access to police dockets and records of past hearings. They and their family members and supporters have been threatened, both inside and immediately outside the magistrate’s court. No evidence has been led in court to connect the Kennedy 12 with the two deaths that occurred on the night of September 26.

These arrests should never have taken place. They happened in the wake of violent attacks on Kennedy Road on 26-27 September 2009, of which police and local politicians were aware but did nothing to intervene. The perpetrators of this violence, which has driven the leaders of the movement into hiding, have never been pursued.

Next month, the whole world will have its eyes on Durban. We want you to know that ours are on Kennedy Road and on the treatment of our sister group who dare to demand justice despite the repression they have faced.

Please take immediate action to ensure that the charges against the Kennedy 12 are dropped and  the five activists are released from prison. We join Abahlali baseMjondolo in calling for an independent and credible commission of inquiry into the attack and ongoing intimidation in Kennedy Road.

Yours sincerely,

for London Coalition Against Poverty

For more information on this injustice, please see Amnesty International’s report of 12 December: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AFR53/011/2009/en/53fce922-d49e-4537-b3bb-84060cf84c85/afr530112009en.html or the Abahlali baseMjondolo website: http://www.abahlali.org/

On Friday 9 April the Housing Group held a fast outside Hackney Town Hall to highlight our campaign and show that we are so desperate for decent housing we will all go on hunger strike! 10 members of the Housing Group fasted with other LCAP members supporting us.

Everybody had a really enjoyable day! We had fun with face painting for the kids and we had a big art project to paint the houses you would like to live in a Happy Hackney! A huge long roll of paper became an imaginary communal street with tree houses, tipis, boats palaces and even a Sudanese hut! It was a really good bold and visual way to show Hackney, that we are really serious about our aim of getting the Council Draft Housing Strategy re written to prioritise social housing not market solutions.

We broke our fast at 6pm with delicious curries made by members of the housing group and were so pleased how many people came and joined us!

London Coalition Against Poverty has a really strong and active Housing Group. We are all currently in Temporary Accommodation Hostels or homeless or precariously housed. We have been campaigning with these demands we have made to Hackney Council.

1. An end to Gatekeeping by the Council.

2. Dignity for survivors of domestic violence.

3. Hackney Council need to make Temporary Accommodation Temporary not leave us on hold for years.

4. An end to extortionate rents and service charges for hostel residents.

5. Conditions in Hostels to improve dramatically.

6. Hackney needs to use existing empty homes for people rather than profit.

7. The Hackney Draft Housing Strategy to prioritise social housing not market solutions.

We would really appreciate the support of other local groups in signing our demands. Please contact LCAP Housing group on 07931698438. We look forward to hearing from you!

Hackney Housing Group meets every second Saturday at Navarino Mansions in Dalston Lane at 12 pm. The next meeting is 24th of April then 8th May. We support each other in our housing difficulties and share resources and information and have had great success in supporting each other to get housed.

Please see londoncoalitionagainstpoverty.org.uk or call the LCAP Housing Mobile on 07931698438

• Hear about benefits you might need to claim and other legal info
• Share experiences of getting your rights
• Learn how to support others at the Job Centre

The event is FREE to attend, is open to anyone, will last from 1pm to 4pm, and will have both wheelchair access and childcare provided.

Contact Hackney Unemployed Workers Group on 07932 241737 if you have any questions about their work or the event, or visit them online at their blog.

Your can download a copy of the flyer here to distribute to friends and family.

Many people are forced to be at the mercy of institutions like the DWP and Social Services for pennies to survive on. While the amount of money they give us is small, they are also able to take it away, leaving families in bureaucratic limbo and often without even the bare minimum needed to survive, let alone a roof over their heads. Tens of thousands of Britons suffer such extreme stress on a weekly basis; this is not an isolated incident. LCAP has worked with countless families who were always one pay-cheque away from the street, one income support payment away from next week’s groceries. Most of us will experience this situation at some point in our lives, and that fundamental insecurity is what binds our interests together.

There are many ways to kill a person, they can be subtle or obvious, quick or slow. What is certain is that such deaths can be avoided, just as Christelle Pardo’s could have been. That is why it is important to bring her killers to justice. Bureaucratic mismanagement and under-funding mustn’t continue to be factors in the deaths of so many people. The resources that could have been life-saving are neglected, the funding put into useless government bailouts and expenses. Instead, more money should be spent on quality-enhancing services like higher welfare rates, more council housing, and a serious improvement of DWP care standards.

LCAP is determined to stand by anybody and everybody struggling to win concrete gains for themselves, their families and everyone else. LCAP will stand with those who knew Christelle Pardo in demanding justice and will fight with anyone experiencing the same abuse from the DWP.