Mayor Biggs backs cross-party calls to scrap two-child benefit limit
Mayor John Biggs has backed calls from a cross-party committee of MPs to scrap the controversial two-child limit and ‘return to providing support for all children through the benefits system.’ The cross-party report from the House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee claims the two-child ‘disproportionately impacts some groups in society—including those who are already […]
New figures show benefits at their lowest level since 1948 as food bank demand soars
A study by the IPPR think-tank has found that social security payments are now at their lowest level since the launch of the welfare state. The study found that the standard £73 weekly allowance for Universal Credit is equivalent to just 12.5% of median earnings, compared to 20% when unemployment benefit was introduced in 1948. […]
Mayor gives frosty reception to government spin over benefit freeze
Mayor John Biggs has criticised the announcement that the benefit freeze is due to end at the end of 2020 as ‘spin’. The freeze introduced in 2016 meant benefits no longer increased in line with inflation and was always planned to end at the end of the current financial year. The Mayor called for the […]
Private tenants on average paying £425 more than they can afford just to pay the rent
A new report from the housing charity Shelter highlights that 2 million families are breaking their budgets in order to pay the rent, with tenants in England spending £11bn a year more than they can afford. The charity’s study shows that 4 in 10 families are spending more than 30% of income on rent, which […]
Audit Office reveals government’s failure on Starter Homes
A new report from the National Audit Office (NAO) has revealed that ‘no Starter Homes have been built to date’ despite a pledge made in 2015 that 200,000 such homes would be delivered by 2020. In April 2015, the Conservative Party manifesto committed to “200,000 Starter Homes, which will be sold at a 20% discount […]
