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 […]
The school funding crisis is far from over
New national figures reveal that schools in Tower Hamlets have lost out on over £110m of funding between 2015 and 2020. This is the equivalent of £735 per pupil. The new data also reveals that all 87 schools in the borough have suffered cuts to per pupil funding. The data was compiled by the National […]
Benefit freeze pricing families out of a home
New research from the National Housing Federation (NHF) shows that more than nine in ten homes for private rent (94%) in England are too expensive for those on housing benefit. The NHF analysed 75,000 rental homes advertised on Zoopla and compared the cost of rent for each property with the rate of Local Housing Allowance […]
New figures show scale of police cuts in Tower Hamlets
New figures reveal that between 2010 and 2018 the number of police officers in the borough of Tower Hamlets has fallen by an astonishing 217 officers. This means that the borough had 1 officer for every 525 people in 2018, a considerably lower level than the 1 officer for every 303 people that the borough […]
Universal Credit blunders continue despite council pointing out errors
Latest figures show a further 150 errors on Universal Credit claims in Tower Hamlets this year resulting in £335k in overpayments and £215k in underpayments to date. Speaking last month at a conference on the future of Universal Credit, Mayor John Biggs highlighted the many errors in the system and new figures showing that a […]
Labour’s Conference plans set to make a difference in Tower Hamlets
Labour has announced a range of new policies at its annual conference in Brighton 21st – 25th September 2019, including major new climate policies and major changes to social security. Party members agreed a ‘Green New Deal’ motion which aims to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2030; the UK’s current target is to bring all […]
