- Conference
- 2005 National Delegate Conference
- Date
- 25 February 2005
- Decision
- Carried as Amended
Conference welcomes the fact that at the Labour party conference on 26 September, Deputy Prime Minister said: “Public financing of housing does not treat local authorities on a level playing field and I want to see that changed and I promise to do that and look at an enquiry into it”.
After the vote, Housing Minister Keith Hill said: “We recognise yesterday’s vote and we will engage as a result of that. We are continuing the review as we promised to do. We are continuing a negotiation, a discussion, with the various interested parties”.
This public commitment to a level playing field for council housing by the Deputy Prime Minister, accompanied by a promise of an inquiry, was a promise council tenants around the country expected to be honoured.
However, in a letter to Austin Mitchell MP, delivered in time for the Defend Council Housing national conference on 29 October 2004, attended by more than 350 council tenants, local councillors, trade unionists and MPs from 86 areas, Prescott said “The review mentioned in your letter was explicitly conditional on the mover of the alternative wording agreeing to withdraw”. In discussions leading up to the Labour party conference, significant progress was made on the issue of allowing good performing authorities to access the additional investment currently conditional on ALMOs – without the need for councils to set up a private company. The Treasury broadly accepted the clear financial evidence that has been presented demonstrating that the fourth option is financially viable. This offers a clear way forward.
Government ministers have put considerable emphasis on choice in public services. Denying council tenants the right to choose to remain as council tenants and get improvements to their homes clearly fails this test.
Conference notes that some councils, such as Newham in East London, having seen decisive votes against ALMOs in other councils, are now seeking to press ahead with ALMOs without even balloting their tenants. In Newham over 19,000 council homes are being handed over to the management of an ALMO on the basis of analysing a survey of only 800 tenants. Conference deplores the undemocratic practice of imposing ALMOs without a fair ballot.
Conference believes that this country is facing a mounting crisis due to the lack of affordable housing. This country needs investment in decent, affordable, secure and democratically accountable housing.
Conference believes that the current government position is inconsistent and flies in the fact of evidence from the National Audit Office, the commons public accounts and the office of the deputy prime minister select committees, the Local Government Association, House of Commons council housing group of MPs, trade unions and others. Privatisation of council housing is deeply unpopular and there is no evidence to support the dogmatic insistence on separating housing management from strategy.
Conference calls on all members of UNISON parliamentary group of MPs to sign Early Day Motion 193 – Future of Council Housing.
Conference calls on the National Executive Council, Labour Link, regions and branches to continue working with and campaigning with Defend Council Housing for a level playing field for council housing.
Conference urges regions to facilitate networking between branches facing stock options appraisals and privatisation by the establishment of regional housing forums, where they do not exist currently.
Conference urges all branches facing the prospect of privatisation or part privatisation to liaise with tenants and tenants’ groups and assist with broad based campaigns wherever possible.
Conference calls on the government to:
1)stand by its commitment made at the Labour party conference in September 2004 and the commitment by the Deputy Prime Minister to ensure that public financing of housing treats local authorities on a level playing field;
2)allow local authorities to use their prudential borrowing powers to borrow against their rental income stream to raise finance to enable them to directly invest in their homes;
3)stand by their commitment to choice in public services by allowing tenants the option of retention and investment by local authorities;
4)introduce the same legal requirement for councils to ballot their tenants on the options of ALMOs and PFI as is currently available only for those councils and tenants facing stock transfer;
5)make it a legal requirement that councils produce balanced information on the options for housing. Where councils produce biased information aimed at persuading the reader to take a particular viewpoint or vote in a certain way, this should be treated as misuse of public funds.