HACKNEY ALLIANCE TO DEFEND PUBLIC SERVICES

Saturday June 1st 2013 National Day of Action about Bedroom Tax
Saturday June 8th 2013 March to save kingsland Fire Station
Wednesday June 12th 2013 Meeting to organise opposition to welfare attacks
Wednesday June 26th 2013 Lobby Hackney Council over welfare attacks

--- Hackney Unison and Hackney Trades Council held a sucessful meeting on Wednesday May 29th, 
 to organise against benefit cuts and the Bedroom Tax.
Thousands of leaflets were put through local estates and street doors 
and over 70 people came to the Clapton URC/Round Chapel to hear April Ashley from Unison NEC, 
Paul Kershaw the Chair of Unite Housing Workers Branch, Imelda Messenger from Hackney Benefits Justice Campaign, 
Nat Mathew from Hackney Community Law Centre and Matthew Waterfall Hackney from Branch Secretary of Unison.

A spokesperson said: “The Bedroom Tax will do nothing for the housing crisis in Hackney or London, 
what it will do is push out and isolate many tenants who have lived in their houses for many years, 
if they do not want to occur big debts. “If they stay they will be riddled with further debt, despair 
and poverty with an increase in the use of food banks.”

People came away enthused, with lots of discussions or estate leafletting and how to resist evictions
 and a follow up meeting has been organised for
Wednesday  June 12th at 7pm at Marcon and Aspland Estate Community Hall, Amhurst Road.

--- Previous to that on Saturday June 8th  there will be a march in support of saving Kingsland Fire Station,
 which Boris Johnson's London Authority wants to close. Meet at Kingsland Road/Downham Road junction
 12midday to march to Islington Green  to join a march from there to Clerkenwell to save that station. 
This will be big! 
https://wordpress.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=28e4da97eaa91c95b525c6984&id=3c7208b74d&e=9692badc52

--- And previous to that on 1st June there is a National Day of Action against Welfare cuts and the Bedroom Tax.
 https://wordpress.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=28e4da97eaa91c95b525c6984&id=b9081ab8ab&e=9692badc52
For Hackney people, the nearest are; North London: 11am – 1pm Broadwater Farm, Campaigning Stall
 called by Haringey Alliance for Benefit Justice and local Unite Community and 
East London : Tower Hamlets: Meet 2pm corner Mace St / Roman Rd 3pm Protest outside Housing and Homeless Services 
62 Roman Rd E2

--- On June 26th Hackney Benefits Justice and Hackney TUSC (Trade Union and Socialist Coalition)
have called a Lobby of a Hackney Council, Full Council Meeting to protest the attacks on welfare, 
benefits and demand the council does not evict anyone for falling behind on rents etc . 
This is expected to be very big!!

We have received a public document presented by Hackney Homes officers to a recent public Hackney Homes Board meeting which outlines massive cuts to Housing Benefits and other benefits and the way they are to be paid which will have a devastating impact on Hackney residents. See below, but for a summary Hackney Unison have produced this  https://hackneyunison.wordpress.com/2012/11/09/welfare-reform/

Welfare Reform (Hackney Homes briefing Oct 2012)

• Reforms from April 2013:

– Benefit Cap

– Under Occupancy

– DLA/PIP

– Council Tax Support

– Replacement of Social Fund with local scheme

• Universal Credit

– Timeframe

– Digital

– Limitations

– Extra Support

– Migration

Benefit Cap (£500/£350)

• Takes effect from 15/04/2013

• 1067 households in Hackney

• 50:50 in social/private rented sector tenancies

• 60 in TA, already homeless

• 93 are HH properties

• Loss in HB between £1.00 -£221.79

• HH have 32 large families (5 children +) affected

• Solution:

– Employment with Working Tax Credit award affords an exemption

Under Occupancy (Bedroom Tax)

• Takes effect from 1/04/2013

• Social rented sector only

• Working age only (not pensioners)

• 4179 households in Hackney

• 2255 households Hackney Homes, rest are RP’s

– 1663 by 1 room will lose 14% of HB

– 592 by 2 rooms will lose 25% of HB

• Solution:

– Find the shortfall, increase your income, take a lodger or move

DLA/PIP

• DLA abolished and replaced with PIP

• Health conditions will have to last 6 months instead

of 3 months

• Work capability re-assessment programme from

April 2013

• 11,000+ affected in Hackney

• No lifetime awards , renew at intervals of 2 years

• Pilots start in April 2013

• New claims June 2013

• 2 components with 2 rates

Council Tax Support

• Abolishing the current national Council Tax Benefit scheme

• All councils have to replace it with their own new local schemes with 12.5% less funding

• Pensioners protected

• Takes effect from 1/04/2013

• Reduction in support of 15%

• 28,000 households affected

• Public consultation is running from 13/08/12 –

22/10/12 : https://www.hackney.gov.uk/ctsconsultation.htm

Local Replacement Scheme

• Social Fund scheme abolished including Community Care Grants and Crisis Loans function

• Funding passed to councils but at 2005/6 levels, no requirement to run a scheme

• Hackney will run a crisis scheme

• Hackney Discretionary Crisis Support

• Takes effect from 1/04/2013

• £1.4m, £75k less

• Expect 10-11,000 applications

• Online, referrals, limited cash

• Short term advances and budgeting loans will stay with DWP

Universal Credit

• Replaces

– Income Support, JSA IB, ESA IR, Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit and Housing Benefit with one benefit

• Paid monthly

• Direct to nominated person in household

• Hackney Homes currently have 15,485 tenants claiming Housing Benefit

• Benefits and Housing Needs Service pay £70+m peryear in Housing Benefit to Hackney Homes rent accounts (2011/12)

Universal Credit

• Timeframe

– Payment Direct pilot in Southwark June 2012

– Lewisham UC face to face pilot Autumn 2012

– Pathfinder with the boroughs of Tameside, Oldham, Wigan and Warrington April 2013

– New claims small scale Oct 2013, full capacity April 2014

• Digital

– Online customer accounts, award notifications, emails

– Limited telephone support and face to face

• Limitations

– Less allowances, no 2 homes, 1 month backdating, less service charge provision

• Extra support

– Exceptions

• Split payments

• More frequently – fortnightly

• Payment direct to landlords

– Budgeting and Support

– Financial Products

• Migration – reclaim not transfer

– Migration 2014-2017

– Natural

• Change of circumstances – 1 month process

– Managed

• 3 month process

• Extra support

– Exceptions

• Split payments

• More frequently – fortnightly

• Payment direct to landlords

– Budgeting and Support

– Financial Products

• Migration – reclaim not transfer

– Migration 2014-2017

– Natural

• Change of circumstances – 1 month process

– Managed

• 3 month process

Key timelines and known impacts:

Bedroom Tax 1/4/2013

• 2255 households affected:

o 1663 will lose 14%

o 592 will lose 25%

Benefit cap 15/04/2013

• 93 households affected

April 2013 – other benefit changes affecting residents disposable

income, non dependent changes, Council tax support

Universal Credit new claims October 2013/April 2014 potential for 30

cases per week

• 2014 change in circumstances

• 2014 – 2017 remaining 15,485 HB claimants move to UC

Potential impacts

Increase in arrears;

Reduction in service charge elements paid;

Increase in legal costs – direct payments with arrears will assist;

Increase in transaction costs (although 16,000 currently make some form of payment);

Increased early intervention resources;

Increased evictions;

Increase in void levels and associated costs;

Increased bad debt provision;

Inadequate debt advice provision and support services;

Increased pressure for vulnerable residents;

Pressure to find smaller properties for under occupiers.

Hackney tops the national “cuts per person” league, a cut of £266.17 cut per person in Hackney from 2010-11 to 2012-13. Almost all of the highest cuts are to Labour controlled, and poor, boroughs and the lowest cuts are in Tory controlled boroughs.

https://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/interactive/2012/nov/14/local-authority-cuts-map

https://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/news/labour_run_councils_such_as_hackney_and_islington_are_bearing_brunt_of_government_cuts_1_1704038

120922 020 Hackney public Mtg

https://bit.ly/MyfvI5

Hackney Trades Council have called an emergency public meeting to start to organise for the October 20th TUC anti-cuts march. It is on Tuesday July 31st at 7 pm at Aspland and Marcon Commuity Hall on Amhurst Road (between the two Hackney railway stations ) ALL WELCOME!! 🙂

Please copy and distribute fliers .. see  HTUCa

Hackney Alliance is of course supporting the members of 30 different unions that are striking on November 30th against the pensions robbery that the Tory govt is attempting on them. Pay more, work longer and get back less than they put in is simply theft, while the bankers continue to get away with million £ Xmas bonuses.
Nationally over 2 million workers willbe on strike, from Civil Service mandarins to estate cleaners in Hackney.  Hackney Council, Hackney Homes workers, those in the NHS,  DWP, schools and colleges are all affected and almost all schools in Hackney will be shut to kids. Even the police office workers will be on strike.
Support the strike by visting picket lines, at colleges, schools, at the Town Hall and some libraries and attending the demo at the Town Hall at 10.30.
This is a statement from the Hackney Council/Homes Unison, the biggest union in Hackney

“Strike November 30