nick mercedes
MB Enthusiast
Should London be able to export poor people?
"A London council says it is being forced to move some of its poorest tenants to Stoke-on-Trent - saying it can't afford to keep them in the city because of the Government's housing benefits cap.
Sir Robin Wales, mayor of Newham, in East London, said a combination of spiralling rents in the borough and the housing benefit cap meant it could no longer afford to put up tenants in the private rented sector.
It has written to 1,179 housing associations to try and find accommodation for thousands of people - including the Brighter Futures Housing Association in Stoke, 170 miles away, which has been asked to take on 500 families."
In a statement on the association's website she said: 'We are very anxious about this letter which we believe signals the start of a movement which could see thousands of needy people dumped in Stoke with no proper plan for their support or their welfare.'
She pointed to the association's experience when the Home Office previously moved thousands of refugees into privately owned properties in North Staffordshire
"The president of the Stoke on Trent C63 Club, however welcomed the move as he's sure it will being in a vast influx of new members"
She said: 'The result was huge unplanned pressure on local services, the collapse of already vulnerable neighbourhoods and the rise of divisive right wing extremism.
'We believe that, if London boroughs are allowed to export their most vulnerable and challenging families to cities like Stoke on Trent, then exactly the same will happen again.'"
Any word from Doncaster's housing dept?
"A London council says it is being forced to move some of its poorest tenants to Stoke-on-Trent - saying it can't afford to keep them in the city because of the Government's housing benefits cap.
Sir Robin Wales, mayor of Newham, in East London, said a combination of spiralling rents in the borough and the housing benefit cap meant it could no longer afford to put up tenants in the private rented sector.
It has written to 1,179 housing associations to try and find accommodation for thousands of people - including the Brighter Futures Housing Association in Stoke, 170 miles away, which has been asked to take on 500 families."
In a statement on the association's website she said: 'We are very anxious about this letter which we believe signals the start of a movement which could see thousands of needy people dumped in Stoke with no proper plan for their support or their welfare.'
She pointed to the association's experience when the Home Office previously moved thousands of refugees into privately owned properties in North Staffordshire
"The president of the Stoke on Trent C63 Club, however welcomed the move as he's sure it will being in a vast influx of new members"
She said: 'The result was huge unplanned pressure on local services, the collapse of already vulnerable neighbourhoods and the rise of divisive right wing extremism.
'We believe that, if London boroughs are allowed to export their most vulnerable and challenging families to cities like Stoke on Trent, then exactly the same will happen again.'"
Any word from Doncaster's housing dept?