We need to build more social housing of face having a generation trapped in private rental into old age.

Following the Grenfell House fire in the Summer of 2017 housing charity SHELTER put together a commission set out a better future for social housing.

North Staffs Green Party have endorsed the report published by the commission, Campaign Coordinator Adam Colclough said, ‘providing decent housing for all is one of the defining issues of our time and needs urgent action’.

The housing crisis in the UK is getting worse with the lowest amount of social housing being built for 70 years. As a result, 1.2million households are on local authority waiting lists and are often trapped in expensive private rented accommodation.

The SHELTER report warns that ‘unless we act now, we face a future in which a generation will be trapped renting privately’, adding that as a result ‘more people will grow old in private rentals and billions more in welfare costs will be paid to private landlords’.

At the 2017 general election the Green Party stood on a manifesto commitment to build 100,000 environmentally friendly homes for social rent by 2020. The party also pledged to end the sale of council housing, abolish the bedroom tax and to give tenants stronger rights.

This aligns with many of the points made in the SHELTER report, which calls for a twenty-year programme to build 3.1million homes for social rent by 2020 and for the government to use its upcoming comprehensive spending review to increase funding for social housing.

Campaign Coordinator Adam Colclough said, ‘as a party we have supported the building of more social housing since the eighties’, adding ‘we fully support SHELTER in their call on the government om use the comprehensive spending review to fund the quality housing so many families are struggling to find’.

To find out more about the SHELTER campaign and to sign their petition click on this link: https://england.shelter.org.uk/support_us/campaigns

Greens call for fair play on credit.

Debt is a growing problem with the OBR predicting that by 2022 personal debt will account for £2.258trillion, equivalent to £83,041 for every household in the country (Source: The Money Charity).

North Staffs Green Party have written to Stoke-on-Trent City Council calling on them to sign up to the Fair Credit for All campaign launched by the End High Cost Credit Alliance.

Campaign Coordinator Adam Colclough said, ' debt represents a huge burden on individuals and households that are struggling to get by'.

Debt charity Step Change found in a survey of the 326,897 new clients taken on in the first half of 2018 that a third were behind with their council tax payments, 13.1% with utility bills and that 18.3% had taken out high cost payday loans.

Personal debt in the UK stands at £1.623trillion, equivalent to £59,288 per family or £30,965 for every adult, accounting for 113% of average earnings.

Mr Colclough said, ' we need to make it easier for people to access fair credit and to get advice on how to manage their money'.

In their 2017 general election manifesto the Green Party pledged to create a network of local people's banks and to close the wealth gap by raising the minimum wage to £10 per hour.

The End High Cost Credit Alliance campaigns for responsible credit providers to be available on every high street and for access to debt counselling.


Detail about the campaign can be accessed via this link:https://the-alliance.org.uk/contact-us/

A decent home is a basic human right.

Having a decent, safe place to live is something everyone deserves as a basic human right.

This is the message behind the 'Everyone in' campaign launched by homelessness charity CRISIS. The campaign has been supported by several high-profile figures including actors, Tom Hardy, Emma Thompson and Richard Gere.

More than twenty thousand people from every part of the UK have UK have also shown their support on social media using the hashtag #everybodyin.

Homelessness in the UK has risen by 132% since 2010 with the highest increase in London and the South of England. In 2015/16 local authorities accepted 58,000 families as being homeless, a rise of 34% since 2009/10.

Factors including high private rents, family breakdown and changes to the benefits system have been cited as causing the I crease in homelessness. At the same time the costs incurred by the NHS, councils and public services as they try to deal with the increase have grown massively.

The plan to end homelessness put forward by CRISIS to end homelessness addresses issues including helping at risk stay in their homes, improving tenant's rights and ensuring local authorities have enough funding to offer support.

A statement on the CRISIS website says, ‘ending homelessness doesn't mean no one will ever lose their home again,' but with the right support in place the document impact can be greatly reduced.

North Staffs t Party has given its support to the 'Everyone in' campaign, spokesperson Adam Colclough said:' having access to decent affordable housing is a basic human right, that people are forced to sleep on the streets of a wealthy country is inexcusable. We fully support CRISIS in taking action on this important issue'.

At the 2017 general election the Green Party stood on a manifesto pledging to build more social housing, strengthening tenant's rights and improving funding for council homelessness services.

The CRISIS statement concludes that with the right legislation and funding in place it is possible to stop most people at risk from losing their homes and to bring them in from the cold as quickly as possible if they do.

Details of the CRISIS campaign can be found at: https://www.crisis.org.uk/get-involved/everybody-in/