Have Your Say! Newham Consultation on Changes to Allocation Policy

 

Dear Resident 

The London Borough of Newham is proposing to make some changes to the Housing Allocations Policy and we want to hear your views.

You can have your say by clicking here:

https://www.newham.gov.uk/allocationsconsultation

Over 27,000 households are waiting for social housing in Newham. Only a small number of houses become available each year and we want to make sure they go to the residents who need them most.
We do this through the Housing Allocations Policy. This outlines who is allowed on the list, how they are prioritised and how the council allocates housing.

The proposals

We want to make some changes to this allocations policy to make sure it is fair. Full details of the proposed changes can be found here but in summary, the four main changes being proposed are:

1. Who can join the waiting list: currently you can join the waiting list if you have lived in Newham for two years, if you work in Newham or if you have family in Newham. We propose changing this so you can only join the list if you live in Newham for three years. There are some exceptions to the three-year rule.

2. Waiting time: We propose changing the way time on the waiting list contributes to your priority when you bid on properties. Waiting time before a housing need arises will not count.

3. Removing the advantage given to people in employment: currently households in employment have a higher priority when they bid for a property. We propose removing the priority given to people in employment, so that priority is based on housing need and time on the waiting list.

4. Creating a new category based on overcrowding: we propose giving a higher priority to households who are overcrowded plus one other reasonable preference (housing need). We define severe overcrowding as being short of two or more bedrooms.

The consultation

The consultation is open until Monday 4th January 2021. The council will consider the responses it receives. Recommendations will then be made to Cabinet members to help them make a decision. We expect this to happen in March 2021.

The London Borough of Newham have appointed independent research agency Savanta to host this consultation and collect feedback from residents.

You can participate in the consultation by clicking here.

You can also request a postal version of the questionnaire by contacting newhamconsultation@mysavanta.com or 0800 304 7488.

With kind regards,

Darren Levy
Director of Housing

London Borough of Newham
Newham Dockside
1000 Dockside Road
London
E16 2QU

Keep up to date with the most up to date safety information about the Coronavirus on the Newham Council website ( www.newham.gov.uk/coronavirus) or call the Covid-19 helpline on 020 7273 9711 (1-7pm, 7 days a week)

UNISON wins another important legal case over employers who fail to consult unions

Following on from the victory over employment tribunal fees on Wednesday.

"UNISON has won a landmark court victory today (Friday 28 July) that makes it much harder for employers to ignore staff when making major changes in the workplace.

The Court of Appeal ruling means that for the first time employers will be obliged to consult with unions around any workplace issues that affect their members.

Until now, unions only had the right to be consulted where the law required this, for example in TUPE regulations where employees transfer from one employer to another, and in redundancy cases.

The ruling means employers will also have to involve unions in issues such as those around working hours and holiday pay.

It will benefit thousands of employees whose rights at work are under threat and means that employers will face greater scrutiny over their treatment of staff, says UNISON.

The victory came about after the union took up a case involving parks police who were made redundant by the London Borough of Wandsworth.

The Court of Appeal ruled that UNISON had the right to be consulted by Wandsworth over the job losses.

UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: “This is the second major legal victory in a week for working people. It means that employees in any workplace where there’s a union will now benefit from greater protection at work.

“The message to bosses is they will have to treat their staff more fairly over pay and working conditions. If they fail to consult unions then they will be acting unlawfully and could be taken to court.”