LETTER TO EDITOR: Why are we punishing the homeless?

I am extremely concerned about the impact of the Conservative Government’s new punitive benefits cap on some of the poorest households in the city.

There is no doubt that this new cap will greatly increase the risk of evictions for rent arrears. The Chartered Institute of Housing has calculated that some of the poorest families in Brighton and Hove will lose more than £100 a week. This is coming on top of the Labour Council leadership’s proposals to once again increase council tax for the poorest households. Labour recently also massively cut almost 100 beds for homeless people while claiming with a straight face that it would mean “more people will be able to access accommodation.”

Whilst it is welcome that the council will be offering support to residents around explaining the impact of the benefit changes, explaining what will happen doesn’t address the reality that together these national and local policies will ensure that this Christmas will be incredibly tough for some of the poorest people in our city. The proposals are in fact incredibly short-sighted – as they will mean we end up with more homeless, which in turn will cause further costs to the council, police and NHS.

This further attack on people already living on low incomes is criminal. I have come to expect stinginess from the Conservative government but for it to be joined by this mean-spirit from Labour is nothing short of an outrage.

This will surely leave one of the very few commitments Labour made in their manifesto in 2015 – “to end rough sleeping by 2019”– in tatters.

Yours sincerely,
Councillor Phélim Mac Cafferty
Green Party Councillor for Brunswick and Adelaide
Convenor of the Green Group of Councillors, Brighton and Hove City Council