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'Work or lose home' says minister 'Work or lose home' says minister
(about 5 hours later)
Council tenants who do not work should seek employment or face losing their homes, the new housing minister Caroline Flint has proposed. Unemployed council and housing association tenants should seek work or face losing their homes, housing minister Caroline Flint has suggested.
In an interview with The Guardian, Ms Flint suggested new applicants for social housing should be given "commitment contracts". She said new applicants for social housing might sign "commitment contracts" pledging to seek employment.
The scheme would not be aimed at genuine incapacity benefit claimants. In a speech, Ms Flint said: "Social housing should be based around the principle of something for something."
Shadow housing minister Grant Shapps said the idea was "meaningless" as it could not be legally enforced.Shadow housing minister Grant Shapps said the idea was "meaningless" as it could not be legally enforced.
Half of all households paid for by benefits are without work, the Hills report published last February showed. In her first speech as housing minister Ms Flint told the Fabian Society that she wanted to "begin a debate" about how to best serve the needs of people who live in social housing.
She said: "Social housing will always have a strong role in supporting the most vulnerable - the elderly, those with disabilities.
But there are also many who are currently unemployed who could find work with the right training and support."
Ms Flint said that a family applying for a home could be offered "new opportunities linked to employment and training."
She suggested that a "voluntary contract" would set out the opportunities on offer, "underscoring the commitment of the tenants to self-improvement."
A spokesman from Ms Flint's Department of Communities and Local Government would not confirm whether this meant that tenants who then broke their contracts would face eviction.
"The minister made it quite clear she is starting a debate, and nothing is definite at the moment," he said.
Deprivation
Ms Flint said Labour wanted to break the link between social housing and long-term unemployment. She described "concentrations of deprivation and disadvantage - with long-term unemployment and some families without jobs for generations."
A report commissioned last year by her department suggested that half of all households paid for by benefits were without work, and many of these are under 25.
New statistics also reveal that the number of unemployed council tenants has risen by 20% to 55% since 1981.
What is being proposed would destroy families and communities and add to the thousands who are already homeless Shelter chief executive Adam SampsonWhat is being proposed would destroy families and communities and add to the thousands who are already homeless Shelter chief executive Adam Sampson
Many of these are under-25. It is understood that if the new contracts do become a reality, they would apply to new tenants at first - but if successful they could be extended to existing tenants.
Ms Flint will discuss the issue in a speech at the Fabian Society on Tuesday, through which it is thought she hopes to start a debate on a "something for something" culture. Ms Flint's proposals were attacked by her political opponents as unworkable, and by others as unfair.
She told the Guardian: "It would be a big change of culture from the time when the council handed someone the keys and forgot about them for 30 years. Headlines
"The question we should ask of new tenants is what commitment they will make to improve their skills, find work and take the support that is available." Conservative housing spokesman Grant Shapps said Ms Flint was trying to "grab the headlines" with proposals that could not be legally enforced.
It is understood that Ms Flint, who has just moved to housing from the Department of Work and Pensions, is keen to look at the link between housing and economic inactivity.
Living in an area where there is a concentration of unemployment can be a deterrent to finding work, she said.
'Peer pressure'
"If you are in a family, an estate or a neighbourhood where nobody works, that impacts on your own aspiration. It is a form of peer pressure."
The new contracts would apply to new council tenants at first, but could be extended to existing tenants.
HAVE YOUR SAY Every unemployed person should be made to look for work, or have work given to them James Mac Send us your comments
More job centres could be opened on the estates themselves to tackle pockets of joblessness.
Ms Flint also said tenants who moved to take a job would be given priority in finding a new home.
Shadow housing minister Grant Shapps said Ms Flint was trying to "grab the headlines" with proposals that could not be legally enforced.
"Ministers and local councils have a statutory duty to house homeless families with children and so they can't boot them out of their houses without then providing alternative accommodation," he said."Ministers and local councils have a statutory duty to house homeless families with children and so they can't boot them out of their houses without then providing alternative accommodation," he said.
"What we've heard is classic Labour spin - designed to sound tough, but is in reality meaningless." class="lp" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/default.stm">HAVE YOUR SAY Every unemployed person should be made to look for work, or have work given to them James Mac class="" href="http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?forumID=4222&edition=1&ttl=20080205094010">Send us your comments
Housing charity Shelter condemned the suggestion, saying the government wanted to return unemployed people to the workhouse "by throwing them onto the streets". David Orr, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, which represents England's housing associations, said: "Such a policy would be unfair and impossible to enforce.
Shelter chief executive Adam Sampson said: "What is being proposed would destroy families and communities and add to the thousands who are already homeless. "Many of the jobs open to people, especially at the lower skills end, are insecure or temporary."
"We accept there's a problem with some unemployed people shying away from work, but the government must find other ways to tackle the issue like revamping the housing benefit system. Housing charity Shelter's chief executive Adam Sampson said: "What is being proposed would destroy families and communities and add to the thousands who are already homeless.
"Making people homeless means they do not have an address, which makes it even more difficult to find work." The general secretary of the TUC, Brendan Barber, said: "The right to a home is a fundamental right that should not be linked to employment status.
The speech will be the first made by Ms Flint in her new post. "A family already struggling on a low income should not face added insecurity and stress over their home because of unemployment."
But Ms Flint's proposals were supported by a centre-right think tank, the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS).
CPS spokeswoman Jill Kirby told the BBC that Ms Flint was "looking at a very small symptom of a much bigger problem.
"She should be persuading her Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, and the Chancellor that a much bigger overhaul of our welfare system is needed.
"We've been left with a system that actually traps people on benefits."