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Prime Minister Tony Blair was handed a copy of the Defend Council Housing’s new report on Saturday at the Labour Party DCH National Policy Forum.
DCH members lobbied delegates to speed up introducing Labour conference policy "to provide the ‘fourth option’ of direct investment to council housing as a matter of urgency.” Tony Blair agreed to accept a copy of the report from tenants leafleting the event. The issue was also raised in the Prime Minister’s Q&A session.
Significantly the ‘Labour Housing Group’ also produced a briefing for delegates which supports the campaign’s call for income from tenants rents and capital receipts from ‘right to buy’ sales to be ring-fenced to provide additional funds to enable councils to carry out improvements to tenants’ homes and estates. The LHG paper borrows from the DCH and House of Commons Council Housing group’s proposal for 2* authorities to be given extra money and powers in a formula they call a ‘Retained Management Option’.
It all shows that the demand for the ‘Fourth Option’ for council housing is being pushed up the political agenda. In September the Labour Party conference is likely to vote in favour of a change in government policy on this issue for the third year running.
Signatories to the campaign’s Open Letter to Tony Blair now include senior backbench MPs Frank Dobson, Michael Meacher and Clare Short; Austin Mitchell, chair of the House of Commons Council Housing group and a wide range of union general secretaries including Dave Prentis (UNISON), Derek Simpson (Amicus), Mark Serwotka (PCS), Billy Hayes (CWU), Alan Ritchie (UCATT) and Paul Mackney (UCU). Campaign supporters are collecting signatures amongst tenants and local councillors from all parties across the UK.
Michael Meacher MP will be one of the speakers at the DCH fringe meeting at the Local Government Association conference on Wednesday (July 5, 6pm Hermitage Hotel, Bournemouth).
Ends
Press release issued: July 3 2006
