| 
| 
| |
| |||||||||||||||||||
 | |
FACTS campaign launched: Your Home, Your Future, What Choice?7 January 2005The Fight Against Council Transfers and Sell-offs campaign has been launched by the Independent Working Class Association (IWCA) in response to Oxford City Council’s Stock Options Appraisal—the process that will determine the fate of council housing in the city.The council says that it is consulting tenants to find out which option they want. However, the experience of council tenants in many other parts of the country suggests that when
alternatives to local authority housing are proposed, things are unlikely to be that straightforward.
In order to decide on the best option it is vital tenants have access to all the relevant information. Don’t rely solely on the council to keep you informed—the obligations it has towards central government as well as the political views of the councillors who run it may mean it favours one or more of the options. Even the ‘Independent Tenants’ Advisor’ may not be entirely impartial—while they are supposed to give independent advice they are, after all, paid by the council. The articles here paint a slightly different picture to that of the council’s stock options newsletter: Your Home, Your Future, Your Choice. Some of the crucial facts about ALMOs,
security of tenure rights and rent levels have been left out of the council literature.
To view this file you need Adobe Acrobat Reader. If, after weighing up the pros and cons, tenants decide they would prefer to stick with council housing then they may find themselves facing stiff opposition. The government is openly in favour of taking the management and ownership of social housing out of local authority control and the Labour-dominated city council is unlikely to go against Labour government policy. Last year IWCA councillor Stuart Craft submitted a motion to the council calling on it to ensure that any ballot on the future of council housing would be fair, with equal opportunities for those in favour and those against to present their views and talk to voting tenants. This was rejected by Labour and the Lib Dems—hardly an encouraging sign for those hoping they will be given a fair say in deciding what happens to their homes. All this means that it may not be enough for tenants simply to wait for a vote on their preferred option. To retain council housing it will probably be necessary to campaign heavily to make sure that all those participating in the ballot are fully informed and get to hear different points of view. And even if tenants decide that an ALMO, PFI or transfer to a housing association is in their best interest then it is still important to ensure that promises made by the council are kept and that the appropriate safeguards are put in place. To get involved in the FACTS campaign contact Maurice Leen on: 07733 274 324 or email us here at administrator@iwca-oxford.org.uk
| |||||||||||||||||
