Harlow Housing Money for Harlow People

Today I asked a question to Prime Minister David Cameron.

I asked him why the last Labour Government took £13 million a year out of Harlow's housing money, pushing up rents for social tenants, and leading to a situation where nearly one in ten people in Harlow are now on the Council waiting list. (This is twice as many as nearby Chelmsford.)

My full question was:

"Is the Prime Minister aware that the last Government took £13 million a year out of Harlow's social housing budget, to give to their friends elsewhere? Because of this under-investment, one in ten people in my constituency are now on the Council housing waiting list. Does he agree that social housing money raised in Harlow should be spent in Harlow, and that Harlow housing money should be for Harlow people?"

In reply, he was very positive, and made it clear that this unfair bureaucracy will end. He said:

"My Honourable Friend makes a very powerful point. At a difficult time in terms of local budgets, in our relations with Local Authorities, we should be giving them money, and taking away the ringfences, and the complications of all the different grants, and saying: 'You are democratically elected, you decide how that money is spent'. That is what you are going to see from this Government, and I think it will be welcomed by Local Government up and down the country."

The full scale of the money taken out of Harlow over the years was revealed by Housing Minister Grant Shapps MP, in his answer to a written question I asked a few weeks ago. It amounts to nearly £75 million over the last few years.

I am glad that the new Government will finally scrap this unfair system, and keep Harlow housing money for Harlow people.

by Robert Halfon - www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com