Information Bulletin

Summary of News and Publications from the Week ending 20 September 2013

JRF Activity
Data Featured statistics in the new data section of the JRF website include: Child Poverty Rate by Region; Child Poverty by Family Type; Attainment at Age 16 in England and in Wales; Housing Benefit Claims by Region; Long Term View of Poverty. Summary Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion in Wales 2013. Report - A role for Equity Finance in the UK Housing Markets? - How innovations in equity finance could make home ownership safer and more affordable.

Poverty
The coalition has announced that all 5-7 year olds in state schools will receive free school lunches from September 2014. Free school meals will also be extended to disadvantaged students in further education and sixth forms. The cost of the measures is estimated at 600 million. An estimated one in three council tenants affected by the bedroom tax has fallen into rent arrears since its introduction, according to figures from 114 local authorities. The data was gathered in response to a freedom of information request. In some areas, the figure is much higher three quarters of tenants in Barrow, for example, are now in rent arrears. A survey of 51 housing associations by the National Housing Federation (NHF) found that 51% of residents affected by the Bedroom Tax have been unable to pay their rent between April and June. Housing provide Riverside has published the latest report as part of its three year longitudinal study into 18 tenant families in Carlisle, Wirral and South London, and their experiences of austerity and welfare changes. Although two-thirds of the households struggled to afford to heat their homes, they were reluctant to move from higher-tariff prepayment meters, since it provided way for them to manage their expenditure and prevented them being in debt with energy providers. It has been reported that Cabinet Secretary Jeremy Heywood has been asked to carry out a review of the coalitions strategy for tackling youth unemployment. The Consumer Prices Index for the year to August 2013 was 2.7%, 0.1% lower than in July but up 0.2% on August last year. The main downward pressures came from motor fuels, air transport and clothing. Guidance from the Director of Public Prosecutions has produced guidelines which could result in tougher prison sentences for people who commit benefit fraud. The guidelines remove the financial threshold which means that smaller cases can be referred to a crown court rather than magistrates court. They also recommend charging benefit fraudsters under the Fraud Act rather than social security laws.

Place
Analysis of official statistics by the umbrella body London Councils, suggests that 809,000 homes are needed in London by 2021 to meet both new housing need and the backlog of housing need. Current housing supply levels suggest that there will be a deficit of 559,000 homes by 2021. The Chartered Institute of Housing Scotland has welcomed the news that the Scottish Government has Committed 390 million for affordable housing for 2015/16, a 21% increase on the current spending for the programme. The first Green Deal collaborative projects are starting to be delivered in Liverpool City Region using Green Deal Go Early funding. A consortium of social landlords and local authorities has allowed 76 hard to treat homes, and houses transformed into flats, to be retrofitted with energy saving measures. The Existing Homes Alliance welcomes the Scottish Governments continued 79 million per year for the next two years for addressing fuel poverty and home carbon emissions, but has estimated that 100 million is required to meet fuel poverty targets. The results of a consumer survey of a sample of 500 households which have received a Green Deal assessment have been published. 56% claimed to have installed at least one of the measures they were recommended, whilst 6% said they were in the process of installing one. A further 19% said they would probably or definitely install at least one measure. Annual figures from the Department of Energy and Climate Change on household insulation show that over the last year, an estimated 4% more properties (460,000) installed cavity wall insulation, 6% more properties (980,000) installed loft insulation of at least 125mm and 45% more (65,000) properties had solid wall insulation. The Welsh Government published statistics on homelessness in Wales for April to June 2013 - 1,355 households were accepted as homeless, a fall of 8% compared with the same quarter last year. Vince Cable has called on the Government to investigate the possibility of introducing a land value tax, where landowners would pay a levy on the unimproved value of the land of their property.

An Ageing Society
The latest official figures on healthy life expectancy (HLE), show that Richmond upon Thames is the local authority with the highest HLE for both men (70.3 years) and women (72.1 years). The lowest HLE for men is Manchester at 55 years and Tower Hamlets for women at 54.1 years. The inequality in HLE between local authority areas is greatest for women. A paper from the Strategic Society Centre Right Care, Right Price, recommends an immediate radical rethink on how the price of domiciliary and residential care is determined. The report finds that the price of care and how much local authorities pay for it is generally not understood by the public and recommends that the Government strengthen the link between price and quality and ensures the financial stability of care providers.

80% of local authorities are now restricting home care to people with critical or substantial needs, compared to 70% in 2009, according to a Which? Investigation. Out of the 26 councils who said they offered home care to people with moderate or low needs in 2009, only 12 continue to do so. A third of the 100 councils who responded to a question on charges, a third have increased their charges above the rate of inflation. Research from Age UK shows the gap in the proportion of people over 65 who are online in different areas of the country. Surrey leads with way with only with only 37% of over 65s not online, compared to Tyne & Wear, which is bottom of the table, with 72% not online. Women over 75 who live alone are the most likely group in society to have never been online. The Office of Fair Trading has agreed with The Pensions Regulator (TPR) reforms to address some of the problems the OFT identified in its report on defined contribution pensions. Employees have had difficulty in choosing the right pension and assessing value for money. The TPR has agreed to assess which small trust based defined contribution schemes are not giving value for money and the Association of British Insurers are to audit old and high charging contract and bundled schemes. This Information Bulletin is produced on a weekly basis as an update for staff at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) and the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust (JRHT) for the purposes of their work it is not intended to be comprehensive but represents a selection of news and reports appearing in the last week. The items contained in this Bulletin are for information only and do not necessarily reflect the views of the JRF and JRHT.