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Coalition plans

June 06 2010
Eric Pickles will be watching those purse strings... Eric Pickles will be watching those purse strings...
We look at the new government and what it‘s likely to mean for our readership The votes are in, and a coalition of Conservative and Liberal Democrat ministers has been formed - we are Con-Dem-ed now. Compromises will have to be made regarding the proposals and policies outlined in each of the party manifestos. It is too early to outline what changes The Pavement readers can expect, but we can explain what might well be on the cards.

People working in the public sector - and that's any government-funded social or healthcare programme - are likely to see big cuts in their budgets. The coalition has agreed to cut 6bn of "government waste" in this financial year, and an emergency budget on 22 June will outline where the axe will fall. Housing bodies have warned that funding cuts could mean hundreds of thousands of affordable homes will not be built, with knock-on effects for people on housing waiting lists. Cuts could also affect 'inessential' welfare programmes for street sleepers, and charities are struggling to fill the gaps in the recession.

The new men watching many of these purse strings are Eric Pickles, Communities Secretary, and Housing Minister Grant Shapps, whom The Pavement profiled in February 2008. A keen observer of homeless issues, Mr Shapps slept rough two Christmas' ago to learn more about how policy impacts on people. He has written reports addressing the need to better acknowledge links between rough sleeping, drug and alcohol addiction, and poor headcount policy. However, under the new coalition, 'Housing Minister' is no longer a cabinet post, though housing was deemed sufficiently important to warrant a seat at the top table under Labour. In his official statement on landing the job Mr Shapps said: "I look forward to continuing and developing my relationships with the industry and feel sure that our new government will be able to make genuine improvements to the housing industry which has suffered so badly under 13 years of Labour Government."

One of his key manifesto policies was to reverse the change, made by Labour, to give housing benefit to an individual. This affects the 800,000 people using Local Housing Allowance to pay private landlords. Mr Shapps maintains that those on income support often lead 'chaotic lives', so cutting out the need for housing benefit to be transferred again from tenant to landlord will be helpful. Landlords love the new policy, but reviews are mixed from tenants.

Another key housing policy was launched last year under the Social Mobility Task Force, which researched ways to make it easier for social housing tenants to move home. A bill covering this subject is widely expected to be one of the first pieces of legislation introduced by the new government. Inside Housing reported that the bill would consider "making it a legal obligation for social landlords to keep a portion of their vacant homes empty for tenants who may wish to move into them from other parts of the country." Another man to watch will be former Conservative leader Ian Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary and the man in charge of benefits. The Conservatives won substantial support in their election campaign for their 'Get Britain Working' campaign, with party members rolling up their sleeves for the cameras at every opportunity. His department will be expected to cut the number of people claiming benefits substantially, which has grown steadily under Labour (and, of course, during the recession) and costs a whopping 70bn a year. The jolly-sounding 'Willingness to Work' programme will be a hard-line reduction in cash for anyone who turns down a job. Last year Mr Duncan Smith tabled ideas to replace the 51 complex forms of income support with just two types of benefit, but this is likely to be axed due its high initial costs. Disability allowance, which costs taxpayers 16bn, is likely to be another key sticking point, as Mr Duncan Smith sees working as the key to a happy life.

Another policy change that could possibly impact on those sleeping rough is immigration. As well as scrapping identity cards, the new government plan to place an annual cap on the number of migrants coming to work in the UK from outside the EU, though no number has been fixed. This would not affect A10s, who make up a sizeable number of the homeless population. Finally the Conservatives originally tabled plans for a British Bill of Rights to supersede the Human Rights Act, but this has - so far - vanished under the coalition.

• Government research supporting this article is available here.
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