poverty

Number of homeless children in England reaches record high

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https://leftfootforward.org/2024/04/number-of-homeless-children-in-england-reaches-record-high/. Many articles from Left FootForward featured today.

A record 145,800 children are now homeless in England, the government’s latest quarterly homelessness stats have shown, highlighting once more the sheer scale of the housing crisis in the country.

The number of children living in temporary accommodation is now at the highest ever level recorded and up 15% on last year.

Almost 320,000 households were assessed as homeless or at risk of homelessness – also a  record high, while the number of households threatened with homelessness and owed a prevention duty because of a section 21 notice is the highest on record, at 25,910 over the last year. It was only last week that the government failed to set a date for banning section 21 no-fault eviction notices, which continue to have devastating impacts for low-income and vulnerable households up and down the country.

Reacting to the record figures, Matt Downie, chief executive at Crisis, said: “Today’s statistics need to be a wake-up call. We are failing to stop people being forced into homelessness and we are failing to help them back out. These are the appalling consequences of our failure to get a grip on this crisis.

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https://leftfootforward.org/2024/04/number-of-homeless-children-in-england-reaches-record-high/. Many articles from Left FootForward featured today.

Continue ReadingNumber of homeless children in England reaches record high

It’s time to ban MPs from taking donations from fossil fuel firms

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https://leftfootforward.org/2024/04/its-time-to-ban-mps-from-taking-donations-from-fossil-fuel-firms/ Many articles from LeftFootForward today.

We need to build a firewall between politicians and the oil and gas firms driving the climate crisis.

Richard Burgon is the Labour MP for Leeds East

The same oil and gas giants behind the record energy bills that have forced so many into poverty have also brought us to the cliff edge of climate catastrophe.

If we are to have a fighting chance of preventing the worst of the climate crisis, then we need to rapidly cut fossil fuel use. Key to that is breaking the vast power that oil and gas companies have over our politics.

That’s why this week I will present a Bill in the House of Commons to ban MPs from receiving funding or any other benefit from oil and gas companies.

My Private Members Bill would stop MPs from taking any second jobs with, or receiving any donations, gifts, hospitality or benefits-in-kind from, any company that makes more than 50% of its annual revenue from oil or gas.

It would also force the Government to end investments by the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund in any oil and gas companies.

The aim of my Bill is simple: to build a firewall between our political decision-makers and the oil and gas corporations that have knowingly caused the climate crisis.

For decades, oil and gas giants used their vast financial power to confuse and undermine the science about the role of fossil fuels in driving climate change. More recently, their focus has moved on throwing huge sums at delaying, blocking and weakening global climate action.

Fossil fuel money also pollutes British politics. The Tory Party received £3.5m from donors with fossil fuel, polluter and climate denial links in 2022 according to an analysis of Electoral Commission records by DeSmog, an investigative website focused on global warming misinformation campaigns.

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https://leftfootforward.org/2024/04/its-time-to-ban-mps-from-taking-donations-from-fossil-fuel-firms/

dizzy: Despite this article having been written by a Labour MP it should not be assumed that the UK Labour Party will be any different from the Conservatives on the climate crisis or fossil fuel industry.

Continue ReadingIt’s time to ban MPs from taking donations from fossil fuel firms

Millions living in ‘dangerous’ homes that put people’s health at risk, charities say

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/millions-living-dangerous-homes-putting-peoples-health-risk-charities-say

Houses, August 19, 2014

EIGHT million people are at risk of ill-health caused by substandard housing that is putting “enormous strain” on an overstretched NHS, a coalition of charities warned today.

Nine charities are backing a national Safe Homes Now campaign, demanding an end to the “scandal” of 3.7 million “dangerous” homes “that pose significant risk to inhabitants’ health” in both the private rented and owner-occupied sectors.

The charities said the “hidden housing crisis” included shocking conditions such as rat infestation, damp, leaks and mould on children’s bedding.

They said that grant support for home repairs has been slashed by more than £2 billion over the past decade, preventing the repair of 600,000 homes.

And they highlighted that 2.2 million owner-occupied homes were now defined as “unsafe” — double the number in the private rented sector.

A survey by campaign founder the Centre for Better Ageing revealed increasing problems with heating costs and home maintenance bills.

The nine charities, including St John Ambulance, Race Equality Foundation and children’s charity Barnardo’s, are calling for a “national strategy to tackle the poor quality of the country’s homes” that includes halving the number of unsafe homes within the next decade to improve the nation’s health.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/millions-living-dangerous-homes-putting-peoples-health-risk-charities-say

Continue ReadingMillions living in ‘dangerous’ homes that put people’s health at risk, charities say

Energy giants reap £420bn profits as beleaguered customers faced further price hikes

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/energy-giants-reap-ps420bn-profits-beleaguered-customers-faced-further-price-hikes

An online energy bill, February 3, 2022

AS BELEAGUERED customers faced further price hikes today, the scale of Britain’s energy rip-off was revealed.

The energy firms have collectively reaped profits of £420 billion since 2020, according to research by the End Fuel Poverty Coalition.

For comparison, the annual budget of the Department of Health & Social Care, which includes the NHS, was £181.7bn in 2022-3.

Though the Ofgem-imposed price cap, limiting what customers pay for each unit of gas and electricity that we use, fell today to £1,690 a year for a typical household, the average standing charge rose from £303 a year to £334.

These charges, which have to be paid even if no gas or electricity is used, have risen by 147 per cent since the 2022 outbreak of war in Ukraine.

Those cashing in on the profits dividend include not only the energy providers but also the firms that own the wires and pipes through which electricity and gas supplies travel, all publicly owned prior to privatisation in 1990.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/energy-giants-reap-ps420bn-profits-beleaguered-customers-faced-further-price-hikes

Continue ReadingEnergy giants reap £420bn profits as beleaguered customers faced further price hikes

Children ‘forgotten’ as figures show record poverty with top earners only ones better off

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/children-forgotten-figures-show-record-poverty-top-earners-only-ones

A preschool age child playing with plastic building blocks, January 24, 2016

CHILD poverty hit a record high as only the top earners were better off last year, official figures revealed today.

Campaigners said youngsters were being forgotten as the statistics showed food insecurity soared by 53 per cent, 100,000 more working households fell below the poverty line and more pensioners were unable to afford basic goods such as food and heating.

The Department for Work and Pensions estimated 4.33 million children in households in relative low income – below 60 per cent of median income after housing costs — in the year to March 2023.

This is up from 4.22 million the previous year and the highest since comparable records for Britain began in 2002/03.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/children-forgotten-figures-show-record-poverty-top-earners-only-ones

Continue ReadingChildren ‘forgotten’ as figures show record poverty with top earners only ones better off