Pledging help against hard times

THE chief executive of Halton Housing Trust has vowed to do what he can to help customers after the Government announced restrictions to housing benefits.

Nick Atkin said the Coalition Government’s decision to make a series of changes to housing benefit and freeze child benefit for three years would make life harder for the organisation’s customers living in Halton.

“We are concerned about the impact the proposed changes to housing benefit would have on the communities in which we work in Halton,” he said.

“There is a need to tackle the deficit, but we do not believe housing and support for those who do not have the means to pay some or all of their rent payments should be used as a punitive tool.

“Housing is a basic human right in a civilised society and to, in effect, threaten people with taking this away or forcing people into sub standard low cost housing is not the answer.”

The Trust has recently trebled its welfare benefits support service to ensure it can cope with an already increased demand for the service.

Ongoing support includes the welfare advice and financial assessments available from the Trust’s Welfare Benefit Support Officer. As a major local employer the recent recruitment campaign focused on employing local people.

The Trust has also actively supported the New Shoots programme, which enables customers to buy fruit and vegetables at vastly reduced rates. Money advice is also available at Sure Start coffee mornings.

Chancellor George Osborne announced a number of changes in his emergency budget including reductions imposed on those struggling to find work, those of working age under occupying homes and a limit of housing benefit to £400 a week for a four-bedroom or larger house. He said the changes would help save £1.8bn by the end of the current Parliament.

Halton Housing Trust owns 6,120 homes in the area and over the past 4½ years has spent £100million on improvements and modernising properties.

Mr Atkin said the not-for-profit organisation would continue to seek ways to secure funding to ensure further improvements to its homes and communities are made in future.

“We need a dialogue from which a series of well thought through proposals are developed which do not have the adverse impact the current set of measures will have if they remain unchanged,” he said.

“This is why we have also added our support to the national campaign to secure these changes via our professional body.”