Complaints over unsafe housing taking a year to resolve after campaign to speed it up March 28, 2023 Social housing tenants are being forced to wait 12 months or more for the housing ombudsman to deal with complaints of unsafe conditions, despite a government campaign to speed up the process. Earlier this year, Michael Gove, the Housing Secretary, launched the “Make it Right” advertising campaign, directing people to complain to the housing ombudsman [...]
Explainer: The cost of transport in London is higher than any other major city March 24, 2023 If you live in London, you will have noticed public transport costs have gone up. And by quite a big chunk – from the 5th of March TfL fares went up by an average of 5.9 per cent. This makes the UK the country with the most expensive public transport in the world, according to [...]
A supermarket crackdown on seasonal workers picking UK fruit is too little, too late March 22, 2023 Our farms heavily rely on seasonal workers. But the system is ripe for exploitation - and supermarkets and other stakeholders have a responsibility to fix it, writes Elena Siniscalco
Explainer: The Met Police is at risk of being broken up March 20, 2023 The Met Police have faced scandal after scandal in the last few years. The past couple of years cast light on serious failings to get rid of violent, misogynistic and racist officials. After the murder of Sarah Everard by serving officer Wayne Couzens, many women don’t trust the police anymore – only 4 per cent [...]
Explainer: Why are the SNP losing members? March 17, 2023 The Scottish National Party is losing members: this is the reality that the contenders to replace Nicola Sturgeon had to grapple with this week. The party said the current membership stands at 72,186. These will be the people who ultimately get to decide who becomes the new leader of the party. At the beginning of [...]
Explainer: Are Michael Gove’s threats to developers working? March 16, 2023 This morning, we broke the news that residential developer Telford Homes was ready to sign Michael Gove’s cladding pledge. Just hours later, the developer officially capitulated and signed. These developments indicate that Gove’s threats, after all, are working. Monday was the official deadline for signing the legally binding contract. Thirty-nine developers accepted their responsibility to [...]
Exclusive: Telford Homes to sign Gove’s cladding pledge after threat of ban March 16, 2023 Property developer Telford Homes has capitulated to threats from Michael Gove and signed a pledge to fix faulty cladding similar to that which led to the fire at Grenfell Tower. One of London’s largest residential developers was one of 11 firms told they would be prevented from building new properties unless they signed the pledge, [...]
Explainer: Why Hunt extended energy support in the Budget March 15, 2023 One of the first announcements in today’s Budget was an extension on the energy price cap, keeping it at its current rate of £2,500 per household until the end of June. The cap was meant to expire next month, but Jeremy Hunt capitulated to the campaigners’ pleas and u-turned. He also probably realised he had [...]
One child in every London classroom is homeless, shock council data claims March 15, 2023 One child in every classroom in London is homeless, on average, shock new data from councils across the capital has claimed. There are 166,000 homeless people living in the capital and of these 81,000 are children, a new report from the London Councils network has claimed. On average, this means one in every 23 children [...]
Explainer: Swimming in it, Sunak’s funds for public pools March 14, 2023 If you’re dying to know what will be in the budget tomorrow, City A.M. has got you sorted with the most important bit of news: the funding pot for swimming pools. The Chancellor is handing out £63m to leisure centres with pools in a one-year fund. Part of the money is for energy-efficiency measures and [...]
