Camden New Journal
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By RICHARD OSLEY
 

David Miliband MP outside Camden Town library in Eversholt Street


Alan Walter from Defend Council Housing
Minister boosts home cash hopes

Admission that government has to respect tenants’ vote and find way forward

A SENIOR government minister has said Whitehall should look again at freeing up £283 million promised for the renovation of council tenants’ homes.
MP David Miliband, the minister for communities and local government, told the New Journal on Tuesday that the crucial 2003 vote on whether tenants would allow their homes to be looked after by an Arms’-Length Management Organisation (Almo) should be respected.
Tenants voted overwhelming against the deal – prompting the government to freeze cash earmarked for renovating Camden homes.
The minister – who lives in Primrose Hill and attended Haverstock School as a boy – was visiting Camden Town library in Eversholt Street and a council-run job recruitment service.
He said: “There is a ballot system and we have to respect the result of that ballot.
“It was a matter for local people and it is something we need to look at again. We are talking to the council about the way forward.”
He added that, since coming to power, the Labour government had spent £350 million on Camden’s council housing stock.
He said: “All tenants would say they want something done – but funding has been more than doubled by central government. That is a direct investment in improving homes.”
He maintained that the idea of bringing in housing associations to manage social housing worked, and believed Camden tenants should be receptive to changes in how their homes are run – as long as the work is done to a high standard.
He continued: “People should understand that there is a role for housing associations and this is something that should be looked into.”
Tenants’ activist Alan Walter, who lives on the Peckwater estate in Leighton Road and is chairman of the national pressure group Defend Council Housing, said Mr Miliband’s comments were indicative of a sea change of thought currently sweeping through government ranks.
He said: “There has been a groundswell of opinion across the political spectrum about the rejection of the three options – Almos, stock transfer and private finance initiatives.
“Ministers are realising they have to recognise tenants’ rights to choose and they have to realise they can no longer withhold money that is needed for council housing.”
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