MP Julian Huppert has sought assurances that no-one will lose benefits through the government’s spare room under-occupancy policy if they cannot be offered a suitable alternative home.

He raised the issue with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Iain Duncan Smith yesterday (March 11) in the House of Commons because he claimed the policy relies on people being able to move and in some areas of the country – such as Cambridge – that is difficult to achieve.

And if he asked if there would be enough money for local authorities through the discretionary housing budget to make sure that no-one loses benefit in that case.

Mr Duncan Smith told him that the government had set aside £280 million over two years for councils to be able to negotiate and work out suitable solutions for their tenants.

Julian has also asked Mr Duncan Smith by letter to confirm Prime Minister David Cameron’s assurance made last week in the Commons that families with a severely disabled child will be exempt from the changes.

Cambridge City Executive Councillor for Housing, Catherine Smart raised her concerns with Julian over the effect of the policy on families which include a disabled person.

She said: “Often the extra room is needed to enable the family to care for the disabled person at home and alternatives would be very much more expensive than the small amount of housing benefit that would be saved by imposing this restriction.

“I am also concerned about the effect on other children if they have to share a bedroom with a sibling who does not sleep well because of their disability.”

And she was worried that money provided by the government for Cambridge’s discretionary housing benefit might not be enough to be able to offer all the help that is needed.

Julian said: “We know there are cases where people may need a spare room, such as those with a disabled child or those with a disability who have an occasional carer. This is why I pushed the government to substantially increase the money available for discretionary housing payments and why I have sought further reassurance from the Minister. Local authorities must be in a position to help those in genuine need.

“I was encouraged that the Prime Minister gave an assurance that families with a disabled child will be exempt from the changes but I want to make sure they will receive the help they need.

“At the same time we must also make sure that those people who are prepared to move but cannot be found suitably sized alternative accommodation do not have their benefit reduced – that would be unfair to them. It is important that they first be offered a suitable alternative, near enough to children’s schools and other essential facilities.

“In Cambridge, we have people in overcrowded housing, where a couple and children may be sharing a one-bedroom flat. They cannot understand why we are paying more for a single person to live in a 3-bedroom house than they get for their larger family. There are about 7,000 families in our city waiting for social housing at the moment.

“This is just not fair. It’s about getting a fairer balance while at the same time protecting the most vulnerable. Ultimately we need to build more social housing – and more is being built – but in the meantime we do need to support those in overcrowded housing to have something with enough bedrooms for them”

Residents will know that we have been working hard to resolve issues with the automated gate leading from Victoria Avenue onto Midsummer Common. The gate was installed to help prevent unauthorised access to the common.

The Council has been working to provide an electricity supply to the gate as a supplementary source of energy to power its opening and closing mechanism.

We have been told that the council re-armed the gate after the half marathon; the aim is to use the battery power until the electricity supply can be activated.

The electricity cable was installed last Thursday from the gate to the location of the feeder pillar near the Fort St George and we are awaiting UK Power Networks to connect up their part to the mains at the end of this month.

We will keep you updated on progress.

Cambridge could have its own indoor skate park after the city’s young people were asked for their views in an extensive consultation last summer.

The Liberal Democrat-run council is investigating whether the idea would be a possibility and whether there would be a high enough demand for it in the city.

The move comes after the council decided not to go-ahead with a city centre youth venue when young people told them it was not what they wanted.

In January 2013, 12 young people involved in planning last summer’s council-run Urban Sports Festival went with officers to visit an indoor skate facility in Northamptonshire.

The centre has an indoor ramp park for skate boards, BMX bikes, scooters and inline skaters. There is also a café, equipment hire and music rehearsal space.

Mike Pitt, Cambridge City Executive Councillor for Community Development and Health said: “We have talked at length with our young people through schools, youth clubs and last summer’s Urban Sports Festival to make sure that we are providing facilities and activities that they want and they will use.

“It was clear from the total lack of enthusiasm to get involved that a city centre youth venue was not really wanted. We know young people like to shape the services they use and in light of their views and other suggestions put forward, we are looking at other options.

“Skaters in the city have told us for some time that they would like an indoor skating facility in the city so we have decided to look at the possibility.

“At the same time, despite funding pressures on the council, we will continue to fund activities for young people. Another Urban Sports Festival is planned this year following the success of last year’s event and there will be other arts and sports events.”

Working together for parking solutions – One resident’s views, by Ed Cearns

Councillor Sarah Whitebread’s ongoing commitment to find practical solutions to the parking problems plaguing Kite residents took another positive step in February.

I accompanied her to a meeting with County officers and the promoters of the Parkside Place development.

This was one of the actions from the Parking working group that filled a resident’s kitchen to bursting point-despite clashing with the Six Nations coverage!- back in early February.

On February 21st I joined Sarah as a resident rep for a productive and frank meeting with Alex Robinson of Grosvenor Estates, John Onslow, Director of Infrastructure at the County Council and his colleague Graham Lowe, Area Manager for Traffic.

We were encouraged to learn that Grosvenor and the management company Encore will be looking to provide for all the parking needs of the new residents of the Parkside development on site. It was confirmed to us that the parking spaces are not being sold separately of the flats, so spaces can only be bought if a flat is purchased.
We were also assured that Grosvenor have not promoted the existence of visitor permits to their prospective buyers.

In addition, Hundred Houses Society, the Housing Association managing the social housing on the development, have advertised their part without any parking.

Grosvenor will also be establishing a parking booking system with Encore, so that residents can use each others unused spaces for visitors. The Central Library parking team will also have access to this so they can tell people when they try to get a visitors permit if there are spaces currently free on the development.

We were also heartened to discover that the considerable cycle parking on the development is at street level and that Grosvenor and Accord want to promote the Cambridge culture of greener travel to the new residents, thus reducing the need for car ownership and helping to integrate the new residents into the Cambridge way of life. As part of that, the residents’ welcome pack will include details of public transport, cycling and the local Zip Car scheme.

It was agreed that it will be critical to continue to monitor the parking situation over the next few months as residents start to move in and we will be meeting again in the autumn to review how things are going.

I left feeling that there was a commitment from all parties to ensure that the development doesn’t add to the already difficult challenges of parking for residents and their visitors in the area. I’m also sure that the local councillors will continue to work hard to hold everyone involved to the commitment made on that bitterly cold day at the County offices!

Ed Cearns
Market resident and local campaigner