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Solidarity, Scotland’s Socialist Movement party has condemned any proposed rent increase in the Highlands and Islands Region as “unnecessary and spiteful”
In a savage and wide-ranging criticism of the Council’s housing troubles, Solidarity, which was at the forefront of the No vote campaign, has identified numerous sources of funding that would make excessive increases in rents avoidable.
Steve Arnott, spokesperson for Scotland’s fastest growing political party in the region said:
“There was plenty of money available to fund the privatisation of council houses, so why is it not being made available to councils which retain their stock? Solidarity Co-Convenor, Tommy Sheridan MSP, backed Arnott's calls, calling on the Scottish Executive to release Regeneration funding: "“We expect the council to demand that the remaining £21 million of the £50 million Regeneration Fund, used as a bribe during the stock transfer process, be honoured by the Scottish Executive." Arnott detailed many options for funding available to the region:
“Just look at the money sloshing about - £160million to write off the housing debt, £11million to cover debt restructuring, £5.6million to create the defeated housing company. The current housing debt is also falling by £7million annually, and by re-investing those repayment premiums of around £700,000 per year the Council could raise new money in excess of £7million per year. There are also unspent capital reserves of £14million that would have been lost in the event of transfer. Add to this a further £21million remaining in the Regeneration fund used as a bribe to encourage transfer."
“All of this money is sitting there, and could transform the current housing situation with no need for high rent rises. The lunacy of current housing policy is evident for all to see. Clearly any increase in rents above inflation will be purely down to the political will of the Labour-controlled Government and Scottish Executive. it is also true that any extra rent, which will hit around 40% of tenants not on benefits, many low paid, is both unnecessary and
spiteful.”
Arnott criticized the Councils poor performance in housing management and looked forward to holding to account next May, adding:
“Although the financial situation may be laid at the door of the Labour Government and its LibDem poodles in Scotland, it is also true to say that Councillors and senior officials have been accomplices. The loss of rents through voids - unlet properties - is a direct result of council policy, which has been running down the housing service throughout the summer and diverting staff to doorstep sales campaigns for privatisation.
“The recent revelation that the defeated housing company’s cash flows would never have been sufficient to meet their own debt, a fact concealed by the Board’s councillor members throughout the debate and ballot, is a damning indictment of their incompetence and duplicity. Something is rotten at the core of Highland Council’s leadership and we cannot wait until the May elections to sort it out.”
Solidarity Co-Convenor Tommy Sheridan MSP said:
”The Council should unite with other councils, trade unions, and tenants organisations to fight for adequate funding of council housing, in particular for the housing debt to be written off. This would cost not a penny more than if stock transfer had gone ahead. Solidarity welcomes moves by the Scottish Tenants Organisation for a national campaign to force the Executive to ‘Drop the Debt’ and invest in new quality council housing for rent”
Regarding the proposed merger of two departments into a Housing and Property Services joint department, Mr Arnott said:
“We are concerned that the additional costs of a new, larger, single department are not passed on to tenants. Clear boundaries must be in place so that budgets are not blurred. Further, it is not acceptable that staff cuts are used to pay for the incompetence and lack of forward planning by senior officials. We will support the trade unions if they decide to take action against job losses.” |
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