Tom Clark

Chart showing percentage gap between LHA rates and the estimated 30th percentile rent level since April 2012: Great Britain In April 2011, LHA was lowered to the 30th percentile (meaning that 30 per cent of privately rented properties in the BRMA are charged rent at or below the LHA rate) and a year later, the process of automatically linking LHA to market rents ended. Since then, LHA rates have been frozen in eight of the last 13 years and current Government policy, reflected in the official forecasts, is for them to remain frozen for another four years

Local Housing Allowance rates have been realigned to market rents in just two of the last 13 years, and current Government policy is for these to remain frozen.

But this ongoing freeze means that the 'affordability gap' between LHA rates and local rents is set to reach record levels next year.

Rare opportunity. We are currently recruiting for a member of our senior leadership team to take forward our work on productivity and growth. Do get in touch if interested. www.resolutionfoundation.org/about-us/opp...

Resolution Foundation and @adamcorlett.bsky.social doing excellent work here. More details in the FT story after. We've set up a system that creates an artificial bias against employment

Thank you for replying, Ann

Tom is correct. Turnout is always much lower among trade union levy-payers than party members - even electing their own general secretaries it can be 10% or less. I don't have the breakdown, but members had to join by 8 March to get a vote so current membership couldn't be derived even if I did.

One (but not the only) presentational consideration could have been keeping the current total number of members quiet

Dug out a bit more relevant background. Rules changed, but still … bsky.app/profile/tom-...

The reported “16% turnout” in Lab’s deputy leadership race is a % of a base dominated by members of affiliated unions

They generally don’t vote: in 2010 for the actual leadership affiliate turnout was 9%

web.archive.org/web/20170201...

The 16% is a weird number … arrived at by using all affiliated union members as the denominator. Possibly presented that way to make it look like a yawn/nonevent. Turnout in “affiliates” has always been much lower than among members

Labour’s new towns and old dreams Creating whole new communities might just kindle the “ordinary hope” that Keir Starmer promised but has thus far failed to foster

Creating whole new communities might just kindle the “ordinary hope” that Keir Starmer promised but has thus far failed to foster, writes @tom-clark.bsky.social.

The awkward thing here is that, whatever the merits of Lucy Powell, a huge part of the appeal to Labour members was that the PM had recently sacked her

Thanks … I’ll have a look

New towns could be a last best hope for Britain’s flailing social democracy

But only if it learns to stand up to vested interests www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/society/hous...

Not my area of expertise but I’ve seen a few s73 apps over last year where there have been updates to the plans due to fire safety etc but the developer has also used it as an opportunity to renegotiate the s106. Eg this one in Bristol

Thank you!

One last appeal for any housing type to help me on s73/s106 interaction?

As I say, it’s a pleasing chance to outsmart ChatGPT…

Interesting detail — this was not the usual by-election story of the “stay at home party” setting the rhythm. Turnout was up!

Not close in the end

2.

Freely admit I struggled

Read as meaning s73 could perhaps in future be used to wriggle out of s106 obligations (to fund local services & amenities) in ways not now allowed

But ChatGPT reads it opposite way - as tightening up

So test case of human V AI as well as public V private interest!

1.

A splendid day for London developers
- Fast-track planning for a 20% (instead of 35%) affordable homes
- Emergency relief from Community Infrastructure Levy
- Some design restrictions withdrawn

But do any big brains understand this perhaps deliberately mangled para?
www.gov.uk/government/n...

That’s a good provocation on tax — maybe I’m lapsing into Treasury brain on revenue. Though could you really find £30-odd billion elsewhere? Or just wait for travel-fuelled growth?

Loved all the comparisons — this was a real jaw-dropper! Also differences in motorway building UK Vs everywhere else

I’ll have a look!

Useful thread ...

As we (hopefully) go through the EV transition, £30-odd billion in fuel duties & VAT on petrol disappears

Can't afford that. Could mean - say - all UK policing disappearing too

So make a virtue of necessity & think about how to tax motoring properly

Extraordinary exchanges — almost feels as if this policy was being designed to engineer something like a new Windrush scandal

CPI for September — & therefore benefits next April — rising at 3.8%

www.ons.gov.uk/economy/infl...

Extraordinary story @patrickmaguire.bsky.social & G Pogrund

- No 10 briefing against PM’s own recent pick of Cab Sec

- floating replacing with limelight-drawing Louise Casey

If no longer a career civil service job, who would Farage go for?!
www.thetimes.com/article/fa96...

False starts • Resolution Foundation Nearly one million young people are now NEET (not in education, employment or training). Tackling this crisis requires stronger enforcement of participation requirements for 16-17-year-olds and an exp...

There are close to one million young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) - but before we can fix this problem, we need to understand who these young people really are.

We set this out in today's @resfoundation.bsky.social report...

www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...

Fascinating pre-GE read from Morgan
McS (published July 25). Spots several problems looming, from child poverty to ‘defining enemies’, where HMG has nonetheless been on back foot. Also early evidence of the disdain for many natural allies that is making it so tough to hold Lab’s coalition together

Some Budget speculation re new Council Tax bands at top (good!) potentially assigned via extrapolations frm 1991 valuations (weird!)

Cld be a big snare

Errors -> howls of anguish

But how do you know which houses need fresh valuation without revaluing all?! www.standard.co.uk/news/politic...