It's Spring!

Yes it is now Spring and the days are flying by in a blur. The weather is still cold and snowy and depressing. But today the sun has come out and is shining. There is a proper warmth to it as well. Spring is on its way, really. Almost time to to plant my potatoes out and get the tomato plants started in my mini greenhouse.

Running has been going well although I have a slight hamstring twinge so am taking it easy this week and walking not running until my long run on Sunday. I don’t need any problems six weeks away from the Half Marathon in Sunderland.

The welfare reform changes start in less than two weeks and we are  planning changes to deal with the predicted 100% + increase in workload for housing officers dealing with rent and rehousing enquiries and related work in collecting the rent. The rent notifications have dropped through the doors and we are busy telling people that they have to pay rent now..

Worst case scenario is that we will lose £4m in revenue as people struggle to pay their bills. That’s  a lot of jobs. The "bedroom tax" ( or "spare room subsidy" depending on your political view) has featured in the national and local news. Worst case scenarios are being touted as fact and Housing pundits ( yes there are some) are  mostly against it.

Its a one size fits all approach to dealing with the soaring Housing Benefit bill  and will have some unintended consequences which could lead to an actual increase in the benefit bill as people move out to (smaller) private rented properties as private rents tend to be higher. But the principle is right, its the detail that's wrong.