Housing funding row

12.00.00am GMT Sat 28th Jan 2006

A row has broken out about the funding of improvements to Council Housing in Nottingham. Two years ago, the Council asked tenants to vote for an "Arms Length Management Organisation" to run its council housing because £165 million might be provided by the Government to bring the homes up to a 'Decent Homes' standard.

The Council are now looking for more money than they first asked for. The Council have written to all tenants and residents of Nottingham claiming that stories about this in the Evening Post were false. But opposition councillors have accused the Council of misleading tenants in their letter. Councillor Gary Long-leader of the Liberal Democrats on the Council-said "I think the letter sent by the Chief Executive was misleading. The evidence the Evening Post has shown me shows the stories have been soundly based."

The letter from the Council stated that there was no shortage of money if the Council just make 'basic improvements' and that headlines in the Evening Post had been inaccurate. When challenged in the Council chamber to state the inaccuracies Cllr Dave Trimble (who is responsible for Housing in Nottingham) at first tried to avoid answering but, at the third time of asking, finally said he did not agree with the views put forward by Alan Simpson MP which were quoted in the Post.

Gary said "If Dave Trimble and the Council disagree with their MP why didn't they write to tenants saying so? Instead they try to suggest that the Post reports of a 'cock-up' by the Council were wrong. It is clear to me that the Council are now asking for more money than they said they needed before. Why can't they just be open with the tenants?"