North East MPs call on Government to stop illegal placements

The Northern Echo has revealed that many London councils have been moving households hundreds of miles around the country without notifying the receiving local authority.

County Durham charities have confirmed that a number of these families fall through the cracks and end up in unsuitable homes with little or no support.

Angela Rayner recently intervened to give council leaders a stark warning about their legal duties and praised the ongoing Echo coverage of the issue.

MPs across the region have now called on the Government to “stop this illegal practice”.

Graeme Morris, MP for Easington, said:

“I welcome the Deputy Prime Minister telling Local Authority Chief Executives of their legal obligations in relation to out-of-area placements.

“However, London Council Chief Executives and Housing Directors know their duties and are choosing to break the law, exploiting vulnerable homeless families at their most desperate time in need.

“Councils must stop this illegal practice.

“While this intervention is a step forward, only sanctions and accountability will put an end to this practice.”

Jonathan Brash, MP for Hartlepool, said:

“The exploitation of towns like Hartlepool by affluent local authorities in the discharging of their homeless duties is a national disgrace.

“Our public services are under immense pressure, our housing stock is limited and our council stretched to breaking point – the actions of these selfish councils, who have no interest in our town, are exacerbating these problems.

“Moreover, their actions are not in the best interests of the vulnerable people for whom they are responsible.

“This practice needs to end immediately.”

Alan Strickland, MP for Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor, said: 

“The Tories were warned again and again that their cuts to affordable house building, coupled with their eroding of Local Housing Allowance would lead to a social housing crisis.

“Across the country, communities are crying out for more affordable homes so families don’t need to be housed hundreds of miles away from their support networks.

“This Labour Government will fix our broken social housing system by building 1.5 million homes and investing £500 million in affordable housing.”

Mary Kelly Foy, MP for City of Durham, said: 

“It’s absolutely shocking that London Borough Councils, through a number of managing agents, are still discharging their homeless duties by relocating people outside of their communities. Along with colleagues, I have raised this with the Government which has confirmed that the sending authorities have to, by law, inform the council into which people are being placed.

“Despite this, we are still seeing people being sent the length of the country, into communities they don’t know, with no support network in place, and with no information being provided to Durham County Council beforehand.

“This lack of information sharing is simply not acceptable. This makes it almost impossible for local authorities and other services to plan for their arrival; it is desperately unfair on families and vulnerable people that are being sent to areas they don’t know; and puts even more pressure on communities that are often dealing with poverty and poor quality housing themselves.

“It cannot be right that the North East is being used to deal with the housing crisis in London, when we are facing one of our own. If London Borough Councils cannot fulfil their homelessness duties, or even the basic requirement to inform the receiving council that people are being moved, then we have to see more regulation of this practice to protect vulnerable families, and support communities across the North East.”

Matt Vickers, MP for Stockton West, said: 

“It’s clear to me that relocating potentially vulnerable families hundreds of miles away from their homes, family and friends in London to County Durham and the wider North East is an out-of-date and sometimes unfair practice that causes significant disruption to their lives.

“This policy not only tears families away from their support networks but also places a significant amount of pressure on our local resources and communities.

“We must ensure that vulnerable individuals, and sometimes even children, are treated with dignity and respect, not forcing them hundreds of miles away from their community as a solution to Labour London failing to build enough homes for individuals and families.”

Luke Akehurst, MP for North Durham, said: 

“Moving families in need from London to County Durham and the wider North East is not a long term solution to the housing crisis.

“It is not fair for vulnerable people to be placed hundreds of miles away from the communities where they have support networks, nor is it fair to those within the region already on waiting lists.

“I am pleased that the Deputy Prime Minister has spoken out on this issue.

“Social housing in County Durham is under considerable pressure and more work needs to be done with London Councils to resolve the root cause of the issue.”

Sam Rushworth, MP for Bishop Auckland, said:

“We know why councils are abandoning people in our area – they don’t have enough homes and it’s cheaper.

“The trouble is, we also have local people struggling to find a home of their own, and unlike areas that are more used to hosting asylum seekers, we have not developed the support services and host community to help them settle and integrate.

“The Deputy Prime Minister has warned councils doing this that they are breaking law.

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“At the root of this crisis are two failures of the previous Conservative government: a nationwide housing shortage due to 14 years of failure to build the homes our country needs, and record numbers of migrants and asylum seekers because they lost control of our borders.

“By re-allocating people and funding from the failed Rwanda scheme to a new Border Command and deportations team, the new government has already turned the tide on small boat crossings.

“At the general election this summer, the number of arrivals was 700 up from the same point last year, but they are now 11,000 down. We are also taking bold action to get Britain building again, so we have the quality homes we need.”