When Kent couple Paul and Rachel Chandler were released by Somali pirates after 13 months, much credit went to the UK's Somali community.
The BBC's Hashi Mohamed offers his perspective on how this might affect the way British Somalis are viewed - and shape their future.
Much has been written about the role of UK-based Somalis in securing the release of the Chandlers but, as a first-generation immigrant, I wonder what this means for a community that has so far struggled to find a voice.
The story of the release is familiar.
A former mini-cab driver from Leytonstone, east London - mortified at the embarrassment suffered by his children being called pirates - took matters into his own hands.
An ashamed community used every means to mount international pressure on the pirates, even securing funds reported to have contributed to the ransom money.
Although this story has a happy ending, for many Somalis in Britain the future remains complicated.
Civil war
The 2001 Census recorded 43,000 Somalis in the UK. The Office for National Statistics' annual population survey currently estimates Britain's Somali-born population at 108,000 - though many observers suggest 250,000 would be a truer picture.
Now mostly concentrated in London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Sheffield and Cardiff, Somalis are documented to have arrived at Cardiff's docks as merchants as far back as the 1880s.
Settlement really only started in the 1950s but the majority came as refugees in the 1990s, as Somalia's civil war worsened after the collapse of the state in 1991.
The Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Denmark have also welcomed sizeable Somali populations, while the largest diaspora communities are concentrated in the US Midwest and Toronto, Canada.
As Somali author Nurdin Farah said: "When it rains in Mogadishu, the umbrellas go up in Minnesota."
However, older exiles often spoke of the day they would return to find their ancestral home and this is now commonly recited by younger generations.
When publicising his 2006 book, Only Half of Me, British-Somali journalist Rageh Omaar noted that many Somalis have "never really unpacked their bags".
To me, it seems that dreaming of a return home, while failing to fully integrate, has had unintended consequences.
Family breakdown
Last month, an Equality and Human Rights Commission report on fairness found that half of all Britain's ethnically black African children grow up in poverty. They are also more likely to have caring responsibilities.
While GCSE attainment has improved, black boys eligible for free school meals still struggle.
Many of these are Somali children. Often raised in large families and overcrowded households with no breadwinner, English can be the second - sometimes third - language.
The Chandlers thanked the Somali community for helping secure their release The use of the stimulant khat, chewed predominantly by Somalis and Yemenis, is legal in the UK and spreading among youths.
A Home Office report in 2005 found the drug was associated with weight loss, depression and hallucinations.
It also underlined social problems attributed to the use of khat - usually by men and after midnight - including family breakdown.
Crime gangs have sprung up in deprived areas, as a poverty of ambition takes hold of Somali youth, and mothers continue to lose their sons to knife crime - more than half a dozen in a few years.
A 2007 report by the Centre for Local Economic Strategies found that, since 2003, Somalis had made up the largest proportion of foreign nationals (30 of 160 at the time) at the UK's biggest young offender institution, Feltham in west London. Early criminalisation for minor offences can make finding work nigh impossible.
Terror threat
Then last December, Somalia's first female health minister, Qamer Aden Ali - a British citizen whose daughter I went to school with, was killed in Mogadishu by another Somali holding Danish nationality.
The killer had reportedly joined the militant Islamist group al-Shabaab.
Its activities recently prompted MI5 chief, Jonathan Evans, to warn of the increasing threat from UK residents, some of Somali origin, being trained in Somalia.
This is certainly not the last generation's vision of their offspring returning to rebuild their homeland.
In stark contrast, the Chandlers' story illustrates how desperate many UK-based Somalis are to be regarded as part of British society.
The cabbie Dahir Abdullahi Kadiye, a refugee, told the BBC Somali Service he felt "ashamed" at people in his native country holding innocent people from his adopted nation as hostages.
An increasing number of UK-based Somalis are keen to rebuild their community's reputation, with many successful young people getting involved in mentoring programmes. British Somalis sit on several local councils, while peaceful activists have rallied against the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia.
The Chandlers' release undoubtedly offers them encouragement, demonstrating the community's ability to rail against the brutality engulfing their homeland - especially when it threatens to make life difficult where they now call home.
Mr Kadiye was welcomed back a hero at Heathrow Airport, where one woman told Somali network Universal TV: "Dahir has today raised our reputation. I am here in solidarity with my fellow compatriots, with the nation that adopted us.
"We have been compelled to share the pain of those who gave us [Somalis] a second chance."
However, this also offers a moment to reassess.
The encouraging signs that the generation coming of age will have a positive role might only bear fruit if British Somalis address the issues of underachievement, disenchantment and destitution, both individually and collectively
Sunday, 28 November 2010
Somali pirate gang who held Chandlers have families in Britain.... and one kidnapper's wife is an asylum seeker
Link to London: Officials are investigating if the pirates that kept the Chandlers hostage could have family in the UK
By David Williams
Last updated at 6:58 AM on 26th November 2010
Two members of the Somali pirate gang that held Britons Paul and Rachel Chandler hostage for 388 days are believed to have family in the UK.
One of the pirate leaders says he plans to travel to the UK to join his wife and two children, who have claimed political asylum and live in London.
The extraordinary revelations come as intelligence and security officials in the UK and Kenya investigate links between Britain and Somali pirates after the couple were freed from the 13-month ordeal in return for a ransom.
A second pirate involved in the seizing of the Chandlers is suspected to have lived in Britain and to have family living in London. It is unclear whether his family has also claimed asylum and whether either family receives benefits.
Both men are said to have received a ‘cut’ of the estimated £625,000 ransom paid for the release of Mr Chandler, 60, and his 57-year-old wife.
Investigators say the revelations raise the possibility of pirates travelling to Britain and of part of the ransom money being transferred to family members in the UK.
Their warnings come just weeks after Home Secretary Theresa May highlighted the links between British extremists and Somalia, with some UK citizens travelling there to train alongside Al Qaeda-linked groups. Anti-terrorist investigators believe some have returned to Britain and they have been looking at associations between the UK and pirate gangs, who currently hold some 40 ships and 500 crew hostage
Frightening possibility: The kidnappers who held the Chandlers, seen here with Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, could travel back to see their families who have claimed asylum in the UK
The Chandlers, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, were seized as they sailed their yacht in the Indian Ocean, near the Seychelles, on October 23, 2009, and held in the harsh Somali bushland by heavily armed pirates.
They are recovering with their family, who paid part of the ransom, and will be questioned about their time in captivity and specifically the role and identities of individual pirates.
The couple will be shown intelligence photographs – and those from videos taken during their time in the hands of the pirates – to see if any can be identified by name and the roles they played.
Satellite and other telephone calls, together with emails sent from Somalia by suspects to the UK are also being examined and it is understood the identities of several of the gang are known.
Immigration investigators are now involved in the inquiry into their British links and seeking to discover whether individuals have visited the UK or have families here. ‘It is possible that some of those
In satellite calls, the pirates have alluded to links with Britain and a man named as Hassan, 32 – said to be one of the ringleaders of the Chandler abduction – was quoted as saying he had a wife and family in the UK and was planning to join them.
He claimed his family had moved to London three years ago, applying for political asylum.
‘She is putting me under pressure to join her and the children, so I will come to the UK soon,’ he said in one telephone call.‘I am not looking forward to the cold weather, though, and I am worried that women are more powerful in the UK – I don’t know how long I will stay.’ Hassan has also admitted to being involved in the hijacking of tankers and commercial ships which were boarded at gunpoint and released only after multi-million pound ransoms were paid.
A key figure in assisting the investigation is likely to be Dahir Abdullahi Kadiye, a 56-year-old former minicab driver from East London, who played a significant role in securing the couple’s release.
Mr Kadiye, a father of two, who came to Britain from Somalia in 1997 as a refugee and has UK citizenship, met with the pirates and their representatives for six months trying to broker a deal to free the Chandlers.
Mr Kadiye, who is beginning a security company and travels regularly between the UK and Somalia, said he became involved for ‘humanitarian reasons’ and was hailed as a hero on his return to Britain.
Police sting foils bomb plot at Christmas lights ceremony
By WILLIAM McCALL in Portland
Sunday November 28 2010
Undercover agents stopped a Somali-born teenager from blowing up a van full of explosives at a crowded Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland, Oregon, on Friday, US federal authorities said. The explosives were duds supplied by the agents as part of a sting operation and the public was never in danger, authorities said.
Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19, was arrested at 5.40pm, just after he dialled a mobile phone that he allegedly thought would detonate the explosives but instead brought federal agents and Portland police swooping down on him.
Yelling "Allahu Akbar!" -- Arabic for "God is great!" -- Mr Mohamud tried to kick agents and police as they closed in, according to prosecutors.
"The threat was very real," said Arthur Balizan, FBI special agent. "Our investigation shows that Mohamud was absolutely committed to carrying out an attack on a very grand scale."
Mr Mohamud, a naturalised US citizen living in Corvallis, Oregon, was charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and is scheduled for a court appearance tomorrow.
There was no word from authorities if the suspect had any ties to other Americans recently accused of trying to carry out attacks on US soil, including alleged efforts in May by a Pakistan-born man to set off a car bomb near Times Square or another Pakistan-born Virginia resident accused last month of being part of a bomb plot to kill commuters.
US Attorney Dwight Holton released federal court documents to the media that showed the sting operation began in June after an undercover agent learned that Mr Mohamud had been in regular email contact with an "unindicated associate" in Pakistan's northwest, a frontier region where Al-Qaeda and Taliban insurgents are strong.
Last June an FBI agent contacted Mr Mohamud "under the guise of being affiliated with the first associate". Mr Mohamud and the agent met in Portland on July 30 where they "discussed violent jihad", prosecutors said.
- WILLIAM McCALL in Portland
Sunday Independent
Sunday November 28 2010
Undercover agents stopped a Somali-born teenager from blowing up a van full of explosives at a crowded Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland, Oregon, on Friday, US federal authorities said. The explosives were duds supplied by the agents as part of a sting operation and the public was never in danger, authorities said.
Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19, was arrested at 5.40pm, just after he dialled a mobile phone that he allegedly thought would detonate the explosives but instead brought federal agents and Portland police swooping down on him.
Yelling "Allahu Akbar!" -- Arabic for "God is great!" -- Mr Mohamud tried to kick agents and police as they closed in, according to prosecutors.
"The threat was very real," said Arthur Balizan, FBI special agent. "Our investigation shows that Mohamud was absolutely committed to carrying out an attack on a very grand scale."
Mr Mohamud, a naturalised US citizen living in Corvallis, Oregon, was charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and is scheduled for a court appearance tomorrow.
There was no word from authorities if the suspect had any ties to other Americans recently accused of trying to carry out attacks on US soil, including alleged efforts in May by a Pakistan-born man to set off a car bomb near Times Square or another Pakistan-born Virginia resident accused last month of being part of a bomb plot to kill commuters.
US Attorney Dwight Holton released federal court documents to the media that showed the sting operation began in June after an undercover agent learned that Mr Mohamud had been in regular email contact with an "unindicated associate" in Pakistan's northwest, a frontier region where Al-Qaeda and Taliban insurgents are strong.
Last June an FBI agent contacted Mr Mohamud "under the guise of being affiliated with the first associate". Mr Mohamud and the agent met in Portland on July 30 where they "discussed violent jihad", prosecutors said.
- WILLIAM McCALL in Portland
Sunday Independent
Sunday, 14 November 2010
For the purposes of establishing a perspective read the following story..
THIS WAS PUBLISHED IN 1996:
Somali children sold in Europe 'for prostitution'
Exploitation of young: Police uncover smuggling ring in Italy as Belgian abuse investigation widens
ANNE HANLEY Rome - The Independent
Monday, 9 September 1996
An Italo-Somali band smuggling Somali children into Italy for distribution around Europe and north America has been uncovered by Rome police, sparking concern that the children may have finished up in prostitution or paedophile rings.
Eight alleged members of the band were arrested on Saturday, after a three month investigation during which 15 children were traced and placed in care.
Ostensibly destined for adoption, children aged between three and 12 were bought or kidnapped from their parents in poor Somali villages. The adults received a pittance for parting with their offspring. The children have been brought to Italy at a rate of up to three a week over the past 18 months, police said.
Transported in the boots of cars, as parcels, or inside luggage, the terrified, starving children were taken to Mogadishu and then flown or shipped to Rome, where three couples who are now behind bars fattened them up before escorting them to their final destination.
Police have found catalogues, circulated in Europe and north America, containing photographs of the Somali children available for adoption, with price tags of up to 50m lire (pounds 20,000) for the youngest. They voiced serious concern, however, over the fate of the older children, pointing out that few people seeking to adopt would be interested in children of that age.
The three mixed Italo-Somali couples, all of whom have young children of their own, were used to ship the Somali children on once they had reached Rome and been prepared physically for the next stage in their ordeal: with no photograph of children under the age of 10 needed on passports, the couples could ferry the children to their final destination, passing them off as their own.
Providing the necessary seal of legality to the operation, police allege, was Cahie Douglas Hassan Duale, a leading member of Rome's sizeable Somali community and a well known lawyer with chambers in the prestigious Borgo area, overlooking St Peter's.
The arrest of Mr Duale, who is defence lawyer for the Somali warlord, Abdulli Mussa Bogar, has reopened the as yet unsolved mystery of the fatal shooting in Mogadishu in 1994 of the Italian journalist, Ilaria Alpi, and a cameraman, Milan Hrovatin.
Mr Bogar, the Sultan of Bosaso, was the last person interviewed by Alpi, shortly before she and Hrovatin were gunned down in what was clearly a premeditated killing in mid-afternoon on a busy city street. The interview focused on illegal arms trafficking between Italy and Somalia, but may also, investigators now believe, have touched on the trade in children.
Italian magistrates investigating the murder recently opened an inquiry into the administrators of an orphanage in Somalia who came forward voluntarily with information on Mr Bogar but provided false data which was obviously intended to confuse the investigation.
According to Rome police, the couples who hosted the Somali children in Italy reaped no great financial benefit from their part in the smuggling operation. The bulk of the earnings appears to have remained in Somalia, though couriers there responsible for seizing the children and taking them to Mogadishu were similarly ill paid.
The money may have gone to fund the political ambitions of some of the smuggling group's alleged members: Mr Duale is said to have harboured hopes of forming a new government in Somalia after the death of the leading warlord General Mohamed Farah Aideed.
Somali children sold in Europe 'for prostitution'
Exploitation of young: Police uncover smuggling ring in Italy as Belgian abuse investigation widens
ANNE HANLEY Rome - The Independent
Monday, 9 September 1996
An Italo-Somali band smuggling Somali children into Italy for distribution around Europe and north America has been uncovered by Rome police, sparking concern that the children may have finished up in prostitution or paedophile rings.
Eight alleged members of the band were arrested on Saturday, after a three month investigation during which 15 children were traced and placed in care.
Ostensibly destined for adoption, children aged between three and 12 were bought or kidnapped from their parents in poor Somali villages. The adults received a pittance for parting with their offspring. The children have been brought to Italy at a rate of up to three a week over the past 18 months, police said.
Transported in the boots of cars, as parcels, or inside luggage, the terrified, starving children were taken to Mogadishu and then flown or shipped to Rome, where three couples who are now behind bars fattened them up before escorting them to their final destination.
Police have found catalogues, circulated in Europe and north America, containing photographs of the Somali children available for adoption, with price tags of up to 50m lire (pounds 20,000) for the youngest. They voiced serious concern, however, over the fate of the older children, pointing out that few people seeking to adopt would be interested in children of that age.
The three mixed Italo-Somali couples, all of whom have young children of their own, were used to ship the Somali children on once they had reached Rome and been prepared physically for the next stage in their ordeal: with no photograph of children under the age of 10 needed on passports, the couples could ferry the children to their final destination, passing them off as their own.
Providing the necessary seal of legality to the operation, police allege, was Cahie Douglas Hassan Duale, a leading member of Rome's sizeable Somali community and a well known lawyer with chambers in the prestigious Borgo area, overlooking St Peter's.
The arrest of Mr Duale, who is defence lawyer for the Somali warlord, Abdulli Mussa Bogar, has reopened the as yet unsolved mystery of the fatal shooting in Mogadishu in 1994 of the Italian journalist, Ilaria Alpi, and a cameraman, Milan Hrovatin.
Mr Bogar, the Sultan of Bosaso, was the last person interviewed by Alpi, shortly before she and Hrovatin were gunned down in what was clearly a premeditated killing in mid-afternoon on a busy city street. The interview focused on illegal arms trafficking between Italy and Somalia, but may also, investigators now believe, have touched on the trade in children.
Italian magistrates investigating the murder recently opened an inquiry into the administrators of an orphanage in Somalia who came forward voluntarily with information on Mr Bogar but provided false data which was obviously intended to confuse the investigation.
According to Rome police, the couples who hosted the Somali children in Italy reaped no great financial benefit from their part in the smuggling operation. The bulk of the earnings appears to have remained in Somalia, though couriers there responsible for seizing the children and taking them to Mogadishu were similarly ill paid.
The money may have gone to fund the political ambitions of some of the smuggling group's alleged members: Mr Duale is said to have harboured hopes of forming a new government in Somalia after the death of the leading warlord General Mohamed Farah Aideed.
This is what is happening in the Diaspora Somali community...
Indictment: Somali gangs ran sex ring in 3 states
by Sasha Aslanian, Minnesota Public Radio,
Laura Yuen, Minnesota Public Radio
November 8, 2010
St. Paul, Minn. — Twin Cities girls, including some who were 13 and younger, were shuffled across state lines to work as prostitutes in a wide-reaching sex-trafficking operation controlled by Somali gangs, according to an indictment unsealed Monday in federal court.
At a news conference in Nashville Monday morning, U.S. Attorney Jerry Martin announced the 24- count indictment against three women and 26 men. The alleged victims, all minors, were listed as Jane Doe 1 through 4.
"The indictment alleges that this conspiracy involved other children and victims in addition to Jane Does 1 through 4 over a significant period of time," said Martin. "The indictment sets forth in detail a wide-ranging conspiracy, both in duration and scope, to bring young girls -- some of whom were no more than children -- into this district for the purpose of engaging in sex acts for monetary gains by the defendants."
The defendants are listed by name, and nickname: Shorty, Forehead, Hollywood, Barnie.
The indictment describes how the girls were transported between Minnesota, Tennessee and Ohio, how cell phones were used to recruit customers, and how money, alcohol and drugs were exchanged for sex.
Three Minneapolis gangs allegedly operated the ring, including an all-female gang known as The Lady Outlaws. Working with the Somali Mafia and the Somali Outlaws, the group recruited pre-teen and teenage girls to have sex in exchange for cash, marijuana and other items, the indictment said.
The female victims were forced to engage in sex acts in places ranging from a Minneapolis apartment complex to a men's bathroom in a Blaine shopping mall.
In all, 29 people were indicted on charges of sex trafficking of juveniles and other crimes. The sex ring operated in the Twin Cities, Nashville, and Columbus, Ohio.
Authorities noted the unusual scope of the organized sex-trafficking operation in a press conference Monday in Nashville.
"The number of defendants, the number of states, the movement, that there were repeated victims, repeated commercial sex acts that were alleged in the indictment, gives you some sense of the size of the case," said John Morton, Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "I would call this one of the more significant cases we've investigated in recent memory."
More suspectsIn addition, the gangs allegedly conspired to block the investigation and committed perjury while testifying before a federal grand jury.
The investigation began in 2008, and was led by St. Paul Police and members of the Task Force on Human Trafficking, which includes federal, state and local law enforcement.
The case first came to light in September, after investigators asked a Ramsey County judge for permission to search the cell phone records of a 15-year-old girl. Authorities believe the girl was lured into a large prostitution ring controlled by Somali gangs.
Officials say the Jane Does in the case are being taken care of and not in danger anymore. They warned law enforcement is watching the Jane Does, and anyone interfering with them or their families would be obstructing justice.
Twelve of the defendants made their first court appearance at the federal courthouse in Minneapolis Monday. The defendants are expected to be taken to Nashville to face charges there, as well.
While most of the defendants and victims are from Minnesota, a spokeswoman from the U.S. Attorney's office in Minneapolis said the decision was made to prosecute out of Nashville with assistance from Minneapolis.
If convicted of the sex-trafficking offenses, the defendants could face 15 years to life in prison.
Many Somali-Americans in Minnesota say they hope the developments today will help dismantle the shadowy underworld of human trafficking of their girls.
"In the Somali community, this is a very shameful act," said Dahir Jibreel, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center. "It's not something that people talk about in the open. We need to root out the problem."
Jibreel said he learned of several arrests this morning in Bloomington, Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Some say in general, trafficking victims are vulnerable to recruitment after running away from their homes. Some of the girls are lured by promises of a better life, and move into houses shared with other girls and their victimizers, who tended to be women, said community activist Abdirizak Bihi, who has counseled victims through his work with the group Civil Society.
"And many men come to the home providing small things such as paying for their cell phones, or stuff they want to buy, and taking advantage sexually of those young girls," Bihi told MPR News earlier this fall.
Authorities say the trafficking took place over the course of a decade, beginning in 2000. The gangs also transported the Somali- and African-American girls from the Twin Cities to other cities to work as prostitutes. Everyone who was involved in the case immigrated to the U.S. legally.
Saturday, 6 November 2010
BBC Radio 4 - The Somali Connection
Jenny Cuffe investigates how British-based Somalis are being lured into fighting for the al-Qaeda-linked Islamists of al-Shabaab.
There have been consistent rumours that dozens, perhaps scores of British-based Somali men have travelled to Somalia to join the militant Islamist group which was banned by the British Government earlier this year.
In September the rumours were given new urgency when the Director of MI5, Jonathan Evans, warned it was only a matter of time before the UK suffered an act of terrorism committed by al-Shabaab-trained Britons.
File on 4 explores the techniques used by Al-Shabaab to persuade young members of the 250,000-strong British Somali community to sign up for Jihad in Somalia. Members of the close-knit and reticent British Somali community tell Jenny Cuffe of their fears that youngsters are being seduced through the internet and by shadowy recruiting sergeants for the Horn of Africa's most feared military force.
And the programme travels to the state of Minnesota to see how a vigorous FBI investigation and cooperation from the Somali community have laid-bare a pipeline which first lured, then transported young American Somalis to the training camps and battlefields of Somalia.
Producer: Andy Denwood.
To listen to the report, click here
There have been consistent rumours that dozens, perhaps scores of British-based Somali men have travelled to Somalia to join the militant Islamist group which was banned by the British Government earlier this year.
In September the rumours were given new urgency when the Director of MI5, Jonathan Evans, warned it was only a matter of time before the UK suffered an act of terrorism committed by al-Shabaab-trained Britons.
File on 4 explores the techniques used by Al-Shabaab to persuade young members of the 250,000-strong British Somali community to sign up for Jihad in Somalia. Members of the close-knit and reticent British Somali community tell Jenny Cuffe of their fears that youngsters are being seduced through the internet and by shadowy recruiting sergeants for the Horn of Africa's most feared military force.
And the programme travels to the state of Minnesota to see how a vigorous FBI investigation and cooperation from the Somali community have laid-bare a pipeline which first lured, then transported young American Somalis to the training camps and battlefields of Somalia.
Producer: Andy Denwood.
To listen to the report, click here
Wednesday, 3 November 2010
Council tax exemption for families who have children in FE or HE is also set to be a thing of the past
Historically parents of low income families have had the opportunity to offset their council tax against the prospect of their children attending FE/HE instiutions. The CSR has changed all that; the end of Local Education Authorities is near. As a result of this, their powers to issue grants and underwrite the policy of students being exempt from paying council tax is set to disappear. One massive reason for this is the 300% increase in tuition fees for university students that will price out the poor from attending universities and widen the gap between the haves and the have nots. Universal education in the United Kingdom is set to change forever.
University fees may rise to £9,000
Press Association 3/11/2010
Universities Minister David Willetts announced proposals to raise the tuition fee cap to £6,000, with institutions able to charge up to £9,000 in "exceptional circumstances."
He told MPs: "We believe a limit is desirable and are therefore proposing a basic threshold of £6,000 per annum, in exceptional circumstances there would be an absolute limit of £9,000."
Students currently pay £3,290 per year in tuition fees.
No publicly-funded university will be able to charge more than £9,000 for undergraduate courses, Mr Willetts said.
Institutions who impose fees of more than £6,000 will have to take part in a £150 million National Scholarships scheme - a bid to ensure that poorer students are not priced out of higher education.
The National Union of Students has previously called plans to effectively treble tuition fees "dangerous", warning that there is a risk students will be unable to afford to attend England elite universities.
NUS president Aaron Porter said earlier that they would also "saddle a generation with huge debts before they have even got on their bikes to find work".
In an oral statement, Mr Willetts told the Commons that the Government wanted to see universities offering scholarships to targeted students, which would mean their first year at university is free.
Institutions charging over £6,000 will also face new sanctions requiring them to offer outreach activities to attract poorer pupils, as well as financial support.
The end of 'permanent' social housing..
The difference between temporary and permanent social housing has been a hot topic for years. It is now set to end.
Social landlords to set tenancies and rents
20 October 2010 | By Tom Lloyd
Social landlords are to be given the freedom to raise rents towards market levels and introduce time-limited tenancies, the government has announced.
Under plans in today’s comprehensive spending review, landlords will be able to set rents between social and market levels for new tenants. They will also be able to offer fixed-term tenancies rather than agreements for life.
In his speech to Parliament, chancellor George Osborne said new social tenants could be ‘offered intermediate rents at around 80 per cent of market rent’.
The CSR document is less explicit, stating: ‘Social landlords will be able to offer a growing proportion of new social tenants new intermediate rental contracts that are more flexible, at rent levels between current market and social rents.’
It adds: ‘The government wants to make social housing more responsive, flexible and fair so that more people can access social housing in ways that better reflect their needs.’
Mr Osborne said that the new flexibilities would allow 150,000 affordable homes to be built over the next four years, coupled with £4.4 billion of investment. This is a cut of around 50 per cent on current levels of investment.
Richard Parker, head of housing at Pricewaterhousecoopers, said: ‘The introduction of “flexible tenancy”, for people who move into council housing for the first time, represents a paradigm shift in housing policy. But it could backfire if it’s not supported by a new approach to housing allocations.
‘If social housing continues to be allocated to those in greatest need, the government will in the first instance be housing people that will find it hardest to improve their circumstances. Rather than creating flexible tenures, the government could end up reinforcing residualisation
Social landlords to set tenancies and rents
20 October 2010 | By Tom Lloyd
Social landlords are to be given the freedom to raise rents towards market levels and introduce time-limited tenancies, the government has announced.
Under plans in today’s comprehensive spending review, landlords will be able to set rents between social and market levels for new tenants. They will also be able to offer fixed-term tenancies rather than agreements for life.
In his speech to Parliament, chancellor George Osborne said new social tenants could be ‘offered intermediate rents at around 80 per cent of market rent’.
The CSR document is less explicit, stating: ‘Social landlords will be able to offer a growing proportion of new social tenants new intermediate rental contracts that are more flexible, at rent levels between current market and social rents.’
It adds: ‘The government wants to make social housing more responsive, flexible and fair so that more people can access social housing in ways that better reflect their needs.’
Mr Osborne said that the new flexibilities would allow 150,000 affordable homes to be built over the next four years, coupled with £4.4 billion of investment. This is a cut of around 50 per cent on current levels of investment.
Richard Parker, head of housing at Pricewaterhousecoopers, said: ‘The introduction of “flexible tenancy”, for people who move into council housing for the first time, represents a paradigm shift in housing policy. But it could backfire if it’s not supported by a new approach to housing allocations.
‘If social housing continues to be allocated to those in greatest need, the government will in the first instance be housing people that will find it hardest to improve their circumstances. Rather than creating flexible tenures, the government could end up reinforcing residualisation
Crackdown on benefit cheats begins.......
Homelessness warning over new powers to tackle benefit and tax fraud
DWP crackdown to recover £1.1 billion
29/10/2010 | By Martin Hilditch
Homelessness departments face picking up the cost of a new drive by the Department for Work and Pensions to reduce fraud and error.
The DWP and HM Revenue & Customs published a joint plan last week outlining how they would work together to tackle fraud and error in the benefit and tax credit system.
It outlines how the government is planning to increase the amount it recovers by £1.1 billion by introducing new powers that allow the DWP to recover debts incurred through official error.
The DWP loses £1 billion to fraud, £1.1 billion due to official error and £1.1 billion due to customer error every year (see graph), the document reveals. The £3.1 billion lost is equivalent to 2.1 per cent of total expenditure.
The plan states: ‘While the department must take responsibility for payments made mistakenly by our staff, that does not give claimants the right to keep hold of public money not intended for them.’
The new plan states that the government feels its current debt recovery regime is ‘too slow’ and ‘does not provide a significant return for the taxpayer’.
New powers could lead to an increase in homelessness because the DWP will be able to seek a court order requiring debtors to sell their house to pay off debts or seize the assets of people who have consistently refused to pay.
In future the DWP will also seek powers to increase the rate at which it can recoup fraud-related debts from means tested benefits from £13.20 per week to £16.50 - a 25 per cent increase.
It will also introduce a system that allows it to require that money is deducted from an employee’s earnings. It can currently apply to a court for this option but it will seek powers to allow it to introduce a new ‘fast track’ system that bypasses the need.
Council homelessness officials, however, are understood to be alarmed that the tough new regime will see their costs jump dramatically. The increasingly tough approach has already had an impact in some local authority areas.
One source said that he has already seen an increase in contact from people who have been pursued by HMRC and have lost their homes as a result.
‘The end result is those claimants end up here,’ he said. ‘We then pick up the costs via housing benefit.
DWP crackdown to recover £1.1 billion
29/10/2010 | By Martin Hilditch
Homelessness departments face picking up the cost of a new drive by the Department for Work and Pensions to reduce fraud and error.
The DWP and HM Revenue & Customs published a joint plan last week outlining how they would work together to tackle fraud and error in the benefit and tax credit system.
It outlines how the government is planning to increase the amount it recovers by £1.1 billion by introducing new powers that allow the DWP to recover debts incurred through official error.
The DWP loses £1 billion to fraud, £1.1 billion due to official error and £1.1 billion due to customer error every year (see graph), the document reveals. The £3.1 billion lost is equivalent to 2.1 per cent of total expenditure.
The plan states: ‘While the department must take responsibility for payments made mistakenly by our staff, that does not give claimants the right to keep hold of public money not intended for them.’
The new plan states that the government feels its current debt recovery regime is ‘too slow’ and ‘does not provide a significant return for the taxpayer’.
New powers could lead to an increase in homelessness because the DWP will be able to seek a court order requiring debtors to sell their house to pay off debts or seize the assets of people who have consistently refused to pay.
In future the DWP will also seek powers to increase the rate at which it can recoup fraud-related debts from means tested benefits from £13.20 per week to £16.50 - a 25 per cent increase.
It will also introduce a system that allows it to require that money is deducted from an employee’s earnings. It can currently apply to a court for this option but it will seek powers to allow it to introduce a new ‘fast track’ system that bypasses the need.
Council homelessness officials, however, are understood to be alarmed that the tough new regime will see their costs jump dramatically. The increasingly tough approach has already had an impact in some local authority areas.
One source said that he has already seen an increase in contact from people who have been pursued by HMRC and have lost their homes as a result.
‘The end result is those claimants end up here,’ he said. ‘We then pick up the costs via housing benefit.
Inside Housing - Social engineering in Brent?
29 October 2010 | By Carl Brown
Planning consent has been granted for a £4.5 billion scheme in London which will deliver 7,500 homes.
A section 106 deal has been agreed between Barnet Council and Brent Cross Cricklewood Development Partners - a consortium of real estate company Hammerson PLC and asset manager Standard Life Investments.
The deal, which will see BCCDP contribute nearly £1 billion towards transport and community infrastructure, means full planning consent for the scheme has now been granted.
Work on the scheme was halted earlier this year when then communities secretary John Denham issued a ‘stop notice’ to allow further consideration of the plans. After the election his successor, Eric Pickles, ruled there was no need for a public inquiry into the scheme and work could go ahead.
Jonathan Joseph, development director for BCCDP, said: ‘A vital part of our work moving forward will be engagement with local people and the wider community to ensure that everyone is fully involved with and informed of our plans.’
Planning consent has been granted for a £4.5 billion scheme in London which will deliver 7,500 homes.
A section 106 deal has been agreed between Barnet Council and Brent Cross Cricklewood Development Partners - a consortium of real estate company Hammerson PLC and asset manager Standard Life Investments.
The deal, which will see BCCDP contribute nearly £1 billion towards transport and community infrastructure, means full planning consent for the scheme has now been granted.
Work on the scheme was halted earlier this year when then communities secretary John Denham issued a ‘stop notice’ to allow further consideration of the plans. After the election his successor, Eric Pickles, ruled there was no need for a public inquiry into the scheme and work could go ahead.
Jonathan Joseph, development director for BCCDP, said: ‘A vital part of our work moving forward will be engagement with local people and the wider community to ensure that everyone is fully involved with and informed of our plans.’
Inside Housing - £946m fund to drive house building
1 November 2010 | By Rhiannon Bury
The government is putting £946 million into a scheme to incentivise house building over four years.
The Local Growth white paper published last week confirmed details of funding for the New Homes Bonus scheme. £196 million will be available next year, with £250 million in each of the next three years.
Starting in 2011/12 the scheme will match fund the additional council tax for each new home built and property brought back into use for six years after the work is completed.
For affordable homes the government will increase payments to 125 per cent of the council tax income.
The white paper says the government will publish a consultation with its proposed model for the New Homes Bonus ‘shortly’.
It calls the scheme the ‘cornerstone of the new framework for incentivising housing growth’, and indicates that it will be a permanent part of the local government finance system.
The government is putting £946 million into a scheme to incentivise house building over four years.
The Local Growth white paper published last week confirmed details of funding for the New Homes Bonus scheme. £196 million will be available next year, with £250 million in each of the next three years.
Starting in 2011/12 the scheme will match fund the additional council tax for each new home built and property brought back into use for six years after the work is completed.
For affordable homes the government will increase payments to 125 per cent of the council tax income.
The white paper says the government will publish a consultation with its proposed model for the New Homes Bonus ‘shortly’.
It calls the scheme the ‘cornerstone of the new framework for incentivising housing growth’, and indicates that it will be a permanent part of the local government finance system.
Inside Housing - Government shifts responsibility for ASB
2 November 2010 | By Rhiannon Bury
Communities and local agencies should take the lead in tackling anti-social behaviour, the minister responsible for crime prevention has said.
Speaking at the Social Landlords Crime and Nuisance Group conference in Birmingham today, James Brokenshire said the government wants to shift accountability from national to local level.
‘The problems of anti-social behaviour haven’t gone away, and the system routinely fails the most vulnerable,’ he said.
‘The government wants to see a shift, a new approach that gets rid of diktats and bureaucracy and sees professionals and communities join forces to beat the problem.’
He said communities would be given the tools and powers to tackle anti-social behaviour, but that they also need to recognise their role in tackling the problem.
‘We want tools that are restorative, to nip bad behaviour in the bud. Even in difficult times tackling anti-social behaviour must be core business for all of us,’ he said.
Sarah Webb, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing, said the speech was about the political agenda.
She said: ‘I don’t think the biggest problem we are all facing is not knowing what local communities want.’
Communities and local agencies should take the lead in tackling anti-social behaviour, the minister responsible for crime prevention has said.
Speaking at the Social Landlords Crime and Nuisance Group conference in Birmingham today, James Brokenshire said the government wants to shift accountability from national to local level.
‘The problems of anti-social behaviour haven’t gone away, and the system routinely fails the most vulnerable,’ he said.
‘The government wants to see a shift, a new approach that gets rid of diktats and bureaucracy and sees professionals and communities join forces to beat the problem.’
He said communities would be given the tools and powers to tackle anti-social behaviour, but that they also need to recognise their role in tackling the problem.
‘We want tools that are restorative, to nip bad behaviour in the bud. Even in difficult times tackling anti-social behaviour must be core business for all of us,’ he said.
Sarah Webb, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing, said the speech was about the political agenda.
She said: ‘I don’t think the biggest problem we are all facing is not knowing what local communities want.’
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