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Hackenthorpe Tenants and Community Association- a Clairification

Please see below a combined statement from the Birley Ward Councillors, Beighton Ward Councillors and Clive Betts MP providing in response to an article published in The Star.

In a recent Viewpoint published in ‘The Star’,  concerns were expressed around the suspension of the Hackenthorpe Tenants and Community Association (HTACA). The piece finished by making an inference that local councillors from Beighton and Birley wards, plus Clive Betts MP, appear to be disinterested due to there being no elections this year. Nothing could be further from the truth. The councillors and MP have been working with the association for many years but have been more closely involved recently as the problems surrounding the TACA’s operation have unfolded.

For clarity, a number of facts regarding the association need to be understood:  HTACA, covering a vast area that spans both Beighton and Birley Wards, has been in a state of turmoil for a number of years. Over two years ago, following changes to the committee and officers of the association, an Independent Auditor was asked to conduct a review of the association’s previous year’s accounts and identified some discrepancies that required further investigation. This highlighted additional areas of concern including items of expenditure of the association, the commissioning and awarding of works conducted in the gardens of the association’s office, and around individual expense claims. Further instances of fraud were uncovered and police proceedings followed. After a period in which the committee and officers tried to stabilise and rebuild the TACA, the Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and some other committee members took the decision to resign. They cited problems within the committee, expressing concern that some committee members were making it difficult to conduct the functions and operation of the association. They effectively closed the association, returning the keys of the TACA premises and transferring the balance of the accounts to Sheffield Homes to hold in trust. Due to the difficulties the association had experienced, and a number of outstanding issues that had still to be resolved, the Local Area Board of Sheffield Homes (now Council Housing Service) concluded that a full and frank investigation in to the association was the best way to resolve the issues and plot a way forward. This course of action received the backing and support of the local councillors, Clive Betts MP, the Cabinet Member for Homes and Neighbourhoods and his Cabinet Assistant. Consequently, a panel made up of independent tenants that include the former Chair of Sheffield Homes, plus Cllr Tony Damns, Cabinet Assistant, and the Council Housing Service Area Manager, is currently conducting the investigation. As this complex investigation is still ongoing, and until the investigation is completed, the association remains suspended and the Council Housing Service holds tenant’s levies.

This is a difficult time for the TACA and everyone involved in trying to resolve the matter. Whilst we recognise the frustration experienced by the ongoing suspension of the TACA, we are disappointed with a piece that attempts to paint a picture of disinterest and apathy.  We are united in our desire to ensure that a properly constituted and well-run organisation emerges from this process; an organisation that is fit for purpose and is focused on its members.

In the meantime, tenants and residents across the Hackenthorpe, Birley, Frecheville and Scowerdons estates continue to receive support and assistance from their elected councillors and MP through regular surgeries or by contacting them directly.

Cllr Helen Mirfin-Boukouris, Cllr Ian Saunders, Cllr Chris Rosling-Joseph
Members for Beighton ward

Cllr Karen Mcgowan, Cllr Denise Fox, Cllr Bryan Lodge
Members for Birley ward

Clive Betts MP
Sheffield South East

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April 1st – No Joke!

This week has seen a raft of changes that, taken together, represent the the biggest contraction in the welfare state since its foundations in the 1940s.
Millions of families – the majority being working households on low incomes – are seeing significant real reductions in their incomes. This government is committed to further real cuts in income for years to come. Bankers get bonuses, ordinary working families get battered.
The speed with which the government is moving to introduce Universal Credit is bringing considerable risks. The government had promised that the scheme was to be piloted in four areas starting this month. Now it has suddenly announced that three of those areas won’t start until July. It’s difficult to see how any lessons can be learned for a scheme to be implemented in October.
There is a very real risk that the new computer systems and software for Universal Credit will simply not be fit for purpose and, at best, there will be insufficient time to sort out any glitches. Further, the transition to Universal Credit almost certainly leaves the system more vulnerable to fraud.
Direct payment of rent to tenants rather than to landlords is almost certain to increase rent arrears, as families under financial pressure will find it difficult to resist the temptation to use their rent cash as an alternative to a pay-day loan. I don’t know of any council – of any political persuasion – or housing association which hasn’t increased its provision for rent arrears.
It is also inevitable that there will be huge confusion from the separation of housing and council tax benefits. I think people massively under-estimate the number of households and families who come in to and out of eligibility for various benefits during the course of any year. This is only going to increase as the number of temporary and short-term jobs increases.
It’s difficult to believe other than that there will be a very big rise this Autumn in the number of families who will be contacting MPs, councillors and advice bureaux wanting urgent assistance with their benefit problems.
No, April 1st is no joke this year.
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Bryan Lodge, Karen McGowan and Denise Fox Greet Labour Deputy Leader

Bryan Lodge With Labour Deputy Leader Harriet Harman
Bryan Lodge With Labour Deputy Leader Harriet Harman

Bryan Lodge, Karen McGowan and Denise Fox met Harriet Harman today. She came to speak outside the City Hall and show her support to the Sheffield Labour Candidates.

The Labour’s Deputy Leader Harriet Harman took to those very same steps to launch a new Labour Party document called “Caught Yellow Handed”. It exposes the Lib Dems campaign in these local elections for what it is – hypocritical and the same old Lib Dems – saying one thing, doing another”. She said

“Lib Dem literature across the country is conspicuously lacking any trace of Nick Clegg on it. In Sheffield some of their leaflets don’t even have any Lib Dem logos on! Don’t let them get away with it send a clear message to the Lib Dems and help Labour win on 3 May”.

It was raining but the prople of Sheffield stood and listened to what she had to say. It was a moral boost to the candidates and she welcomed by the Council Leader Julie Dore.

Clive Betts MP also came and listened to Harriet.

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Clive Betts MP Hails Victory On Local Planning Laws

Proposed Coalition changes to local planning laws have been controversial, with many fearing that green belt land could lose vital protections. In a constituency like Sheffield South-East, this could result in countryside at present enjoyed by all being lost to developers.

Fortunately our MP Clive Betts, in his role as chairman of Parliament’s backbench Communities and Local Government Committee, has been leading the fight against the worst aspects of the National Planning Policy Framework. On hearing news that changes to proposed legislation have led to increased protection for our green spaces, he said:

The select committee listened to the campaigners, and the Government listened to the select committee. Great credit should go to everyone who has campaigned to get this change… the draft NPPF would have reshaped England very differently if the initial plans had gone through.

Full story at the Daily Telegraph website:

Hands Off Our Land