£130m given to housing providers
Over £132m of taxpayers’ money for housing the most vulnerable people has been handed to providers who exploit the system. Huge sums in housing benefit for ‘exempt accommodation’ have been given to organisations since 2018 despite judgments and warnings from the Regulator of Social Housing. The figures cover 95 of over 300 local authorities. The true figure is far higher. Some bosses of non-profit organisations exploit regulation loopholes to steal money. Exempt accommodation is for women fleeing domestic violence, those with substance abuse and people leaving care, for which providers can claim higher rates of housing benefit and can also charge residents service fees on top of this. It is a booming industry that is beset by concerns raised by charities, police and government about the quality of support available to those in exempt accommodation, as well as cases of violence and sex work within properties.
Home Office challenged over post-Brexit EU citizens in UK
A statutory body set up to monitor and review EU citizens’ rights after Brexit will review Home Office rules impacting 2.5 million European nationals living in the UK. The Independent Monitoring Authority (IMA) is challenging the Home Office decision to remove the rights of people living in the UK for less than five years before Brexit if they do not apply in time for permanent residency status. The rules mean they would be classed as undocumented migrants and lose their rights to reside, work, rent property or access services including the NHS. At worst, they could face deportation. The IMA argued the rules were a breach of the withdrawal agreement between the UK and the EU, which guaranteed the rights of EU citizens who were in the country before Brexit. There is also a real issue as to the potential application of EU law in the interpretation of the withdrawal agreement.
Greta Thunberg at Glastonbury
19-year-old Climate activist, Greta Thunberg, made a surprise appearance and spoke on the Pyramid Stage during the Glastonbury Festival. The 19-year-old warned festival-goers, ‘The earth's biosphere is not just changing, it is destabilising, it is breaking down.’ She criticised world leaders for ‘creating loopholes’ to protect firms whose emissions cause climate change. ‘That is a moral decision that will put the entire living planet at risk’, she added. Gretta spoke against a backdrop of the ‘warming stripes’, a vivid illustration of how the average global temperature has soared in recent decades. But she ended with a message of hope, telling festival-goers they had the power to make a difference. ‘Make no mistake, no one else is going to do this for us.’," she concluded. ‘Right here and now is where we stand our ground.’ She also visited the festival's Park area during her visit and the crowd joined her in a chant of ‘climate justice’.
Ukraine: Pray for refugees’ protection
The International Justice Mission (IJM) reminds us that the Ukraine conflict has displaced millions of women and children across Europe who are now running out of savings and resources, making them vulnerable to false work offers or accommodation from traffickers. The UN warns that Ukraine’s war is turning into a ‘human trafficking crises’. We need to cry out to God for women and children’s protection, that they would find safe housing and a stable income, to avoid accepting offers from traffickers. Please pray that they would know God's peace and comfort at this time of great difficulty. Pray for the expansion of IJM's anti-trafficking work in Europe. Ukraine’s refugee crisis means they urgently need to expand their anti-trafficking work into more European countries to reach and protect more vulnerable people. Pray for more local churches and European communities to accept and help refugees and may God mightily bless those volunteers already welcoming Ukrainians into their communities.
