'Fourth Option' - investment to improve existing and build a new generation of first class council housing

Stand Up For Council Housing on May Day (Tuesday May 1)
Make sure council housing is on the agenda on May 1st - International Workers Day. Civil servants are holding a national strike and the TUC and a wide range of other unions are backing protests to defend public services.

Get tenants, trade unionists, councillors and others to 'Stand Up For Council Housing'. Organise a protest/photo call on the steps of the Town Hall, issue a press release and distribute campaign material at other May Day events. Download new poster to publicise your event.

Defend Council Housing has posted a 'Fourth Option' for council housing
e-petition on the Downing Street website.
Please forward on this email to help collect signatures

DCH is also urging campaign supporters to organise Stand Up For Council Housing public meetings in May/June with a broad platform of speakers to build up pressure for government to agree the 'Fourth Option' of direct investment and to see off the threat to lifelong secure tenancies (email for help with speakers and publicity).

Delegation met Ruth Kelly

DCH's 10 Questions to Candidates On Wednesday (April 18) MPs Austin Mitchell, Frank Dobson, Michael Meacher, Jon Cruddas, Ken Purchase, David Drew and Paul Holmes along with Alan Walter and Eileen Short from Defend Council Housing met Secretary of State Ruth Kelly, her advisors and senior officers from the Department for Communities. Kelly said she was "very happy to work together on areas of agreement… any ideas that we can share together would be welcome" but got an angry response from MPs when she tried to suggest that the pilot scheme on councils opting out of the HRA and ALMOs transfering majority ownership into the private sector would either solve the problems or be acceptable solutions. Following the meeting Austin Mitchell reflected "We've got a new Minister who sounded sympathetic to our arguments but she's inherited a set of policies which have now hit the buffers."

The lack of any new announcement prior to a change in Prime Minister is hardly suprising. More interesting are the Labour Party 'Partnership in Power' discussion fueled by the growing sense (New deal brokered for new PM reported in Inside Housing) that there has to be a major new government initiative on housing and that the new Prime Minister will not want to suffer an embarassing fourth defeat at Labour Party conference in September.

Ask candidates to sign up to DCH's Ten Questions

DCH has produced 'Ten Questions to Candidates' for those standing in the May 3rd elections and for candidates in the Labour Party leadership elections. Circulate the questions, issue a local press release and ask the press to poll.

DCH is holding a national conference on July 12 at the TUC's Congress House, London.

Download conference Flyer & Programme, circulate locally and organise a delegation of tenants, trade unionists and councillors from your area to attend. Propose to your council that they sponsor the delegation - they always say they want tenants to be well informed and regularly fund tenants to attend other 'similar' events (individual tenants £5; sponsored tenants, trade unionists, councillors, etc £20)

Further information from www.defendcouncilhousing.org.uk

Tenants say Stand Up For Council Housing
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Sign the 'Fourth Option' for council housing e-petition on the Downing Street website;

Bulk order copies of the latest DCH newspaper to distribute to tenants, trade unionists and councillors in your area (£18 per 100 / £100 per 1000);

Raise DCH's 'Ten Questions to Candidates'

Download conference Flyer & Programme and organise a delegation to the DCH national conference on July 12 at the TUC's Congress House, London

Affiliate & donate to DCH