THE suspension of a Labour baroness who claimed second home allowance for a council house, and ordered to pay back £125,000 illustrates the wisdom of the coalition Government rewriting the rules for social housing tenancies.

Social housing investment is being cut by half in the spending review.

A Comres survey of 1,000 people, for the Local Government Association, found a majority supporting a cut in social housing subsidies.

The Coalition Government is also taking bold steps to make social housing self-financing, and not a burden on the taxpayer. Innovative ways to bring in additional housing units such as bringing empty homes and redundant farm buildings into use for low cost housing are being promoted.

Society will have to shed old shiboleths and liberate planning from the clutches of 'development control' to make it work for the community.

Forest of Dean Council's subsidy of over £1.2 million over and above HCA grants has yielded 183 social housing units over four years. Council subsidy of this magnitude over and above that from central Government may come as a shock to the thousands of Forest homeowners struggling to keep up with their mortgages. Also that the subsidy simply goes on to increase the asset value of the of the social housing association.

Government is also taking steps to curb the high salaries of managers and staff working in the social housing sector, also attempting to cut costs in housing administration and maintenance. Full transparency of costs and wages in all publicly supported organisations should open up public scrutiny.

The intent of social housing is to act as a safety net for those that will become homeless without subsidised low cost housing and for the duration of their need, not as a gateway for saving money for those lucky enough to be allocated housing because of their circumstances at a given time but can afford market housing later on.

There is no reason whatsoever for social housing to be for life, long after the tenants' financial and family circumstances have improved.

Coun Venk Shenoi

(Con, Churcham and Huntley)