Leeds Housing Update
I have had the below update from Leeds Housing
Leeds Housing has just announced that it will soon be possible to bid for council houses again. It will be making contact with all applicants who were offered a home prior to lockdown to discuss their rehousing situation and make plans to undertake viewings and tenancy sign up where the applicant is able to do so. As there are 450 such cases it will take some time to do this. Where an applicant is not able to proceed because they are shielding or self isolating, the viewing and sign up will be put on hold. Resuming Choice Based Lettings on a reduced scale from Wednesday 24th June. For the first week only Council housing and Housing Association new build homes will be available, and then from the following week a small number of Council homes and Housing Association homes will be available and advertised. Housing will continue to increase numbers advertised each week pending any contractor capacity issues.
It maybe therefore a few months until we are able to fully resume Choice Based Lettings. All customers on the Leeds Homes Register will be contacted to advise accordingly and updated information will be available on the Leeds Homes website
Job Retention and Self-Employment Income Support Schemes
Up to 31st May 2020, 9,000 jobs had been furloughed through the Government’s Job Retention Scheme in Leeds North West constituency, equivalent to around 15% of the population aged 16-64. This compares to 21% that have been furloughed in the UK.
A further 2,300 claims were made to the Self Employment Income Support scheme, equivalent to 72% of the potentially eligible population. This compares to a take up rate of 70% of the potentially eligible population in the UK as a whole.
Claimant Count
The May 2020 figures for the unadjusted claimant count have been published today, which show the number of people who were claiming unemployment related benefits. This includes those who were claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance, or were claiming Universal Credit and are required to seek work. Unlike the alternative count (see below) the unadjusted count is not adjusted to take into account the roll-out of Universal Credit.
There were 2,465 actual claimants in Leeds North West constituency in May 2020, which was 4.1% of the population aged 16-64. The equivalent UK claimant rate was 6.4%.
This was 570 higher than April 2020 and 1,435 higher than March 2020, before the UK lockdown began.
There were 610 claimants aged 18-24 in May 2020, 175 higher than April 2020 and 385 higher than March 2020
Test and Trace
Leeds will receive just over £4.1m for Test and Trace, our share of the £300m that was announced on 22 May. This will help with the additional capacity we need to deal with the complex cases and with communication and engagement work that we know is going to be important.
The Government have released the first set of data from NHS Test and Trace. The data covers the first 7 days of operation shows: 67% (5,407) of the people who had tested positive for coronavirus were reached by contact tracers and asked to share details of their close contacts and 85% (26,985) of close contacts were reached and advised to self-isolate.
We know that, if implemented as intended, Test and Trace is likely to reduce infection rates by about 15%. If combined with behavioural measures like hand washing and social distancing, however, this will have a much greater impact.
Film the House – opportunity for filmmakers
The Film the House competition for 2020 has now launched – if you’re a student or independent scriptwriter, director or filmmaker take a look at www.filmthehouse.co.uk for more details about this parliamentary-based competition.
Film the House is a parliamentary‐based short film competition for student and independent filmmakers based in the UK.
All entries are shared with your local MP and the final judging of the competition is carried out by industry professionals.
Find out more about how to get involved at www.filmthehouse.co.uk