More words of wisdom from the Cabinet Member for Housing on Tuesday - I had submitted a written question asking for the number of homeless cases on a ward by ward basis. The answer I got was 'I don't have a crystal ball'. Given that I wasn't asking for any sort of psychic prediction, merely a breakdown of the current situation, it is just another example of the flippant response we receive to any serious question about the issues on Housing.

Housing is one of the biggest issues that I deal with as casework for a number of reasons. Kingstanding has a large number of council houses, many of which are not in particularly good condition. We have problems with private landlords who charge a fortune for sub-standard housing. And in an area where people maintain strong family connections, there is always a high demand for affordable housing in the locality. It seems to go in waves - one week I will pick up a lot of repairs cases, the next it will be homelessness and transfer requests. We have had some success in regenerating small areas of housing in the ward in the past, but we are now having to look at a long term, large scale plan for the rest. Finding the money to do it is another story, as is always the case..

I'm going up to Blackpool tomorrow for Local Government Conference - why this is being held in Blackpool this year, I do not know, as it has been held for the last few years in various cities making it a good opportunity to go to new places. I quite like Blackpool (and I suppose it's a chance to size up the competition on the casino issue) but February isn't the best time to go!