Now at last we can reveal what we have been working on for so long. The Prime Minister's announcement yesterday of proposals to prioritise local housing for people who have lived in the area for longest is the cumination of months of careful research and consideration.There are some people who will be unkind about this proposal: who will carp that it will take us back to the days of the Poor Law (Amendment) Act of 1834. They will allege that local authorities will assess need on the basis of residency and will drive the sick and needy across borough boundaries. That will not happen. Times have moved on. We now have a network of public transport which will allow the removal (and I use a technical term) of alien indigents in comparative comfort.
By adding a further layer of enquiry to the already complex mass of rules relating to housing need, additional delay will be built into the system, which of course will mean additional housing will become available through the death of some applicants and existing occupiers.
This seems to us to be a win-win situation, although the question of the burial of non-locals at the expense of residents is one we propose to address next. It is complicated by the general refusal of bus and train operators to allow corpses to purchase tickets or occupy luggage racks.
