KHT Reported to Merseyside Police

A concerned individual has reported Knowsley Housing Trust to the Police for their crime of demanding money by menaces.

Dear Chief Constable

Letter by Knowsley Housing Trust: Administration of Justice Act 1970

I enclose for your review and possible investigation a copy of a standard letter from the Income Manager at Knowsley Housing Trust,which I understand to have been sent recently to several of the Trust’s tenants.

I seek your review because I believe the sending of the letter may have constituted an offence under the Administration of Justice Act 1970 Section 40, para (1) & (1) (a), which states that:

A person commits an offence if, with the object of coercing another person to pay money claimed from the other as a debt due under a contract, he…..harasses the other with demands for payment which, in respect of their frequency or the manner or occasion of making any such demand, or of any threat or publicity by which any demand is accompanied, are calculated to subject him or members of his family or household to alarm, distress or humiliation.

In addition, paragraph 2 of Section 40 states that:

A person may be guilty of an offence by virtue of subsection (1)(a) above if he concerts with others in the taking of such action as is described in that paragraph, notwithstanding that his own course of conduct does not by itself amount to harassment.

It is my lay view that the contents of the final paragraph of the letter may have been “calculated” to cause just such alarm or distress, in order to exact payment of rent arrears. People receiving the standard letter may, from the wording, have been extremely concerned, to the point of alarm or distress, that their children might be removed from them if they become homeless. This impression would be inextricably linked to non-payment of arrears, and may therefore be construed as a demand for payment accompanied by action calculated by the author of the letter (or others requiring that such a letter be sent) to cause such alarm or distress.

This is not to suggest that Knowsley Housing Trust do not have a duty of referral when a family is at risk of homelessness. However, the letter makes no reference to the justification for that referral, namely that it is a step taken to ensure that children and families receive the most appropriate support from the local authority during a difficult family time. I believe it is a reasonable to expect a professional body to have given consideration to this.

Of course, I understand that it would be a matter for the court to decide the extent to which the letter is “calculated” to cause alarm or distress, but at this stage I would contend that a) there is sufficient evidence to suggest to the Crown Prosecution Service that a prosecution under the Administration of Justice Act 1970 might successfully be brought b) that it is in the public interest to consider prosecution, given the fact that the letter comes from a professional body of whom the public might reasonably expect high standards of conduct

Yours sincerely

Link to crime report

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KHT refer tenant's children to Social Services over rent arrears.

KHT (Knowsley Housing Trust) recently sent one of their Tenants a letter stating that they were applying to evict them because of rent arrears.

The letter went on to say, that in the event of the Tenant being made homeless, KHT would refer their children to Social services.

On 1st Nov 2013, after becoming aware of this letter being shared over the internet and on social media, KHT issued a statement on their website.

Their statement published on the KHT website is as follows:

"Review of our customer communications
Following comments made across our social media channels with regard to a letter we sent one of our customers, we are now prioritising a review into how we communicate with our tenants.

Ian Thomson, Executive Director of Assets at KHT:

‘Many thanks for bringing this to our attention, I have looked into it and have discussed with our income team and although the intention is to be supportive this does not come across as we would have wanted it to in the way that the letter has been worded. As such, this will be reviewed as a priority’"

Link to KHT statement


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Bedroom Tax/Council Tax - Walk of shame Protest Huyton

BEDROOM TAX/COUNCIL TAX. Peaceful Demo & Walk of Shame - Tues 7th May 2013 @12.30pm in Huyton Village.

"If you have had enough of this Government's attacks on decent people, if you have had enough of Council's silence and lack of support for the people, putting their masters in London before the vulnerable and suffering residents of their own Borough. Then please show your support and join us for a walk of shame to Knowsley Council.

Let's show this Council and this unelected Government, that we will not stand for these vile attacks and persecution.

Please, put everything to one side, we cannot let this go on any longer. Let these smug Councillors know, that if they don't stand up with us the people, against the millionaires in Government, then they will not be representing us come May 2014!

Please show your support, we are meeting at Huyton Post Office at 12.30pm.

We are all in this together. :-)"

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Statement from KHT's Bob Taylor

A statement from Bob Taylor OF Knowsley Housing Trust.

"I was fortunate to meet a group of anti-bedroom tax and welfare cuts protesters we had invited to our KHT offices on 25th April 2013. The group included tenants and others affected by the bedroom tax, council tax and other changes such as rising fuel and food prices.

Our meeting was positive but a real cry for help from people terrified for how friends, family and those they care for will cope with the cuts and bedroom tax and how it has taken away any hope for the decent life they aspire to.

I have said this before but will say again that the bedroom tax cannot in any shape or form be right. To reduce payments for people who have already been assessed as in need – and in areas where jobs are in short supply – just makes no sense at all. Suddenly thousands of people are being asked to find upwards of £15-20 per week and over £30 per week for many more – just where can this come from?

KHT has over 3,000 homes (around 7,000 people) affected by the bedroom tax alone and when council tax and other changes are taken into account that figure is much higher. We are already hearing that as people with no other sources of income try to come to terms with the enormity of what’s happening they are struggling to eat let alone deal with how they are going to keep the roof over their head.

Thousands of people are desperately worried and at their wits’ end with how to pay their rent, how to eat and how to live. The human and social costs are significant. There will be a huge strain on health services and organisations striving to provide support. Significant numbers of people are already resorting to food banks and other means to survive.

When you combine that with Knowsley (and most other areas of the North) being hit with the highest government cuts per head of working age population in the country, at £800 per head, the economic and social costs are immense.

If we all truly believe that it is the right of every individual to have a decent home, decent food and a decent life, sucking the life out of places like Knowsley through all these cuts is not just wrong but immoral. It’s not good for people, it’s certainly not good for businesses and in the absence of any economic stimulus the future is indeed bleak.

What people on the lowest incomes, in the most unfortunate positions in life need is hope and not to be characterised as spongers or scroungers, insulting phrases which do not apply to the vast majority of the millions of people affected by these policies.

The key point for me is HOPE. If we do not give people a feeling that there is hope – hope to get a job, hope that society cares about people who, through no fault of their own, can’t work, hope to live a decent life, hope to be able to feed themselves and their families – then what is left?

My call to anyone who has influence over the Government and policymakers and can understand the simple mechanics, if not the human cost, of what I and all at KHT are starting to witness is that it’s not too late to put it right. It’s not too late to recognise what is going to happen and to do something now to stop it.

If you agree and feel as strongly as us, write to your local MP, to Mark Prisk the Housing Minister or your local newspaper telling them how you feel and how it’s affecting you and the community you live in.

At KHT we will be doing much more work over the next few weeks to act on what our tenants, partners and others in our communities are telling us now that the harsh impact of these cuts are being felt in Knowsley .

The old adage – ‘you’ve got to invest to save’ – is something I subscribe to but it doesn’t appear that the Government feels this should apply to Knowsley, Merseyside and the North."

Source: KHT Website

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