There was solidarity among city council election rivals in Birmingham on one issue - the abject plight of children stuck for years in temporary accommodation in the city because of a housing shortage. They all agreed it was a 'scandal' that needed fixing - but had different ideas about the underlying causes and the solutions.
It was one of the hot topics put to representatives of the main political groups jostling for votes and the chance to run Birmingham City Council at the first hustings of the local elections campaign, hosted by BirminghamLive.
Housing campaigner and youth worker Fatima Haji, part of the team behind the award winning Dream Chaser youth club in Small Heath, posed a question pressing candidates to commit to improve standards in B&B and temporary accommodation, where 11,000 Birmingham children and their families are living. She urged them all to agree to sign up to a charter promising high and enforceable minimum standards of accommodation, a time limit on occupancy, and to address the city's shortage of social and family homes.
You can view the responses of the candidates in full in our hustings, recorded in full at BirminghamLive's headquarters in the city centre on Thursday April 23. You can view the hustings in full on BirminghamLive's youtube channel here.
But these are some of the soundbite responses to Fatima's question:
- John Cotton, Labour: 'The fact we have this number of children in temporary accommodation is an absolute scar on this city and this nation...we have committed to, will be working with...people across the city to (address this)'
- Roger Harmer, Liberal Democrats: 'Children... are in temporary accommodation here on average for three and a half years, so temporary is a misnomer. The root cause is failure by governments of all parties to build enough housing, particularly social rented'
- Jex Parkin, Reform: 'What we are seeing is uncontrolled proliferation of HMOs...we need more enforcement to make sure they are fit for purpose...and social housing that works for everyone'
- Nosheen Khalid, Independent: 'In Alum Rock we have 48 per cent of children living in overcrowded houses...this is a real blight on this council and it's ...completely unacceptable'
- Shakeel Afsar, Independent Candidate Alliance: Permission for more exempt supported properties in the city is 'given out like Smarties' and causing 'more drugs, more policing issues, more crime'
- Robert Alden, Conservatives: 'It's a disgrace...the council keeps issuing contracts to bad landlords who are not putting people in suitable accommodation, that's something we would stop. We would also introduce a ten year residency rule for social housing so we prioritise Brummies'
- Julien Pritchard, Greens: 'Restart council house building...ensure no net loss of social housing (when areas are regenerated)'
- Nosheen Khalid, Independent: 'We need to address the (negative) rhetoric around the people in exempt properties and temporary housing...they are victims of a broken system...these are real people living in unstable environments, we need faster pathways into secure housing'
Leaders of the city's main political parties and groups went head to head in Birmingham at the first city-wide hustings ahead of the most crucial local elections in a generation. Polling day is rapidly approaching, with voters due to turn out on May 7. Our special broadcast aimed to help voters make up their minds.
Questions covered a colourful and interesting range of issues, from road safety to the bin strike, HS2 to the housing crisis, the city's flags to racism. It's part of our comprehensive coverage of the local elections here in Birmingham, where our political and community reporting experts are bringing you all the information, insight and analysis you need ahead of polling day on May 7.
Neighbouring councils including Sandwell, Dudley, Wolverhampton, Solihull, Walsall and Coventry will also be going to the polls. But it's the future leadership of Birmingham City Council, the biggest of its kind in Europe, that has grabbed the nation's attention, with a wave of independents, the charge of Reform, a resurgent Greens, battling Tories and a strong Lib Dem presence expected to test Labour's grip on the city.
Our panel was made up of representatives of the Conservatives, Greens, Labour, Liberal Democrats and Reform parties alongside representatives of the independent movement.
