If reform generally means making things better, welfare reform is doing the opposite for many people in Croydon. If you think of welfare as a safety net for thousands of families at risk of homelessness, then the Government’s benefit cap, the ‘bedroom tax’ and the introduction of Universal Credit have been tearing bigger holes in it.

In Croydon we have the dubious honour of being one of a small number of authorities that government asked to be the first to adopt the benefit cap and changes to council tax credit. When we knew these welfare changes affecting over 16,000 local people were coming, Croydon LBC decided to make the best of a bad situation and find a way to manage the impact on local families.