During the last Labour government they demanded that councils make their social council housing decent on the one hand, but then refused to support council who tried doing it. They insisted council relinquish control to housing association and Arms Length Management Organisations (ALMO).

Lambeth created an ALMO called Lambeth Living in 2008. It has been a disaster. Southwark under the Lib Dems resisted this.

in 2010 the coalition government reversed that disastrous national policy. It has made councils fully accountable for their housing finance and given large sums to help make council housing decent.

Things have changed so much for the better that Lambeth Council as now proposing to close Lambeth Living and invest £490m in improving the council housing stock of 24,000 tenanted homes and 9,000 leasehold homes. Staff will transfer back into Lambeth Council. Unison described the Lambeth Labour policy “Unison welcomes today’s announcement that Lambeth council intends to bring an end to the failed experiment”.