These are exceptional times and government must respond accordingly, flexibly and sensitively to the needs of those in most need, including council tenants.

Each autumn, after consultation, the Government publishes formal guideline rents so that Local Authorities know where they stand on Government subsidy to the Housing Revenue Account system. Authorities are then free to make their own decisions on the actual rent level to set in their particular circumstances. Many authorities set actual rents below the guideline figure.  

The guideline rents increase for 2009/10 was set in September at a time of much higher inflation. So, in light of the challenging economic times and the rapid decrease in inflation, the government has issued new guidelines to override this and support tenants during the current economic uncertainty, while making sure that local authorities still have the money to carry out essential repairs and maintenance.

Exceptionally, the government is now prepared to offer local authorities the opportunity to bid for additional subsidy, if, and only if, they will revisit the level of rents set and reduce them by that amount. The average guideline rent increase for local authority tenants in 2009/10 will be halved from 6.2% to around 3.1 % to encourage councils to reduce the amount tenants would have to pay for the coming year. The changes to the guideline rent increase means tenants should see a marked drop in their proposed average rent increase for the coming year from around £4 per week to approximately just under £2.

Local authorities are being invited to bid for additional subsidy before the end of April and to introduce new, lower rent increases as soon as is practicable. On behalf of the council tenants of Swindon, I am asking Swindon Borough Council for reassurance that they will be taking the necessary steps to bid for this additional money and that rent increases will be adjusted down accordingly.

This represents a substantial offer of help for hard-pressed council tenants in Swindon and I hope that Swindon Borough Council will agree that it is imperative that this is taken advantage of as quickly as possible.

In particular, I hope that  Swindon Borough Councillors will  not allow partisan political considerations get in the way of this help for tenants. As Adver readers will know, in recent months, such considerations have led councillors to refuse every offer to work with the town's MPs to get even more funding into the town, to respond to requests to publicise the Government's offer of free insulation for the elderly and vulnerable to keep them warm through the winter and to confirm whether they will cooperate with the Government's Mortgage Rescue Scheme which helps vulnerable homeowners facing repossession. 

Enough is enough. Let's hope that this time the Council respond promptly and constructively, on behalf of their tenants, to this latest offer of help from the government. No snide personal comments, no partisan sniping, no evasion. Just action.