Monday 18 March 2013

Is the Size Criteria a Bedroom Tax when applied to Local Housing Allowance

I've made a great deal a noise about the reduction of Housing Benefit [HB] - aka the Bedroom Tax - in relation to the social rented sector [SRS]. 

It's something I want abolished. 
And I want it abolished NOW.
And I want it abolished wholesale, not piecemeal.

I am often challenged about it being the Labour Government that came up with the size criteria that are used to calculate the number of bedrooms a household needs. 

This was way back in 2008, with the introduction of Local Housing Allowance [LHA].

Yes, no question that those rules formed part of a comprehensive review about how HB operated in
 the private rental sector [PRS] following an announcement on October 2002 and pathfinder trials in November 2003.

So why no outcry at the time? 
And why no demonstrations back then? 
Probably the easy answer would be the emergence of social media in the interim.

But for a more thoughtful answer, I would like to point up some philosophical and practical points on social housing [or maybe that should be social homes], tenancies and the differences between the SRS and PRS.

Properties rented out by local councils [what my parents still refer to as 'corporation houses'] are covered by a secure tenancy - as  a secure tenant, you can normally live in the property for the rest of your life, as long as you don’t break the conditions of the tenancy. Shelter have published a great advice guide to council tenancies

Housing Association tenants are covered by an assured tenancy meaning you can normally live in your property for the rest of your life. Shelter have published a great advice guide to housing association tenancies.


People renting in PRS are NORMALLY covered by an assured shorthold tenancy - this is the most common type of tenancy [although there are other models ]with private landlords. and usually last for 6 or 12 months and give you limited rights. Shelter have published a great advice guide to private tenancies.

Social rented housing is housing that is owned and managed by Local Authorities [LA] or Registered Social Landlords [RSL], as opposed to being privately owned. 

Social rented housing is let out and managed to fulfil certain social objectives such as providing affordable housing, as opposed to being run on a purely commercial basis, as is the case with most private lets.

A key function of social housing is to provide accommodation that is affordable to people on low incomes. Rents in the social housing sector are kept low through state subsidy. The SRS is currently governed by a strictly defined system of rent control to ensure that rents are kept affordable.
Because there is insufficient social housing to go round, often people that qualify
for this have to find accommodation in the PRS. The trouble about this is that the cost is at the mercy of private landlords, who are in the business of making 


For this reason, the Labour Government in 2008 introduced the Local Housing Allowance - this is the housing benefit paid to most tenants who rent from private landlords. 

The amount of LHA you can get largely depends on how many bedrooms your home has, and the maximum rent allowed for properties in your area. 

And the key word here is MAXIMUM. 

If a tenant, who under the size criteria is entitled to 2-bedroom property, can find a 3-bedroom property at a rent lower than the LHA there is NOTHING to stop them 
renting the 3-bed property.

The amount of LHA you can get depends on where you live. 
When it was introduced in 2008, LHA was calculated as the median of a the distribution of rents in a 'Broad Rental Market Area'. The median rent is the rent that is halfway up the ordered distribution of rents for properties of the same size in a BRMA. 


Rother District Council came up with a document that gave an good example of this in operation.


However, in the July 2010 emergency budget [see para 2.50 on p48], the Coalition came up with a new calculation of LHA. From October 2011. LHA rates 
at set at the 30th percentile of rents in each BRMA rather than the median.

Taking the earlier example from Rother District Council, this would now value the LHA at £90 rather than £95.

So when Labour introduced LHA in 2008, it would have been easier to find affordable accommodation with more bedrooms than allowed for under the size criteria. Ergo, the size criteria WASN"T a bedroom tax, just a means of assessing a reasonable rent allowance for a BRMA.

It is also important or note that when LHA was introduced in 2008 here was a transition period - it was only new PRS tenants that were subject to the size criteria. Those on the previous regime that would have been deemed to be 'over occupying' under the size criteria did't face a cut in Housing Benefit at the time.

No such protection is in place when the Bedroom Tax reduction of Housing Benefit starts at the beginning of April.

The other main difference between SRS and PRS revolves around the fact that few properties in the PRS are specially adapted to assist households with a disabled family member

And many HA , for a variety of reasons, in the past have actively managed their Social Housing stock such that often families requiring a 2-bedroom property are allocated 3-bed accommodation.

There are many anomalies in the application of size criteria in SRS, where there has been an assumption of a 'lifelong' tenancy. 

That's why there is such outrage ahead of next month's reduction of Housing Benefit.

There are other ways to deal with the problem of under occupancy, but it is not by the blunt instrument that is the Bedroom Tax.







Saturday 16 March 2013

Exeter Bedroom Tax Protest

This afternoon at 1pm I stepped out from behind my computer and became an upfront Bedroom Tax activist.

For many months, I've been campaigning electronically against the Bedroom Tax on social media - questioning, challenging, informing.

I've made friends, acquaintances, colleagues and comrades.

We've shared stories, swapped ideas - many of their collective ideas informed my address to the 150 who attended the rally.So to them all thanks.


Standing on a bench, surrounded by Barclays and Vodafone, here's what I had to say:
(please check against delivery - always wanted to say that!)


In 15 days time, the Tory- led Coalition introduced the size criteria that will see poor and vulnerable tenants in social housing facing a reduction in their Housing Benefit each and every week.

The Tory Fail Government supported by their Lib Dem allies in the Coalition seem to focus more on the fact that is not a tax.

They seem keen on discussing whether it’s called
the Size Criteria
the Under Occupancy Penalty,
or the Spare Bedroom Subsidy.

But to me and you it’s the BEDROOM TAX

It’s a phase the Tories don’t like – IDS realy hates us calling it the Bedroom Tax.

Well Mr Duncan Smith I can think of a way to stop us mentioning the Bedroom Tax
ABOLISH it

That’s the best course of action because it’s so ill-conceived. 

It’s a unfair and perverse tax which will hit hundreds of thousand of vulnerable people living in social housing around the country

It is a mass of contradictions and full of unintended consequences.

And it penalises tenants for a weak housing policy – of all recent Governments, including Labour – that has failed to build enough Social Homes.

But it's no surprise that theses plans are such a mess.

That's because its being organised by the Department of Work and Pensions

Yes the crack team that gave us a Work Programme that is officially worse than doing nothing.

And their reward is that they been given another brewery in which to organise a party.

When I started drafting this speech I had lots of examples about how incompetent these regulations were.

But during the week, Inane Duncan Smith made some changes – changes that are described as helping families with severely disabled children, foster carers and forces familes

But that’s not the real picture

Its only SOME families with severely disabled children...
only those that under Bedroom Tax rules would have to share with siblings..
there is no allowance for social need, such storing essential equipment to help them to cope with their disability

It’s only SOME foster carers
Only current foster carers or those approved in last 12 months will be protected from reduction in Housing benefit...
and only for ONE extra bedroom, meaning fosters  carers wanting to look after siblings and needing more than one extra bedroom will still be liable for Bedroom Tax

And, we're not sure on this one, but  it maybe SOME forces familes
there is still a lack of clarity on how the Bedroom Tax applies to 'teenage adults' in terms of forces families...
Many military personnel and forces families think exemption only applies when 'on operations' - ie frontline duty... in Afghanistna, Mali, etc.
No exemption if they in Catterick training to go 'on operations'

I say again the Bedroom Tax needs to be abolished
And it needs to be abolished wholesale, not piecemeal

Making concession after concession, hoping like in a game of Kerplunk the whole thing doesn’t collapse on you is NOT the answer
It needs to be abolished now

The coalition are trying to use the tactic of DIVIDE AND CONQUER – we must unite together to fight – not each other, but this evil Bedroom Tax

We need to stand together and reveal the truth.

That they are discriminating demonstrates the unfairness of their policy.

But they have a solution to some of the hardships that the inherent unfairness of the Bedroom Tax will bring.

Lib Dem and Tory MPs over the past few weeks have continually stood up from the Government benches in the House of Commons and told us that there is a Discretionary Housing Payment available to cover hardships

They seem to think that £25 million available will support all the 440,000 households with a disabled family member.

That somehow that £25 miilion in DHP could make up for the £300million that those hard-pressed 440,000 families will give up in Housing Benefit reductions

The truth is the DHP fund will barely cover 1 in 10 of such cases. So the DHP will probably be paid up to a maximum of 13 weeks

Just yesterday I read that a Tory MP in Central Bedforshire couldn’t believe how the Discretionary Housing Payment wouldn’t just make the problem of the Bedroom Tax completely disappear.

He said he did not think the policy of ‘just giving a short-term’ DHP is appropriate ‘because the situation could be exactly the same at the end of the period’.
‘Surely the people who have disabilities whose houses have been adapted specifically to help them live in them should be in a separate category.'

And that's from someone who should know how all this should work - Andrew Selous MP is Parliamentary Private Secretary to Iain Duncan Smith at DWP


Put like that, it is obvious that the bedroom tax is attacking the vulnerable, the poor, the sick, the terminally ill and the disabled.

A *discretionary* payment for something so fundamental & permanent as shelter is just a recipe for housing stress & insecurity

One of my acquaintances from Twitter - @WeshWallace - wrote an open letter to the Prime Minister

In it she said:
"David Cameron

"You say why should I have this lifestyle I cannot afford?
"Why should others pay for me to live like this?
"Since when has being made blind a life style choice?

"Since when was being made redundant an excuse for you to label me a skiver and a scrounger?

"Since when has claiming benefits means your not entitled to be treated as a human being?

"Since when has it become acceptable to treat me like a piece of rubbish?"

I want to speak up for those silent voices, the ones that the privileged members of the Cabinet never hear.

I want them to reflect on the words of  Mahatma Ghandi 
"A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members."

This is what the  Government thinks ofthe poor in this country?
They are introducing the Bedroom Tax on the same day as it’s giving millionaires a tax break – giving them a saving of around £100,000.

So that's it 
 The vindictive mess that is the BedroomTax.  Rush it in. Kerplunk!
Millionaire's tax break? Of course that's OK. Kerching?

On the first of April – that really is a sick April Fool’s Day joke

Yesterday was Red Nose Day – perhaps we should rebrand April the first RED FACE DAY.

I want to see their embarassment. I want to see them squirm.

The Coalition claim that the bedroom tax is needed to reduce the housing benefit bill.

But the scheme is now so chaotic it could actually end up costing more than it saves in many parts of the country.

Just last week I spoke to one of my residents.

She is worried about the bedroom tax – worried sick

She has a 3 bedroom property but her 2 sons are in care.

And the judgement under Bedroom tax is that  2 of those bedrooms are spare, surplus to needs.

Those 2 bedrooms give her hope that one day her sons will return to live with her.
But if she doesn’t have those 2 rooms, her sons can never return to live with her.

At the moment her rent  for that 3 bedroom rent is £85 per week, meaning she'd have to find £23 per week to cover the reduction of Housing Benefit that is the Bedroom Tax.

She’s looked at downsizing.
She’s been lucky and found somewhere – a single bedroom apartment at £99.

How is that reducing the housing benefit bill? 
And that increase of £14 takes away her hope.
 And if we remover her hope – what will be the social cost?

This Government is being cynical in introducing this legislation –
they know the price of everything,
yet at the same time, they ignore the cost

I forsee increased demand on
The National Health Service

I forsee increased demand on
Sevices dealing with mental health and social wellbeing

I forsee increased demand
Homelessness services

All directly attributable to the devastating effects of the Bedroom Tax

If families are made homeless or pushed into expensive private rented accommodation the tax payer could actually be left with a higher bill – and still the problem of under occupancy will not be solved.

Ministers claim they are trying to solve under-occupancy but David Cameron and Iain Duncan Smith have been forced to admit that it is impossible for their plans to work because there aren’t enough smaller homes for families to move into.

So all the Bedroom Tax will achieve is making some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in society even poorer.

The best way to bring down the benefits bill is to get people into jobs

I’m not sure if you know this fact, but the majority of Housing Benefits claimants are in work and 93% of new claimants need this benefit to subsidize low paying employers and part-time work.

That’s why Ed Miliband is looking at ways to move forward with a Living Wage

That’s why Labour is looking at ways to stimulate growth and employment

Labour supports sensible reform to the Social Security system – but that’s not the same as these current WELFARE CUTS

The ones that are being pushed forward by this Tory Government supported by its Lib Dem allies

From the Guardian to The Sun, everyone is warning the government that this policy is a mess, but ministers are burying their heads in the sand.

They have to concede that the Bedroom Tax is crazy.

They have to concede that the Bedroom Tax is now in total disarray.

This isn’t about tough choices, it’s about the wrong choices.

Ministers must now admit they have got this horribly wrong and think again – before it’s too late.

Already Labour front-benchers Liam Byrne and Jack Dromey have confirmed that they will abolished the Bedroom Tax if Labour are returned to power.

I will want to hold them to that.

I am clear that the Bedroom Tax needs to be abolished.

I want it abolished now.

And if not now, I will press the Labour front bench team to abolish it as a matter of urgency if we are returned to power in 2015.

Thank you for listening and thank you for your support










Friday 15 March 2013

Authenticating Jack Dromey's Bedroom Tax plege

Ahead of Saturday's rally in Bedford Square, I wanted to authenticate a comment I've seen mentioned on Twitter, so I've been in contact with Liam Byrne's office


From: Cllr Paul Bull [mailto:paul4cowick@aol.com]
Sent: 11 March 2013 21:15
To: BYRNE, Liam
Cc: DROMEY, Jack
Subject: [BEDROOM TAX] Authenticating a quote

Dear Liam

We meet awhile ago campaigning in Exeter

I noticed last week you retweeted a message that linked to a Bristol Echo / thisisbristol article reporting Jack's visit to Bristol last week 

The article quotes jack as saying
"he pledged to tear up the bedroom tax if Labour is returned to power"

Is this true as I've not seen this in any briefings or quoted in any other media

Can we quote this at the rallies at the weekend?

Many thanks

Paul

Cllr Paul Bull
Labour and Co-operative Councillor 
Cowick Ward/Exeter City Council
This is the response from his office 
Liam has asked me to respond on his behalf. Here is the best response to the question “what would Labour do”.

Hope this helps for this weekend – let me know if there’s anything else we can help with.

People can’t wait until the election for this hated tax to be dropped – it needs to go now.

Labour has been clear on our opposition to this - we forced votes on the Welfare Reform Bill to introduce safeguards that would have stopped anyone from being affected unless they refused, for no good reason, an offer of appropriate accommodation nearby.

Labour’s proposal would have helped to solve under-occupancy, without making people homeless or pushing them into expensive private rented accommodation, which will cost the taxpayer more.

Labour will set out our tax and spending plans at the time of the next election, but we are clear on our opposition to the tax, and we would never have brought it in if we were in power.

Exeter Labour Sleep Out

Earlier this year I was contacted by many Cowick residents to ask what I and Exeter City Country were doing about homelessness is Exeter.


Well over the weekend I'm doing something practical to raise awareness and financial supportfor young people sleeping on the streets of Exeter

On Saturday 16 March I am joining the Exeter YMCA Sleep Easy event with Labour colleagues Lesley Robson and Emma Morse. 

We are planning to sleep rough in the Guilhall Shopping Centre from 8pm Sat 16 March until 7am Sun 17 March so that others don't have to spend the night on the street. 

The aim is simple - to raise awareness of the issue of homelessness and get sponsored to sleep rough for one night, raising funds to help disadvantaged young people to build a future. 

We're not pretending that this will be a real rough sleeping experience but hope our efforts will make a real difference to the lives of homeless young people in Devon. 

If you would like to sponsor me personally, you can donate on-line at: 
http://my.artezglobal.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=430793&langPref=en-CA 

or you can sponsor the #ExeterLabourSleepOut team at: 
http://my.artezglobal.com/TeamPage.aspx?teamID=56228&langPref=en-CA&Referrer=direct%2Fnone 

Many thanks for your interest and support 

Paul

Thursday 14 March 2013

Labour Bedtroom Tax Campaign Briefing - 2

Office of Liam Byrne
Labour Bedtroom Tax Campaign Briefing

Introduction

David Cameron's Bedroom Tax tells you al you need to know about him and his Tory-led Government.

He's hitting families of soldiers serving our country who will have to find extra money for their son or daughter's bedroom, and foster families helping children in need of a home.

He is making disabled people in council and housing association homes pay more when they need more space due to their disability.

Divorced parents whose kids come to stay are being affected. Grandparents will pay more.

At at exactly the same time as the Bedroom tax comes into effect he is giving thousands of millionaires a tax cut of £100,000 a year.

This isn't about tough choices, it's about the wrong choices.

Labour intends to hold the Tories to account for their choices, we've launched a new campaign in the run up to the local elections to highlight the unfair choices David Cameron is making.

This pack will help you get involved, it included a draft motion to table to put pressure in the Tory and Liberal Democrat councillors in your area as well as a draft press release and statistics on how many people are hit in each constituency.

We've also launched a new website as part of the campaign at:
www.labour.org.uk/bedroomtaxshare

It includes a call for stories of how households are hit at local level. You can send in your stories there via e-mail to:
byrnel@parliament.uk or katy_neep@labour.org.uk

Script

David Cameron's Bedroom Tax tells you all you need to know about him and his Government.

The Tories like to try and say they're targeting the skivers but the reality is very different.

This unfair policy will hit working people and the most vulnerable.

Two-thirds of the households hit are home to someone with a disability, families of soldiers serving our country will have to find extra money for their son or daughter's bedroom, and foster families helping children in need of a home are also hit.

And at exactly the same time as the Bedroom tax comes into effect he is giving thousands of millionaires a tax cut of £100,000 a year.

Labour supports sensible welfare reform but the Bedroom tax is far from that - it is unfair and won't work.

David Cameron and Iain Duncan smith have been forced to admit that it is impossible for their plans to solve under-occupancy because there aren't enough smaller homes for families to move to.

In Hull, for example, the City Council says that 4,700 tenants will be affected by the policy, but that it has only 73 one- and two-bedroon properties available to let.

In Newport in South Wales there are 1,800 families set to be hit but the city's Housing Options website lists just 24 one- and two-bed properties for rent.

Not only are the Tories' plans unfair, but they are now in such a mess they could end up costing more than they save in many parts of the country.

If families are made homeless or pushed into expensive private rented accommodation the taxpayer could actually be left with a higher bill - and still the problem of under-occupancy will not be solved.

Everyone agrees the welfare bill needs to come down, but as a result of David Cameron's economic failure the Government is now set to spend £13bn more on welfare than he had planned because they are totally failing to get Britain moving again.

The best way to bring down the benefits bill is to get people into jobs. That's why Labour is calling for a tough but fair Compulsory Jobs Guarantee. We would offer anyone who has been out of work for more than 2 years a real job - one that they would be required to take, no ifs and not buts.

Britain needs real welfare reform that is tough, fair and works - not more chaos and confusion from David Cameron.

His Bedroom Tax is unfair and in total disarray.

He should now admit that he has got this horribly wrong and think again - before it's too late.

Motion

We would like you to table the following motion at your council meeting to help hold to account Tory and Liberal Democrat councillors on their support for David Cameron's unfair and incompetent Bedroom Tax.

This Council:

  • Asks the Government to re-examine the measures it is putting in place to cut Housing Benefit from some of (local area)'s most vulnerable residents on the grounds that their social housing has a spare bedroom;
  • Believes it to be an unworkable policy given that if people moved house it would not save any money;
  • Notes that according to the Government's own Impact Assessment, two-thirds of the households affected have a disabled person;
  • Further notes that the policy will cut support from the families of service personnel, but not prisoners; and 
  • Calls on the Government to drop this policy and think again
We would be grateful if you could let us know when you have done this, and what the Tory and Liberal Democrat councillors do in response.

Send your stories to

katy_neep@labour.org.uk

Draft press release

EMBARGOED for 00:01hrs on Wednesday 06 March 2013

Labour councillors call on XXX council/lors to condemn unfair Bedroom Tax which will hit people in >>AREA<<

Labour council/lor XXX has today called in >>>COUNCIL<<< to condemn David Cameron's unfair Bedroom Tax which is hitting people in XXX, tabling a council motion which highlights how vulnerable people are being hit and calling on the council to examine the measures they are putting in place to support local people.

David Cameron's unfair and incompetent Bedroom Tax will hit 660,000 households, two-thirds of them home to someone with a disability at exactly the same time as the Government gives a massive £100,000 tax cut to 13,000 millionaires.

Local councillor said:

"David Cameron's Bedroom tax will hammer families in XXX already struggling to make ends meet, and could actually risk costing local tax-payers a fortune in higher private rents and covering the cost of driving people out of their homes.

"Two-thirds of the households hit are home to someone with a disability, and families or soldiers and foster parents will also be hit. Yet at the same time prisoners get off and millionaires are getting a massive tax cut.

"How can that be right?"

Labour's Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Liam Byrne said:

"David Cameron's April tax plan is simply not fair. From next month, 13,000 millionaires are getting a tax cut worth £100,000 a year on average while over 600,000 armed forces families, disabled people and foster carers have to find £728 a year to pay a new Bedroom Tax.

"Yet the plan is such a shambles that someone who's been to prison on a short sentence won't have to pay. How unfair is that? Millionaires and prisoners are looked after, but vulnerable people.carers and armed forces families get hit.

"Labour plan relentless pressure on this out-of-touch Government until Ministers see sense, admit this policy is totally unfair, and think again"

ENDS

NOTES FOR EDITORS

The full text of the motion tabled is as follows:


This Council:
  • Asks the Government to re-examine the measures it is putting in place to cut Housing Benefit from some of (local area)'s most vulnerable residents on the grounds that their social housing has a spare bedroom;
  • Believes it to be an unworkable policy given that if people moved house it would not save any money;
  • Notes that according to the Government's own Impact Assessment, two-thirds of the households affected have a disabled person;
  • Further notes that the policy will cut support from the families of service personnel, but not prisoners; and 
  • Calls on the Government to drop this policy and think again


Wednesday 6 March 2013

Labour Bedtroom Tax Campaign Briefing


Labour Bedtroom Tax Campaign Briefing

Office of Liam Byrne
Labour Bedtroom Tax Campaign Briefing


Introduction

David Cameron's Bedroom Tax tells you al you need to know about him and his Tory-led Government.

He's hitting families of soldiers serving our country who will have to find extra money for their son or daughter's bedroom, and foster families helping children in need of a home.

He is making disabled people in council and housing association homes pay more when they need more space due to their disability.

Divorced parents whose kids come to stay are being affected. Grandparents will pay more.

And at exactly the same time as the Bedroom tax comes into effect he is giving thousands of millionaires a tax cut of £100,000 a year.

This isn't about tough choices, it's about the wrong choices.

Rt Hon Liam Byrne MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

Script

David Cameron's Bedroom Tax tells you all you need to know about him and his Government.

The Tories like to try and say they're targeting the skivers but the reality is very different.

This unfair policy will hit working people and the most vulnerable.

Two-thirds of the households hit are home to someone with a disability, families of soldiers serving our country will have to find extra money for their son or daughter's bedroom, and foster families helping children in need of a home are also hit.

And at exactly the same time as the Bedroom tax comes into effect he is giving thousands of millionaires a tax cut of £100,000 a year.

Labour supports sensible welfare reform but the Bedroom tax is far from that - it is unfair and won't work.

David Cameron and Iain Duncan smith have been forced to admit that it is impossible for their plans to solve under-occupancy because there aren't enough smaller homes for families to move to.

In Hull, for example, the City Council says that 4,700 tenants will be affected by the policy, but that it has only 73 one- and two-bedroon properties available to let.

In Newport in South Wales there are 1,800 families set to be hit but the city's Housing Options website lists just 24 one- and two-bed properties for rent.

Not only are the Tories' plans unfair, but they are now in such a mess they could end up costing more than they save in many parts of the country.

If families are made homeless or pushed into expensive private rented accommodation the taxpayer could actually be left with a higher bill - and still the problem of under-occupancy will not be solved.

Everyone agrees the welfare bill needs to come down, but as a result of David Cameron's economic failure the Government is now set to spend £13bn more on welfare than he had planned because they are totally failing to get Britain moving again.

The best way to bring down the benefits bill is to get people into jobs. That's why Labour is calling for a tough but fair Compulsory Jobs Guarantee. We would offer anyone who has been out of work for more than 2 years a real job - one that they would be required to take, no ifs and not buts.

Britain needs real welfare reform that is tough, fair and works - not more chaos and confusion from David Cameron.

His Bedroom Tax is unfair and in total disarray.

He should now admit that he has got this horribly wrong and think again - before it's too late.


So Labour is launching a new campaign that will in the run up to April seek to highlight the unfair impact of the Bedroom Tax introduced while David Cameron gives millionaires a tax cut.

We want stories of how households are being hit at a local level

Please send your case studies to 
byrnel@parliament.uk

Background

The Government will cut Housing Benefit for people with a spare room in their social or council-let home, despite the DWP impact assessment acknowledging that there is a shortage of smaller properties for tenants to move to.

The measure will cost an estimated 660,000 people an average of £728 per year.

Who will be hit?

  • Two-thirds of the households hit are home to someone who is disabled
  • The families of young servicemen away from home to serve their country will be hit;
  • Foster families will be hit - even if they have foster children in their 'spare room';
  • 220,000 families with children will be hit by the tax - one-third of the households hit are families with children;
  • But incredibly prisoners sentenced to 6 months or less will be let off; and
  • The DWP admit that there are not enough smaller properties for families to move to, yet the Bedroom Tax will still hit households that don't have the option to move.
Key points
  • Labour supports sensible welfare reform but the Government admits this botched plan won't solve under-occupancy. It may even cost more than it saves;
  • The Government is hitting households with the Bedroom Tax despite admitting there aren't enough smaller properties for tenants to move to; 
  • Instead, the Government expects families to pay extra rather than move house. This won't solve under-occupancy, but will hit low-income, working families, disabled people, and families of soldiers who are serving their country;
  • At the same time the Government is giving the richest in society a £3bn tax cut; and
  • If families are made homeless or pushed into expensive private rented accommodation, the policy could cost more than it saves.
Labour's alternative

The best way to bring down the benefits bill is to get people into jobs. That's why Labour is calling for a tough but fair Compulsory Jobs Guarantee.

Labour's Compulsory Jobs Guarantee would offer anyone who has been out-of-work for more than two years a real job - one that they would be required to take, no ifs and not buts.

Britain needs real welfare reform that is tough, fair and that works, not divisive, nasty and misleading smears from an out-of-touch and failing Government.

Labour forced votes on the Welfare Reform Bill to introduce safeguards into the Bedroom Tax that would have stopped anyone from being affected unless they refused, for no good reason, an offer  of an appropriate accommodation nearby.

Labour's proposal would have helped to solve under-occupancy, without making people homeless or pushing them into expensive private rented accommodation, which will cost the taxpayer more.


Draft press release

MP/PCC calls on councillors to back Labour campaign

XXX MP has today called on >>>COUNCIL<<< to sign up to Labour's campaign to oppose the Bedroom Tax.

The Bedroom tax will hit 660,000 households, two-thirds of them home to someone with a disability at exactly the same time as the Government gives a massive £100,000 tax cut to 13,000 millionaires.

Local MP said:

"I hope that councillors in >>>COUNCIL<<<  from all parties back Labour's call for Ministers to think again on the Bedroom Tax.

"Two-thirds of the households hit are home to someone with a disability, and he's hitting families of soldiers serving our country who will have to find extra money for their son or daughter's bedroom, and foster parents helping children in need of a home.

"In [INSERT region] XX% [INSERT third column of regional impact table] of people living in council or housing association homes who receive Housing Benefit will be hit. This means XX [INSERT second  column of regional impact table] will b e worse off by £XX a year [INSERT fifth column of regional impact table] when the Bedroom Tax comes into force.

"This isn't about tough choices, it's about the wrong choices.

And a exactly the same time as the Bedroom Tax comes into effect he is giving thousands of millionaires a tax cut of £100,000 a year."

Labour's Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Liam Byrne said:

"Labour supports sensible welfare reform but the Bedroom Tax is crazy. Cameron and Iain Duncan Smith have been forced to admit that it is impossible for their plans to solve under-occupancy because there aren't enough smaller homes for families to move to.

"The Bedroom Tax is now in total disarray. Ministers must now admit they have got this horribly wrong and think again - before it's too late."

ENDS


Model article

Imagine a Government so incompetent that it designed a tax that hit soldiers but not prisoners; or a Department so useless that it punished foster parents for the crime of giving a home to a child in need. Imagine Ministers so out-of-touch they had to be told by others their plans hurt tens of thousands of pensioners - because they didn't know.

Welcome to today's Department for Work and Pensions. From the crack team that gave us a Work Programme that is officially worse than doing nothing, we now have a Bedroom Tax that we suspect may cost more than it saves.

Labour supports sensible welfare reform but the Bedroom Tax is crazy. Ministers claim they are trying to solve under-occupancy by David Cameron and Iain Duncan Smith have been forced to admit that it is impossible for their plans to work because there aren't enough smaller homes for families to move to.

It is in black and white in their own impact assessment - they know this policy won't work.

So all the Bedroom Tax will achieve is making some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in society even poorer. Two-thirds of these families, by the way, are homes to someone with a disability and the National Housing Federation say 200,000 are receiving Disability Living Allowance.

From the Guardian to the Sun, everyone is warning the Government that this policy is a mess, but Ministers are burying their heads in the sand.

In fact the Department is in such a shambles that DWP Press Officers were forced to slap down their own Secretary of State after he told the Six O'Clock news he was looking at making changes. The whole thing is descending into force.

The scheme is now so chaotic it could actually end up costing more than it saves in many parts of the country. If families are made homeless or pushed into expensive private rented accommodation the taxpayer could actually be left with a higher bill - and still the problem of under-occupancy will not be solved.

In [INSERT region] XX% [INSERT third column of regional impact table] of people living in council or housing association homes who receive Housing Benefit will be hit. This means XX [INSERT second  column of regional impact table] will b e worse off by £XX a year [INSERT fifth column of regional impact table] when the Bedroom Tax comes into force.

The tragedy is this Government's plans won't even succeed on their own terms.

Everyone agrees the welfare bill needs to come down, but this Government is now expected to spend £13bn more than planned because they are totally failing to get Britain moving again.


The best way to bring down the benefits bill is to get people into jobs. That's why Labour is calling for a tough but fair Compulsory Jobs Guarantee. We would offer anyone who has been out-of-work for more than two years a real job - one that they would be required to take, no ifs and not buts.

Britain needs real welfare reform that is tough, fair, and that works, not more chaos and confusion from this Government.

The Bedroom Tax is now in total disarray. Ministers must now admit they have got this horribly wrong and think again - before it's too late.

 Leaflet text

David Cameron's Bedroom Tax tells you al you need to know about him and his Government.

Two-thirds of the households hit are home to someone with a disability, families of soldiers serving our country will have to find extra money for their son or daughter's bedroom, and foster families helping children in need of a home are also hit.

This isn't about tough choices, it's about the wrong choices.


And at exactly the same time as the Bedroom tax comes into effect he is giving thousands of millionaires a tax cut of £100,000 a year.

In [INSERT region] XX% [INSERT third column of regional impact table] of people living in council or housing association homes who receive Housing Benefit will be hit. This means XX [INSERT second  column of regional impact table] will b e worse off by £XX a year [INSERT fifth column of regional impact table] when the Bedroom Tax comes into force.

The scheme is now so chaotic it could actually end up costing more than it saves in many parts of the country. If families are made homeless or pushed into expensive private rented accommodation the taxpayer could actually be left with a higher bill - and still the problem of under-occupancy will not be solved.

The best way to bring down the benefits bill is to get people into jobs. That's why Labour is calling for a tough but fair Compulsory Jobs Guarantee. We would offer anyone who has been out-of-work for more than two years a real job - one that they would be required to take, no ifs and not buts.

Britain needs real welfare reform that is tough, fair, and that works, not more chaos and confusion from this Government.

The Bedroom Tax is now in total disarray. Ministers must now admit they have got this horribly wrong and think again - before it's too late.

Links to tweet

You may want to tweet some of the following links to stories outlining what a chaotic and unfair mess the Bedroom Tax is.

27/02/13 | Bedroom Tax is in chaos but Ministers are burying their heads in the sand - op-ed by Liam Byrne Owen Smith and Margaret Curran [originally for Politics Home]

18/02/13 | IDS fails to explain exactly what is going to happen to pensioners on the Andrew Marr Show - Daily Mail

08/02/13 | Army mother fears homelessness thanks to Bedroom Tax - Daily Mirror

06/02/13 | Tory MP fails to justify Bedroom Tax hit to cancer patient on Channel 4 News

Soldiers hit, prisoners let off - Sun (£)

24/02/13 | Cruel sting: Foster WILL have to pay "unfair" Bedroom Tax - Daily Mirror

16/02/13 | Bedroom Tax: Pensioners WILL lose out - Daily Mirror

17/02/13 | The Sun on Sunday Leader on Bedroom Tax "details are a mess"

22/02/13 | Even Tories don't understand Bedroom Tax - Daily Mirror

10/02/13 | Double hit of Bedroom Tax and cuts to Council Tax Benefit on working poor - Daily Mirror

09/02/13 | Ed Miliband: Time for PM to wake up on issue of Bedroom tax -  opinion piece in the People

06/03/13 | FactCheck : Cameron slips up on Bedroom Tax

Bedroom tax: Regional impacts

Across Great Britain, it is estimated that approximately 31% of working age Housing Benefit claimants living in the social rented sector are likely to be affected by the measure. Different regions will be differently affected, depending upon the level of under-occupation and average rent levels. DWP estimates that only around 20% of the relevant group are likely to be affected in London and the south of England (although those with a reduction will experience larger losses, reflecting higher rent levels). Conversely, areas in the north of England and in Wales are more likely to have a higher proportion of working age social sector tenants affected by the measure than areas in the south, together with lower than average reductions in Housing Benefit.


Source: DWP Housing benefit: Under-occupation of Social Housing Impact Assessment (IA)
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/220179/social-sector-housing-under-occupation-wr2011-ia.pdf

Appendix 

27/02/13 | Opposition Day — [18th Allotted Day] — Housing Benefit (Under-occupancy Penalty)
Eilidh Whiteford [SNP]
I beg to move,

That this House 
deplores and opposes the Government’s introduction of the housing benefit under-occupancy penalty; 
believes it to be unjust and unworkable; 
notes growing public anger at its introduction; 
believes that the Government is showing a reckless lack of care and attention to the consequences of its introduction for low-income households affected by disability; 
further believes that it will adversely affect, amongst others, families of service personnel, foster families and those struggling with the effects of family breakdown; 
notes that some parts of the UK will be disproportionately hit because of the mismatch between the available social housing stock and the needs of tenants; 
further notes that according to the Department for Work and Pensions’ 
Equality Impact Assessment, 63 per cent of the 660,000 claimants affected by the under-occupancy penalty or their partners are disabled; 
believes that the measure unfairly penalises tenants in rural and inner-city areas; 
further believes the under-occupancy penalty will fail to meet its stated objectives; 
and calls on the Government to abandon this policy immediately.
Debate:

Division 167:
Ayes 224, Noes 265

PartyMajority (No)Minority (Aye)BothTurnout
Con244 (+1 tell)0080.3%
DUP02025.0%
Lab0214082.9%
LDem21 (+1 tell)0039.3%
PC02 (+1 tell)0100.0%
SDLP01033.3%
SNP05 (+1 tell)0100.0%
Total:265224077.2%


Question accordingly negatived

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