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
| Party | Majority (No) | Minority (Aye) | Both | Turnout |
| Con | 244 (+1 tell) | 0 | 0 | 80.3% |
| DUP | 0 | 2 | 0 | 25.0% |
| Lab | 0 | 214 | 0 | 82.9% |
| LDem | 21 (+1 tell) | 0 | 0 | 39.3% |
| PC | 0 | 2 (+1 tell) | 0 | 100.0% |
| SDLP | 0 | 1 | 0 | 33.3% |
| SNP | 0 | 5 (+1 tell) | 0 | 100.0% |
| Total: | 265 | 224 | 0 | 77.2% |
Question accordingly negatived
All MPs eligible to vote - sorted by party
