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Guest post: Rachel Reeves - 'the bedroom tax is cruel and ineffectual'

45 replies

MumsnetGuestPosts · 17/12/2014 15:44

Ever heard of the 'Housing Benefit Social Sector Size Criteria'? No? Well you're not alone. On the other hand, if you were asked what the name for the government's decision to force half a million families to pay a tax on their bedroom is called, most people would say the 'bedroom tax'.

Last month I travelled to Pembrokeshire to meet Paul, Sue, and their grandson Warren, who are one of thousands of families hit by the bedroom tax. Paul and Sue look after Warren, who suffers from a very rare genetic disorder called Potocki-Shaffer Syndrome. Their home has been specially adapted to meet Warren's needs. Paul and Sue share one room, Warren sleeps in another, and the third room is needed for carers to stay overnight and to store equipment for Warren's condition. Without the help of overnight care workers, Warren would have to be put into residential care, at substantial extra cost to his local authority and to taxpayers.

We should be celebrating the incredible contribution Paul and Sue are making both to Warren's life and to our country. Instead, this government has deducted £60 a month from their Housing Benefit because they live in a bungalow with three bedrooms, one of which has been deemed a spare bedroom and so chargeable under the bedroom tax.

Like thousands of families across the country, Sue and Paul are doing the right thing - working hard, and providing fantastic care to ensure their grandson gets the best start in life. And yet they're finding the government is taking money out of their pockets, making it hard to get by.

On average, the bedroom tax has cost families over £1,200 since it was brought in by the government in April 2013. Around half a million people are being forced to pay it, at an average of £14 a week. Two thirds of those hit are disabled, and 60,000 are carers. Two fifths of the households affected have children living in them.

Ed Miliband and I have pledged that the next Labour government will repeal the bedroom tax, but the Rutherfords - and thousands like them - can't afford to wait until the next election.

That's why we have forced a debate and a vote in the House of Commons today (17 December) on the bedroom tax. If enough MPs vote with Labour, it will be effectively abolished by Christmas.

Few people outside of Downing Street and the Department for Work and Pensions defend the bedroom tax. Even the government's own independent report on it found a series of failings in the policy. Less than 5% of people affected had moved to another smaller home in the social rented sector. It also found that over 60% of people had fallen behind with their rent. And despite the government promising the bedroom tax would save money, the amount of money spent on Housing Benefit is rising, not falling. The bedroom tax is just another example of Tory welfare waste.

With a week left until Christmas, I hope MPs think carefully about the impossible choices thousands of families are facing right now. Heating or eating. Paying the rent or paying the bills. Mums and dads who want the best for their children, but are struggling to make ends meet as the cost of living continues to rise.

I have a simple belief that government is there to help people fulfil their dreams and realise their potential. But too often, government holds people back and is making them worse off.

So it doesn't matter whether it's called the bedroom tax or the 'Housing Benefit Social Sector Size Criteria' - this cruel tax is making life harder, not easier, for thousands of people. It's time for this nasty tax on thousands of children and families to go once and for all.

OP posts:
PeachyTheSanctiMoanyArse · 18/12/2014 09:26

LeftyLoony don;t be angry with Greengrow: if anything I have sympathy for her, I'd hate to live my life with that small a worldview and such limited empathy ability. I'd feel like a shell of myself I think.

GritStrength · 18/12/2014 09:37

Well, as a starting point I don't think it is actually that unreasonable to say that the state will only pay to provide you with the size of property you actually need. But the government introduced too few exemptions to deal with those who genuinely need an additional room for carers or due to disabilities, adapted properties for particular needs, propeties with panic rooms installed etc. And yet at the same time has shyed away from touching pensioners no matter how over housed they are.

TheFairyCaravan · 18/12/2014 09:45

Some people are fucking vile. Why can't they realise they are an accident or illness away from becoming disabled? No-one is safe from becoming poor.

The bedroom tax is unfair because there aren't enough smaller properties for people to move in to. It's that simple.

caroldecker · 18/12/2014 13:56

thefairy How do you get housing associations/councils to build more smaller properties if they make more money on larger ones and there is no incentive for people to move into them?

SueRutherford · 18/12/2014 15:21

Hi, Rachel Reeves didn't mention any exemption in her blog when she mentioned our case because we don't have one [Greengrow.

There is an exemption if the HB Claimant, or partner require overnight care, but not if the person needing that care is another family member. That's why we're fighting for an exemption for all families like us in the High Court in London.

We have been given a Discretionary Housing Payment [DHP] to cover the amount of rent we lost, but only got this after fighting & arguing with the council for over 4 months. They gave us the DHP after we'd been on Channel 4 News and in newspapers. Most people aren't that lucky. I would say anyone being refused help ought to appeal and never stop! Its very hard for us sometimes, but we keep going somehow.

Like some other posters have said, there is a lot of lies being told about how much housing benefit is being saved. The answer is none!! The cost has gone up because more people on low wages are claiming and more in private houses.

We also worry about other austerity welfare cuts the government are making because they affect lots of people not just us. They cut money for us but give people on big salaries tax cuts worth much more than we get in benefits each year.

Its all so unfair and nasty. We need our 'spare room' and this bungalow was built as Warren's home for life, with a room for his carer[s]. It wasn't applied for either. The social worker came and told me it was being built for us specially. We have carers every day to help us. We are grandparents and Paul is seriously ill so I have to look after him as well.

We don't complain much really but have to fight for everything we need. If we were foster carers for Warren, we'd be paid well over £1000 a week because of his needs and be exempt from bedroom tax. But because we're benefit scroungers, we lose out. And yes, I've been called a lazy scrounger in Tesco.

Sorry to go on so long. You can see some of our story in the film. The spare room is tidy again now. When they filmed, the builders had just left the day before after adding £25,000 more adaptations to the bungalow.

It used to feel like home. But now it's become just the place we live because we no longer feel secure here.

This is us.

Thanks, Sue x

LuisSuarezTeeth · 18/12/2014 16:25

Thank you for posting Sue x

GaryShitpeas · 18/12/2014 16:43

certain out of touch rich people on this thread should perhaps engage their human side and put their money where their boot is, maybe helping out instead of kicking when down

if i ever come in to shitloads of money i will help people less fortunate than myself. not look down on them for being workshy and whatever Hmm

LeftyLoony · 18/12/2014 16:50

Sue I still continue to campaign against the bedroom tax as despite being exempted less than 3 weeks before it came in I remember the 6 months of fear that preceded the exemption. Plus I know many families struggling with it.

Such a shame about the 'pull the ladder up' mentality that seems to be increasing in society now.

As for the lib Dems... That's it for me.

Thumbnutstwitchingonanopenfire · 18/12/2014 16:56

Thanks for posting that, Sue - that just makes your situation all the more ridiculous and does indeed show that this is just another tax on people who are caring for disabled family.

GaryShitpeas · 18/12/2014 17:04

Sue thank you for posting

have just watched your video

its just absolutely mindless that the council would class your 3rd room as a "spare room"

you and your dh deserve a medal for what you do, not to be punished in this cruel way!!. i really wish you both and your lovely grandson all the best x Flowers

LuisSuarezTeeth · 18/12/2014 20:10

gary you will never, ever change certain points of view. especially that one

HermioneWeasley · 18/12/2014 20:21

I agree with GritStrength. The starting principle is fine, but it has been so obviously misapplied in many circumstances.

CallieG · 19/12/2014 00:00

Now I know where Tony Abbott got this Idea from, I find the tax appalling in so many ways but I read you comment and am I correct in believing that you own your flat? that you do not rent and it is not council housing or any sort of subsidised housing? If so that is criminal, are you expected to sell your place and move to a smaller one? That is insane. The only affordable one bedroom accommodation is subsidised nursing homes.

GristletoeAndWhine · 19/12/2014 14:21

CallieG, no it is not actually a tax, it is a reduction in the amount of benefit that can be claimed. It does not affect people who own their own homes, it affects renters who claim housing benefit to help them pay their rent.

Strawberyshortcake · 20/12/2014 11:20

Sue, I have just watched the video of your family and I am outraged on your behalf. How the hell have they gotten away with taking Warren's DLA into account? I know from experience that a lot of that money will be spent on care products, ie incontinence care etc etc. DLA not taken into account any other time, so why for this?

I really hope they come to their senses as you and your husband have enough to deal with already. Absolutely disgusting putting you through all this worry and stress.

lollygagger · 20/12/2014 20:35

Hi,

I don't agree with how the 'bedroom tax' has been implemented and I think there should be exemptions for people needing care and where alternatives are not available etc.

My impression though is most people in the UK actually appear to support this policy. For example, I read that the tories benefit cap policy was the most popular policy in the history of the UK parliament and it's similar for the bedroom tax (but people don't admit supporting it generally).

The pro-independence campaign here in Scotland focused on removing the bedroom tax and lost.

Does that seem crazy?

lollygagger · 20/12/2014 20:42

the previous post under my name was not mine. DH got hold of my phone before it locked.Angry

LuisSuarezTeeth · 20/12/2014 22:52

Wtf? Well I hope you're ok lolly. NC and repost if you can. Relationships maybe? Hope you're ok?

lollygagger · 21/12/2014 17:02

He got a bollocking but it was nothing sinister! he didn't realise it would post under my name.
Thanks for the concern though. Thanks

LuisSuarezTeeth · 21/12/2014 21:12

Phew. Maybe I lurk too much on Relationships! Glad you're ok Smile

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