Housing Benefit (Under-occupancy Penalty)

Jamie Reed Excerpts

Wednesday 27th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jamie Reed (Copeland) (Lab)]

It is a genuine pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon). It is clear from the testimonies of my hon. Friends that the consequences of this ill-thought-out tax on families will be enormous. I fear that the great number of letters that my hon. Friends and I have received from families up and down the country who are extremely worried about their futures as a result of these changes is just the tip of the iceberg—thousands of people who will be affected by the bedroom tax do not yet know it.

Analysis by the National Housing Federation shows that the bedroom tax will hit 2,000 families in my constituency—each to the tune of more than £500 a year—and every day I hear from constituents worried about how they will cope. The economy of my constituency is based on public spending. It needs to be rebalanced, and I have worked consistently to do that, but this latest blow will undoubtedly hit economic demand in my constituency even further, making that task even harder. The bedroom tax will have an effect on my local high street, businesses and other economic activities, and the same will be the case in constituencies and communities across the country.

We need to speak to housing officers from social housing providers about the bedroom tax. They know who the good and bad tenants are on their patches. I used to be one myself. [Laughter.] A housing officer, not a bad tenant, that is! We need to ask them how the bedroom tax will affect their tenants, and they will say that, for some, it will be crucifying. Not everyone can move to different properties, because they are not available, so instead some will be faced with paying a tax they simply cannot avoid. This tax demonstrates what we all know—that the Government come up with policies that are ill-thought-out, damaging and disproportionately targeted at the least well-off in our society.

Instead of spending their time cobbling together disjointed, contradictory and weak justifications for the shameful bedroom tax, the Government should do the right thing and drop it. I can think of few more embarrassing, cringe-worthy illustrations of a rotten defence of a rotten policy than that provided by the Minister in the Lords, Lord Freud, on BBC Radio 5 Live recently, when he told concerned social housing tenants that they should seek to take in lodgers in order to pay the tax. How delusional, how detached, how dangerous! Here we have a Minister telling people that to pay the Government’s punitive tax, they should break the terms of their tenancy agreements and so risk eviction. I would urge students of bad policy, bad communication, bad government and political incompetence to read a transcript of the noble Lord’s interview.

The Government claim that the bedroom tax will solve the issue of under-occupancy. Has it not occurred to them that the people affected will not be able to avoid it? All the policy will mean is that low-income families will be hit in the pocket. It is a tax on the poor. It means less money available for food, groceries, school trips and school uniforms, heating and transport. It is a policy of the madhouse that will push people closer to the poorhouse. Alongside the Tory NHS Bill, Liberal Democrat support for this marks the point at which they have become a wholly owned subsidiary of the Conservative party.

There simply are not the excess houses available for people to move into. The Secretary of State has offered no solution to the mismatch between families’ needs and the accommodation available. This mismatch is highlighted in his Department’s own policy assessment, so what are the Government going to do about it? What kind of dysfunctional Department is he running, when fundamental issues arising from such massive changes have not even been considered?

Like, I suspect, hon. Members on both sides of the House, I have many constituents who will be hit by the bedroom tax. Oblivious to the impact of his own policies, the Prime Minister said again today that he was happy to look at individual cases, and I will be sure to forward him the many that I have already received. Perhaps he will be able to explain to the divorced father in my constituency who has joint custody of his children where his children will stay when they are with him. Perhaps he will also be able to explain to the many disabled people in my constituency, who have already had their homes adapted to suit their needs, why they are being penalised. And perhaps he can explain to the parents in my constituency whose children are serving our country in our armed forces why their mandated time away from home will either hit their pockets or cost them their homes.

The actions of this Government have left many people with no option but to lower their living standards or lose their homes. It is no wonder that the Secretary of State is known as the quiet man—he has much to be quiet about. This bedroom tax is unacceptable, indefensible and increasingly typical. It will not be forgotten.