Bedroom Tax (Scotland)

Lindsay Roy Excerpts

Thursday 8th May 2014 Westminster Hall

[Mr Davidson]

That is absolutely correct. I notice that there are numerous other Members here who will undoubtedly want to speak. I did not intend to spend most of my time on the iniquities of the bedroom tax, because that is common ground for the vast majority of us here; I wanted to discuss what is to be done and what should be done. For those reasons, I will turn to the campaigns that have been run and that have sent witnesses to us, which have exerted enormous pressure on public representatives to do something about this.

I regret that from a very early stage, the Scottish Government refused to use the full range of powers available to them to mitigate the effects of the bedroom tax. The Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, who is the appropriate Scotland Office Minister, said that the Scottish Government had powers beyond DHPs; the Chief Secretary to the Treasury said exactly the same thing. We understand from both Ministers that the Scottish Government never made the least effort to contact them to find out what, in their view, might be legally available alternative methods of mitigating the bedroom tax.

[Lindsay Roy (Glenrothes) (Lab)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate. Can he offer an explanation why?

[Mr Davidson]

There is an explanation; it was given to us by John Swinney himself, no less, when he said that he did not want to let Westminster off the hook. Of course, it was not actually Westminster that was hanging on the hook; it was people in Scotland who were finding themselves in tremendous financial difficulty as a result of the introduction of the bedroom tax.

There has been progress. We have to recognise that the Scottish Government were forced by Labour and other parties in the Scottish Parliament, as well as by outside campaigns, to make available in their budget the full amount of money necessary to mitigate the effect of the bedroom tax. They said that they could not spend it because they could address difficulties only through the DHP mechanism, but I believe, and I note that Ministers and campaigning groups also believe, that that is not true.

The Scottish Government said that the only way they could address the bedroom tax is by DHPs, and I think we have to accept that that is not true, but they chose to rest their case on that position. Why? I think it is because they want a clash between the UK Government and the Scottish Government over the question of powers, and they are quite prepared to see some of the people of Scotland become casualties of that conflict in the hope that they will be able to make a political point about the lack of powers held by the Scottish Parliament, rather than seek ways to mitigate the effect of the bedroom tax on the people of Scotland.

[Lindsay Roy]

What other options might be available to the Scottish Government?

[Mr Davidson]

The information that we have from relatively brief discussions is that the Scottish Government may give money to social housing providers to allow them to write off debts. They could do that at any stage, so the debts built up under the bedroom tax could simply be written off.

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[Lindsay Roy (Glenrothes) (Lab)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow South West (Mr Davidson) on securing this debate and his tenacity in opposing the bedroom tax. Indeed, he has been an ambassador for nullifying its impact, particularly in Scotland but throughout the rest of the UK as well.

The imposition of the hated bedroom tax is one of the most vile, abhorrent pieces of legislation ever passed by Parliament. The timing of this debate could not be better, because, thankfully, Labour and the SNP have come together to put pressure on the Government to ensure funding through the devolved budget. I pay tribute to all those who worked together to achieved that. I will say more on the matter at the end of my speech.

The bedroom tax been nothing more than an unwarranted and vicious attack on the most vulnerable, disabled and disadvantaged people in our society who have experienced the most disgraceful and punitive financial penalties at a time when the coalition Government insult our intelligence with their disingenuous claims that, in a time of financial restraint, “We’re all in this together.” So much for the oft-quoted slogan, “Those with the broadest shoulders will bear the heaviest burden.” In effect, this is the politics of mirage and fantasy. The coalition partners believe that if something is said often enough, people will believe it. Thankfully, those who live in the real world are not so gullible and do not share the same self-delusion. The coalition’s hypocrisy is no better exemplified than in their almost simultaneous tax break for millionaires and their lack of the missionary zeal so evident when imposing the pernicious bedroom tax when dealing with widespread tax evasion and tax avoidance and the energy companies’ exorbitant profits.

This gross injustice was initially perpetrated by a small core of ideologically bankrupt Tories, who are completely insensitive and uncaring to their fellow citizens. Yes, there are housing capacity and benefit issues in our society, but this simplistic approach is symptomatic of a Secretary of State and ministerial team who adopted a rigid dogma, with very little research or basic homework to assess the implications for hundreds of thousands of decent people in our society who have been trying to make ends meet in challenging circumstances, and sometimes in vain.

Even more worryingly, the DWP warlords have been actively supported in this gross injustice by other political zealots, which has rightly regained them the infamy of being “the nasty party”. Along with the spineless Liberal Democrats, with a few notable exceptions, they have railroaded and sustained this offensive legislation, despite accurate warnings and predictions of the dire consequences. If that was not bad enough, the anguish, despair and anxiety caused by this cruel tax, the bureaucracy associated with it and the overall budget shortfall have become patently obvious throughout Scotland and the rest of the UK. So uncaring were the Government that not only did they block loopholes, but they brazenly carried on regardless, ignoring the overwhelming evidence for repeal. Not willing to repeal the measure, they have dismissed positive proposals for exemptions that make eminent sense.

The Scottish Affairs Committee has been conducting inquiries into the damaging impact that this vile tax has had in Scotland, and it has challenged the Government on their unworkable policy that is putting thousands of Scots in financial hardship, debt and indignity. Indeed, people are having to resort to food banks to feed their families. We have carefully considered how local councils and the Scottish Government have worked together, and I pay tribute to my council, Fife council, for the way it has dealt with the situation by encouraging people to take up discretionary housing payments and going above and beyond the call of duty so to do.

I conclude by returning to the point I made at the beginning. I welcome the introduction of a system whereby the Scottish Government will provide funding, but I have to ask this basic question: why was that not done last year? Was it because of an obsession with independence? Or was it a cruel approach to allow people to suffer before playing the blame game by blaming Westminster for political advantage? It strikes me that people will have to make that decision for themselves when they vote, but yet again it seems to be a game of self-helplessness and blaming other people, rather than taking advantage of the opportunities provided by the available budget to mitigate the circumstances last year as well as this year.

--- Later in debate ---

[Graeme Morrice]

rose—

[Lindsay Roy]

rose—

[Pamela Nash]

Will the Minister give way?

--- Later in debate ---

[Esther McVey]

I welcome my fellow Merseyside MP to the Chair.

[Lindsay Roy]

The Minister spoke about a potential saving of £500 million. When will we get the actual figure?

[Esther McVey]

We will get the actual figure as it works through. That figure is the one we are working to. I have always made it clear, and I make it clear today, that it is about getting the correct use of the housing stock and fairness for those paying for their own home, those in the social rented sector, and those in the private rented sector. It is about stopping the spiralling increase in the housing budget, which Labour allowed to run out of control. That budget doubled in monetary terms in 10 years. How best can we tackle that problem? We are dealing with it and solving it, and we are getting it right.

When we look at the changes that have taken effect, we see that, so far, 9% of people in the UK, and 7% of people in Scotland, have moved. The changes that we were hoping for when we put that into effect were that people would downsize, and that larger houses would be freed up for those in overcrowded accommodation on the waiting list. That has happened, but there is still a way to go.