Welfare Reform - The Latest
DECEMBER 2011
The Welfare Reform Bill is currently at the Report Stage in the House of Lords. Community Housing Cymru has had some success in lobbying for changes at this stage of proceedings - with the Lords voting on 14th December 2011 to accept Lord Best’s amendment scrapping Iain Duncan-Smith’s ‘bedroom tax’ on under-occupancy. Peers voted by 258 votes to 190 in support of the amendment, which will allow tenants to receive full housing benefit allowance, providing they have no more than one spare room, or if no other suitable alternative accommodation is available. CHC along with the National Housing Federation and other charities have been lobbying hard to have to see this amendment passed - 40,000 people in Wales are deemed to be under occupying their properties.
NOVEMBER 2011
Changes to the housing benefit element of Universal Credit were also made in November when it was announced that the migration of housing benefit claimants onto universal credit will be delayed. Housing Benefit will still exist in October 2013 which is a change from the original proposal whereby it was going to be replaced by universal credit. See table below for further details.
|
October 2013 – Universal Credit |
|
|
No – Department for Work and Pensions have announced the following proposals:-
|
