Incorrect assessment of DLA by a Local Authority and the dreaded 'Bedroom Tax"

[citizenB]

Credit is given to mikeymack2002 for this find.

 

https://tinyurl.com/z2nc5vq

 

 

 

Mr Justice Phillips:

 

The issue in this case is whether it is unlawful for a local authority to take into account the care component of disability living allowance ("DLA©") when assessing the amount of a discretionary house payment ("DHP").

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?393992-Bedroom-Tax-Sources-of-Interest-**Correct-as-at-Oct-2015**&p=4851541&viewfull=1#post4851541

Edited January 27, 2016 by citizenB

[citizenB]

I am not sure if this is the place to post another incident of someone challenging the Bedroom tax.

 

2 cases have been heard and won at the appeal court although it looks as though the government will likely challenge the decision.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jan/27/appeal-court-rules-bedroom-tax-discriminatory-in-two-cases

 

 

The bedroom tax has been declared unlawful by the appeal court due to its impact on vulnerable individuals, dealing a significant blow to the work and pensions secretary, Iain Duncan Smith.

 

Judges ruled that in two cases – those of a victim of extreme domestic violence and grandparents of a severely disabled teenager – the government’s policy amounted to unlawful discrimination.

 

The first case involved A, a single mother living in a three-bedroom council house fitted with a secure panic room to protect her from a violent ex-partner. The other was brought by Paul and Sue Rutherford, grandparents of Warren, who is seriously disabled child and who needs overnight care in a specially adapted room.

 

In both cases, the claimants faced a cut in housing benefit because they were deemed to be “under-occupying” the additional rooms which were classified as spare.

[mikeymack2002]

In the rss feeds today there is further information too... (Newsbot feed) I left a comment on that thread too.

[citizenB]

I saw it on Look North last night, MM - bit scary that we had only been discussing similar earlier.

[Nystagmite]

This was always badly thought through from the start. I always believed it should be done on a case by case basis. IE, you should only be charged if it's reasonable (ie, there's somewhere smaller to move and you can move) for you to actually move.

 

I do remember the case of the disabled teenager and glad they won.

[mikeymack2002]

It's great a poster can beat the rss feeds by about 9 hours my bad

[silverfox1961]

I saw the newsbot link earlier on and moved it to the stickies here. It will become a regular post later on.

 

Here is my take on the bedroom tax, sorry, "spare room subsidy".

 

In the private sector, there is no rules on what a landlord can charge so when people apply for Local Housing Allowance, the rates are set at a higher rate then for social landlords (councils etc.)

This has the effect of people only getting the size of house they need rather than what they would want.

Social housing is totally different in that (with councils) they are secured tenancies and a tenant will generally have the right to stay indefinitely. The rates for social landlords is set at a lower rate than private landlords hence the issue of spare bedrooms will eventually arise.

 

Imagine, You have lived and raised your family in a council house for the past 25 years, the children have moved on and you have a couple of spare rooms. This has been their home and as such, they don't want to move which (IMO) is a fair reason. They are penalised for wanting to move from a house that has become so familiar to them as much as a member of the family.

 

They are not wealthy people and quite possibly cannot afford to move yet they are having their benefit reduced. Is that fair? Penalised from both directions.

 

This policy (again IMO) was not to encourage moving to a smaller home but to reduce the benefit paid.

 

One example for you, my daughter has a son with development difficulties, breathing problems and sleep apnoea. He will need a room of his own so that he can be connected to a CPAP machine. My daughter has 3 other children and a 3 bed house. Ideally she could do with a 4 bed but they are few and far between so what she will have to do in the interim is move the 3 others into one small room with a triple bunk bed. These are adaptions she is willing to make but the lack of funds prevent it for now.

 

If she was to be given a 4 bed home she would be penalised by the bedroom tax even though 1 room would be for her youngest and his CPAP machine which (as anyone who has one will know) they are quite noisy and will keep the others awake. Is that fair?

 

You decide.

[citizenB]

This was always badly thought through from the start. I always believed it should be done on a case by case basis. IE, you should only be charged if it's reasonable (ie, there's somewhere smaller to move and you can move) for you to actually move.

 

I do remember the case of the disabled teenager and glad they won.

 

Indeed, that was one of the main problems Nystagmite, there were no smaller properties for people to move into.

[mikeymack2002]

I was actually caught in this trap but had the money paid for me. But, due to living on the 9th floor and using a mobility scooter it was hard on me. Especially if the lift broke down.

 

So I complained to my almo/council I with the help of my Cllrs got the LA to renew the lifts (4) of them in 2 blocks at a cost a cost of £100k each due to the sheer amount of breakdowns and them being non-compliant.

 

I was offered a management move and a down size too. I was paid to move and the movers did all of the work in just 4 hours.

 

I guess I was one of the lucky ones. Now a regular poster has seen where I live now and for me it's much better.

 

I still have carers stay over often but at least I can get in without sleeping in the park because of broken lifts...

[Nystagmite]

One example for you, my daughter has a son with development difficulties, breathing problems and sleep apnoea. He will need a room of his own so that he can be connected to a CPAP machine. My daughter has 3 other children and a 3 bed house. Ideally she could do with a 4 bed but they are few and far between so what she will have to do in the interim is move the 3 others into one small room with a triple bunk bed. These are adaptions she is willing to make but the lack of funds prevent it for now.

 

If she was to be given a 4 bed home she would be penalised by the bedroom tax even though 1 room would be for her youngest and his CPAP machine which (as anyone who has one will know) they are quite noisy and will keep the others awake. Is that fair?

 

Disabled children are exempt from the bedroom tax. However, disabled adults lost their case in court. And on the subject of disabled adults - does anyone know if anyone else has challegned this?

[mikeymack2002]

I think this was challenged in the High Court I will find the link and case details...

[mikeymack2002]

This may be of interest to you all see here... >> http://home.bt.com/news/uk-news/supreme-court-justices-to-consider-bedroom-tax-cases-11364036713600

 

 

Or here https://tinyurl.com/gw8uxla

 

Quote

 

'The controversial so-called "bedroom tax" will be under the spotlight next month at the UK's highest court.

Supreme Court justices are to tackle the question of whether vulnerable members of society are discriminated against during a three-day hearing in London.

 

A panel of seven judges, headed by the Supreme Court president Lord Neuberger, will hear argument in a number of appeals resulting from legal rulings over changes to housing benefit regulations.'

 

The original hearing in 2013/14 is included as a PDF, just in case it gets lost or fails this is the link >> https://tinyurl.com/hwh4a5w

 

 

Adding more confusion to the matter of this subject it could all go pear shaped if the UK abolishes the HRA for the British version more on this here >> https://tinyurl.com/jn824tx

 

 

This last link was posted yesterday...

Bedroom-tax_Court-of-Appeal_21-2-14.pdf

Edited January 28, 2016 by mikeymack2002
Added a PDF

[Nystagmite]

Thank you