Housing Benefit 'Savings Considered By Ministers'

Ministers are considering forcing all housing benefit recipients to contribute towards their rent as part of efforts to save £12bn from the welfare bill, government sources say. Housing benefit currently can cover the full cost of rent. The chancellor is also understood to be pushing for the cap on all benefits to be lowered from £26,000 to £20,000 outside London and south-east England.

It was previously announced the cap would be cut to £23,000 across the UK. It is understood that other proposals to abolish or severely restrict the carer's allowance have been dropped after opposition from the prime minister. Read more on the BBC website.

Bedroom Tax Carer Bill Passes First Reading

MPs have voted to exempt social tenants with a carer from the bedroom tax in a bill’s first reading.  A total of 204 MPs voted for the ten minute rule bill, which was tabled by Labour MP Barbara Keeley, with eight voting against. The proposed legislation would exempt social tenants with one additional room from the bedroom tax if a member of the household is entitled to carers allowance or needs overnight care. Find out more about the Bill on the Parliament website.

Bedroom Tax Hits 60,000 Families with Carers

About 60,000 families living in council homes where there is someone caring for an elderly or disabled relative have been caught out by the “bedroom tax”. Answering a written question in the Commons, the Welfare minister, Esther McVey, revealed: “Around 60,000 households affected by the removal of the spare room subsidy policy are in receipt of carer’s allowance or have an underlying entitlement to carer’s allowance.” The revelation follows a letter from the Disability Benefits Consortium, which represents 50 charities, pleading for disabled people and their carers to be exempt from the removal of the spare room subsidy. Read more on the Independent website.