Supreme Court’s Rulings Mean Bedroom Tax ‘Will Still Unfairly Hit Thousands’

The government’s “bedroom tax” discriminates unlawfully against some disabled people who need an extra bedroom because of their impairment, but not against others, the Supreme Court has ruled. The Supreme Court ruled that ministers’ decision to apply the bedroom tax to disabled people who need an extra bedroom for a clear medical reason, and to families who need an additional bedroom for a disabled child who requires overnight care, was unlawful discrimination. But other disabled people who need an extra bedroom for impairment-related reasons lost their battle against having to pay the bedroom tax, after the court ruled in favour of the DWP. Read more on the Disability News Service website.

Disabled Bedroom Tax Victims Take Battle to Court Of Appeal

The grandparents of a severely disabled child have won the right to fight their case against the bedroom tax at the Court of Appeal. A solicitor acting on behalf of the family says that without the support of an overnight carer, the child would have to go into residential care – at substantial extra cost to his local authority. It is also argued that the bedroom tax discriminates against disabled children, contrary to Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights and the UN Conventions on the Rights of Disabled People and Children.  Bedroom tax regulations do not allow for children who need an overnight carer. Read more on the Welfare Weekly website.