Welfare Reforms Compared To Poll Tax

A council deputy leader has compared the government’s welfare reforms to the poll tax, warning they may lead to widespread debt.  Graham Chapman, deputy leader of Nottingham Council, said it is ‘costing an enormous amount of money to make a lot of poor people even poorer’.  Along with other councils the local authority is seeing debts mount up and demand for support increase as a result of the reforms.  It said 37 per cent of social housing tenants affected by the bedroom tax under-occupation penalty have not yet paid, and there has been a surge in demand for discretionary housing payments, which are intended to help vulnerable families affected by the cuts.  Read more on Inside Housing.