'Party Politics' Stopping Tenants From Getting Discretionary Payments

Local councils are ‘playing politics’ by not granting discretionary payments to tenants affected by the bedroom tax. Simon Hughes MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark told at the Liberal Democrat conference in Glasgow that “The discretionary fund is significant, we were told it would be spent way before the end of the year, it hasn’t.  Actually, the number of people coming into my surgery to talk about it is far fewer than expected. The problem is that when people apply for discretionary help, many councils turn them down, and there is no independent appeal system… some councils are playing politics with this.’ Read more on Inside Housing.