IDS Doubts 'Bedroom Tax' Disability Figures

Iain Duncan Smith has cast doubt on statistics showing two-thirds of people hit by the so-called ‘bedroom tax’ are disabled, saying they are based on tenants’ “self-declaration”.  The Work and Pensions Secretary said there is no “check” on the figures which appear to show almost two-in-three council houses affected by the policy are occupied by someone with a disability. The two-in-three figure is drawn from a DWP equality impact assessment on the policy, which has been cited by the Labour Party and campaigners as evidence that the policy is hitting disabled people the hardest. Some 63 per cent of those affected have a disability, the study suggests, compared with 66 per cent of all social housing benefit claimants. Read more on the Daily Telegraph website.