Non-payment of the “bedroom tax” has already cost Dundee City Council more than a quarter of a million pounds in the three months since it began.
Housing department figures show that arrears due to the bedroom tax are rising at £21,000 per week since it was implemented on April 1 and adds to the £1.5 million debt already in the housing budget in April.
It has also been revealed that the city council has received more than 750 applications for Discretionary Housing Payment, with only very few of them having been processed, according to Labour group leader Kevin Keenan.
The alarming figures have sparked a call by Mr Keenan to the SNP to scrap the tax for those who require an extra room for medical reasons.
In response, the SNP group wants the tax scrapped and has challenged Labour to pledge to abolish “a disease for the poor” if they get in at the next election.
Mr Keenan said: “We are now 13 weeks in to the bedroom tax and we find out that arrears are building.
“Welfare teams across the city are seeing an increase in individuals looking for financial advice and food banks are also struggling to meet demand.
“This must be having a very serious impact on the housing revenue account and, should it continue, I have no doubt that it will have a detrimental impact on the department’s ability to function properly.”
Mr Keenan added: “There is a big problem for the department, yet the SNP housing convener and his depute look to make political capital by playing petty politics.
“The SNP should accept that the Labour group condemns the bedroom tax, believing it to be unfair and unjust and we will continue to lobby for change.
“However, there is another issue building through the non-payment and that is the affect it will have as it adds £273,000 to the debt of £1.5m that already existed.
“The convener needs to concentrate his efforts within the housing department as, with this level of debt, it won’t be long before we hit crisis point.
“I would remind people that, if they are making a conscious decision not to pay as they believe the SNP administration have a ‘no eviction’ policy, they should read the small print.
“However, will the convener be prepared to join Labour’s call on the SNP Government to address the bedroom tax for those with medical needs?”
Housing convener John Alexander retorted: “My efforts are entirely focused on the welfare of our tenants, which is why I am calling for this policy to be scrapped in its entirety.
“We will accept that the local Labour party is against the bedroom tax when they write to Ed Milliband and Ed Balls and ask that they change their position.
“Dreamt up in Westminster, this is one policy in a range of wider welfare cuts that we are now told Labour will keep. When you have a disease, you target the root cause.
“The bedroom tax is a disease for the poor and to remove its impact we need to target the root cause: Westminster and the welfare reform agenda.
“It’s clear that if social security was devolved to the Scottish Parliament, we would not see such ill thought out and damaging policies being put forward.
“The choice is clear: either back further devolution or get the Tory cuts, whether that’s under a red or a blue banner.”
Deputy housing convener Kevin Cordell added: “Dundee Labour refused a united front when the SNP group called for social security to be devolved to the Scottish Parliament, where it could be abolished for good.
“They refused a united front by voting against the SNP’s policy not to evict where tenants were genuinely struggling, had contacted the housing department or had made efforts to pay.
The Labour Party refused a united front when the SNP stated clearly they would abolish this iniquitous tax in an independent Scotland but Scottish Labour and Labour at Westminster have said this tax will stay if they regain power.