Scotland’s local authorities have been urged to work together to remove the threat of “bedroom tax” on 75,000 households.
Fife Council leader Alex Rowley said a partnership approach could remove the “inhumane attack” on Scotland’s poorest.
Mr Rowley, who announced this week that Fife Council would not appeal against landmark rulings exempting some tenants from the controversial under-occupation levy, has backed the No2Bedroom Tax petition, which calls on the Scottish Government to make £50 million available to mitigate the effects of the legislation in Scotland.
The petition repeats demands from Shelter Scotland and requests action similar to that taken to reduce the effects of cuts to council tax benefit.
“The welfare reforms also had an impact on council tax and the poorest were going to be liable to pay an increase but the Scottish Government and local councils agreed a deal which saw councils putting in £17m, alongside £23m from the Scottish Government, to remove any increase on Scotland’s poorest,” he said.
“The NO2Bedroom Tax petition is calling for similar action from the Scottish Government and in supporting this I am arguing that local authorities can also work in partnership to remove this inhumane attack on Scotland’s poorest and do so now while we continue to put the pressure on the UK Government to abolish it altogether.”
Mr Rowley has submitted a motion to tomorrow’s full Fife Council meeting that asks all members to support his call.
“It is both shocking and inhumane that the UK Government would seek to deal with the deficit by introducing a tax that is specifically targeted at those with the lowest incomes in our communities,” the council leader said.
“That David Cameron and his Government of millionaires would come up with an idea based on taxing the poor and making their situation even worse is so grotesque it should cause public outrage and should be scrapped.”
More than 6,200 households in Fife are affected by the so-called bedroom tax, along with 75,000 people across Scotland.
Those deemed to have one more bedroom than they need have had their housing benefit cut by 14%, while those with two or more spare bedrooms face a 25% reduction in benefit.
However, following groundbreaking appeals in Fife last month, a top QC has ruled that size matters when it comes to determining what constitutes a bedroom, potentially opening the floodgates for thousands of similar appeals across the United Kingdom.