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Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Bedroom Tax: Disabled boy may have to go into CARE despite David Cameron’s pledge
Logan is severely autistic but his mum has been told she must pay extra £60 a week
Logan’s condition means he is susceptible to injury
Newspics
You might think the mum of this severely disabled 11-year-old boy would be relieved to be told by the Prime Minister that she would not be affected by the bedroom tax, the Sunday People reports.
But when Fiona Oxley-Goody listened to David Cameron saying exactly that in the House of Commons, she was astonished and simply could not believe what she was hearing.
Fiona has received a letter ordering her to pay £60 extra a month for the home which has been specially-adapted so her son Logan can receive round-the-clock care. That £60 is simply a price she cannot afford.
And if she cannot find the money, Logan may have to be parted from her and put into full-time residential care.
To the cheers of Tory MPs, he announced: “Anyone with severely disabled children is exempt from the spare room subsidy.”
Fiona and her son Logan
Newspics
But the truth is, families with disabled children ARE among the 660,000 social housing tenants to be hit with bedroom tax bills of £14 a week on April 1.
The best they can hope for is help from a £30 million hardship fund.
But the National Housing Federation says that’s only £2.51 a week if it was shared out among the 230,000 disabled people who need it.
Fiona said: “Who is the Prime Minister listening to? Who is advising him? It’s frightening that the man who is supposed to be in charge has the wrong information.”
Logan, who has severe autism, lives with Fiona in a three-bedroom house, specially kitted out to meet his needs.
They use their tiny third bedroom so a carer can come and stay three times a week, bringing much needed respite to Fiona and enabling her to be able to work.
Disabled adults who need a room for an overnight carer would be exempt. But as Logan is a child, there is no exemption as the parent is considered the carer.
Fiona, of Rettendon, near Chelsmford, Essex, received the letter from her housing association before Christmas, bringing the news her housing benefit would be cut because she is “under-occupying”.
Fiona has to monitor Logan using CCTV
Newspics
She says she is already “hanging on by her fingertips” but will have to find an extra £60 a month.
The alternative is to downsize, abandoning her specially-adapted home.
But she fears if she has to do that, it may force her to take the heartbreaking decision to put her son into full-time residential care.
And, apart from the upset, it would cost the taxpayer dearly – upto £4,000 a week, depending on the level of care.
Fiona, 44, said: “I can’t risk losing my baby. There’s no way I’m going to move. I’ll fight this whatever it takes.
“It’s unjust and not thought out. It has been dreamed up in an office and put through without them realising the impact.
“But this is people’s lives they are playing with.”
Logan is prone to self-harm and needs to be monitored 24 hours a day.
If he’s left alone he hurts himself, often biting his flesh to the bone.
Fiona had to leave her job as a sales manager to look after her son.
Sleep deprivation meant she could no longer work full-time and now manages 16 hours a week, working in Logan’s school as a support worker, advising other families on caring for disabled youngsters.
Clearly the third bedroom is essential for the carer to stay in.
It’s one reason Fiona got the three-bed home and applied for a Disability Facilities Grant to pay for adaptations for Logan.
They moved to the housing association property in 2006 and Fiona has spent years making it right.
Adapted: Fiona has spent years changing her house to meet Logan’s needs
Newspics
Doors have been adapted, and Logan’s bedroom is fully padded so he can’t hurt himself. There are CCTV cameras on the landings and in Logan’s room.
Using savings and grants, Fiona has spent around £15,000 on their semi-detached home.
But she may have to pay back grants if she moves because she has been living there for less than ten years.
As well as the financial cost, Fiona is worried about being forced to move from a community that helps her care for Logan.
She added: “I’ve struck gold with my neighbours. They have been fantastic. You can’t put a price on things like that.”
David Orr, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said: “This perverse tax is doing exactly what the Government promised they wouldn’t – hitting the most vulnerable people.
“The bedroom tax means thousands of disabled people will have no choice but to cut back further on food and other expenses to stay in their own homes.
“The Government must repeal this ill-conceived policy.”
Labour Leader Ed Miliband said: “The PM doesn’t understand his own policy. It’s shameful not to understand the impact.”
Mr Cameron made his exemption claim despite Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith fighting legal action by disabled bedroom tax victims under human rights laws.
Ten test cases will be heard at the High Court in May. Lawyers claim the disabled are being discriminated against.
Ugo Hayter of law firm Leigh Day said: “We are very concerned as the Prime Minister’s understanding of how the Government’s own policy operates is not, in our view, accurate.”
