Lord Freud's comments to Welsh Affairs committee branded 'deeply offensive' by Labour
They are offensive by anyones standards but let us not forget Labour would not get rid of this policy should they get in office.
Families hit by bedroom tax 'can go out to work or use a sofa bed', says senior Tory
Families in Wales hit by the so-called bedroom tax can “go out to work” or use a sofa-bed, a key architect of the UK Government’s controversial welfare reforms told MPs today.
Lord Freud said that families with young children in social accommodation who face a housing benefit cut because they have more than their allocated number of bedrooms could “earn money”.
When asked at the Welsh Affairs committee how they could do this if they did not want to take in a lodger, he said: “People could go out to work.”
Labour said the comments were “deeply offensive” to families struggling to find “decent jobs” and Welsh Liberal Democrat MP Mark Williams attacked the policy as “misguided”.
Lord Freud, who serves as an unpaid minister at the Department for Work & Pensions, suggested that separated parents could either pay the penalty for an extra bedroom or make use of a sofa bed when children were staying.
He said: “Some people may find it is worthwhile spending the extra £12 a week to have that facility. Others will use the sofa bed.
“The issue is dual-provision of those bedrooms is expensive; basically giving a child a bedroom in two places is a very expensive thing for the state to do and currently we can’t afford that.”
Lord Freud admitted he was concerned about fathers having weekend access to children.
He said: “I do worry about it. Clearly, these are measures about cost and one of the things is that family break-up as we all know is one of the most enormously expensive things both for the individual and society. The issue is how much of that cost can the state afford to bear?”
The Government’s own impact assessment last year predicted a higher proportion of working age social housing tenants in receipt of housing benefit would be affected in Wales than in any other part of the country (46%), losing on average £12 a week.
Lord Freud stressed the need to make the best use of housing in Wales.
He said there were 10,000 Welsh families living in overcrowded accommodation. Across the country, there were 1.8 million people on social housing waiting lists, 90,000 of whom are in Wales.
He claimed there were 1.5m “spare” bedrooms, of which 100,000 were in Wales.
Wales Online
They are offensive by anyones standards but let us not forget Labour would not get rid of this policy should they get in office.
Families hit by bedroom tax 'can go out to work or use a sofa bed', says senior Tory
Families in Wales hit by the so-called bedroom tax can “go out to work” or use a sofa-bed, a key architect of the UK Government’s controversial welfare reforms told MPs today.
Lord Freud said that families with young children in social accommodation who face a housing benefit cut because they have more than their allocated number of bedrooms could “earn money”.
When asked at the Welsh Affairs committee how they could do this if they did not want to take in a lodger, he said: “People could go out to work.”
Labour said the comments were “deeply offensive” to families struggling to find “decent jobs” and Welsh Liberal Democrat MP Mark Williams attacked the policy as “misguided”.
Lord Freud, who serves as an unpaid minister at the Department for Work & Pensions, suggested that separated parents could either pay the penalty for an extra bedroom or make use of a sofa bed when children were staying.
He said: “Some people may find it is worthwhile spending the extra £12 a week to have that facility. Others will use the sofa bed.
“The issue is dual-provision of those bedrooms is expensive; basically giving a child a bedroom in two places is a very expensive thing for the state to do and currently we can’t afford that.”
Lord Freud admitted he was concerned about fathers having weekend access to children.
He said: “I do worry about it. Clearly, these are measures about cost and one of the things is that family break-up as we all know is one of the most enormously expensive things both for the individual and society. The issue is how much of that cost can the state afford to bear?”
The Government’s own impact assessment last year predicted a higher proportion of working age social housing tenants in receipt of housing benefit would be affected in Wales than in any other part of the country (46%), losing on average £12 a week.
Lord Freud stressed the need to make the best use of housing in Wales.
He said there were 10,000 Welsh families living in overcrowded accommodation. Across the country, there were 1.8 million people on social housing waiting lists, 90,000 of whom are in Wales.
He claimed there were 1.5m “spare” bedrooms, of which 100,000 were in Wales.
Wales Online
