Frank Field MP Leads Liverpool Bedroom Tax Challenge

Frank Field MP

A survey has been carried out by the Liverpool City Region child poverty and life chances commission four one of the largest housing associations in the Liverpool city region chaired by Birkenhead MP Frank Field.

The group is calling for an overhaul of the law and is also hoping to launch a legal appeal for families seeking exemption from the Bedroom Tax.

The controversial tax sees housing benefits slashed if residents are deemed to have unnecessary spare bedrooms, in a bid to free up larger homes.

The survey has revealed some shocking statistics:

• 112 families with children (83% of respondents to the survey) have cut back on their food budgets.
• 96 families with children (71%) have cut back on essential household bills, either by going without gas, electricity, and water, or by incurring additional debt on those bills.
• 67 families with children (49%) have resorted to payday loans, doorstep loans, credit cards, or store cards to get by from week to week.
• Among the examples of human suffering raised in evidence were:
• A parent who reported going “hungry or cold” on a number of occasions so they could both feed their child and make up the gap in rent that was opened up by the bedroom tax, “so I don’t lose my home.”
• A parent who wrapped herself and her daughter in several blankets to keep warm one evening, as they could not afford any gas.
• A parent in low-paid work who reported getting “deeper and deeper into debt.”
• A parent’s frequent dilemma between whether to “buy clothes for my daughter or pay bills.”

The report is downloadable below: