Welfare reform: a blunt instrument

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/02/welfare-reform-blunt-tool

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Not all the consequences of Iain Duncan Smith's upending of every aspect of welfare may have been intended. But the work and pensions secretary cannot say that he was not warned about the distress, particularly for vulnerable people who cannot easily change their circumstances, that would follow his agenda of steep budget cuts and harsh new limits on eligibility. Today's report from MPs, including Tories, on the cross-party work and pensions committee is noisy with the sound of birds coming home to roost. And with the real impact of the cuts only now about to take effect, this report merely charts an introductory phase that has largely been cushioned by transitional funding. The worst is still to come.

Mr Duncan Smith set out in 2010 to cut the benefits bill not merely as a response to austerity. He thought there were too many claimants who would, he repeatedly declared in language steeped in the pious undertone of moral motivation, benefit from getting off benefits and into work. Four years on, that is not the effect his reforms to housing benefit are having, according to the work and pensions committee. Today they become the latest in a long line of reputable organisations to look closely at how the welfare changes work on the ground and call for reform to the reforms.

The MPs believe the new regime is causing rising homelessness. They warn that the extra cash for local housing allowance is too little to match the soaring cost of private rents. But above all, they report on the impact on vulnerable people of the bedroom tax – a blunt instrument, they say, with which to rationalise access to social housing.

This reform, which appears so far to have caused just 6% of families to downsize, entirely fails to recognise the circumstances of many disabled people. Those who need carers who stay over, or have equipment that needs space, or whose homes have been specially adapted, should be exempt, according to the committee. Families penalised because the bedroom count does not take account of the number of beds that fit in a bedroom should also be exempt. And the MPs warn that the cost of short-term discretionary housing payments for those unjustly penalised is undermining councils' capacity to build the new social housing that could tackle the problem. This is not a viable policy.

It is equally arbitrary that individual councils now decide how far to support people formerly entitled to council tax benefit. As we reported this week, some low-income families now have to find an extra £6 a week. A centrally set and funded benefit that compensated for the regressive nature of council tax is now set by local whim. Advocates of devolving power should pay close attention to just what that means in practice.