GLC bedroom tax petition remitted to Welfare Reform Committee for full consideration

The Scottish Parliament's Petition Committee has today agreed to remit Govan Law Centre's (GLC) bedroom tax petition to the Welfare Reform Committee for full consideration and discussion. GLC believes that this is a positive step forward in the 'No evictions for bedroom tax' campaign in Scotland. Today's development will enable the case for progressive law reform to avoid evictions for bedroom tax arrears to be made with reference to Scottish empirical evidence and compelling real life case studies.  See also the earlier news report on this story on the STV website.

GLC to discuss impact of bedroom tax for Scots with learning disabilities at Scottish Parliament

Govan Law Centre (GLC) will address members of the Scottish Parliament's Cross-Party Group for Learning Disability this afternoon on the impact of the 'bedroom tax' on Scots with learning disabilities.

The Cross-Party Group chaired by Jackie Baillie MSP, Convenor, and Jim Eadie MSP, Deputy Convenor, will be provided with an update on GLC's 'No eviction for bedroom tax' campaign - which is due to call again before the Parliament's Petitions Committee on Tuesday 25 June 2013 - and a report on the uptake across Scotland and the UK of GLC's Challenge the Bedroom Tax 'Toolkit'. 

The Parliamentary Group will be presented with real life examples of casework from GLC's Alistair Sharp and Gary Burns. Our case studies aim to highlight the particular issues surrounding those with a learning disability in relation to the bedroom tax. We will highlight the recurring issues and particular problems facing someone with learning difficulties, and what organisations can do in order to offer support in relation to the bedroom tax and other welfare reform. 

GLC aims to demonstrate how people with learning difficulties may have problems in asserting their legal rights, and in many cases may require coordinated access to other agencies. GLC will explain how small changes to an agency's practice can help provide positive solutions and better outcomes for Scots with learning disabilities.

GLC welcomes First Minister's commitment to 'No evictions for bedroom tax' but warns of a post-code bedroom tax eviction lottery in Scotland

The First Minister, Alex Salmond MSP announced today that all SNP-led local authorities would embrace a 'no evictions for bedroom tax' policy, ensuring that where tenants were paying their rent but struggling to cope with the bedroom tax, they would not be evicted by their local authority landlord.

This policy approach was first proposed in Scotland by Govan Law Centre, and our 'No evictions for bedroom tax' campaign has since been backed by a wide range of civic bodies in Scotland including the STUC, Oxfam, Shelter Scotland, tenants bodies, mental health charities and almost 5,000 signatures to our petition to the Scottish Parliament.

The SNP currently lead nine of Scotland's 32 local authorities although they only have a majority in one council, Dundee City Council, which has already implemented a 12 month 'No evictions for bedroom tax' policy.

GLC welcomes the First Minister's commitment to the 'No evictions for bedroom tax' campaign, but notes that the Scottish Government has the power to require all of Scotland's 32 local authorities and 183 registered social landlord housing associations and co-operatives to embrace the same policy which the First Minister has today embraced and approved.

GLC believes it would be grossly unfair for only some tenants to benefit from this policy in Scotland while others do not. We do not believe that a 'post-code bedroom tax eviction lottery' is in the Scottish public interest. We hope that the Scottish Government will embrace the need to ensure that all tenants in the social rented sector in Scotland benefit from a 'No evictions for bedroom tax' policy.

GLC welcomes Housing Minister's advice on bedroom tax and apparent support for the principle of 'No evictions for bedroom tax arrears''

Govan Law Centre (GLC) has welcomed the Scottish Housing Minister's advice for landlords on the bedroom tax, which the Scottish Government has announced today.  In particular, GLC is pleased to see Housing Minister, Margaret Burgess, encourage social landlords to work with local authorities on the reclassification of 'bedrooms' where appropriate to mitigate the impact of the bedroom tax.

This was a legal issue which GLC on behalf of the Glasgow Advice Agency Ltd (GAA) had obtained the opinion of senior counsel over a month ago, and which GAA had expressly called for the Scottish Government to utlise as a practical strategy to minimse the application of under-occupancy charges, especially where a household had a disabled person. We support the Minister's helpful words of encouragement to social landlords' today:

"There are also circumstances where a bedroom’s classification may be changed and tenants not penalised. Again, I would encourage landlords to consider this possibility and work with their local authority if at all possible".

GLC also welcomes the Minister's endorsement of Dundee City Council's 'No eviction for bedroom tax arrears' policy, which we believe is a very progressive initiative based upon the exact same principle as our 'No eviction for bedroom tax arrears' campaign. The Dundee City Council policy will last for 12 months and guarantees that no tenant who is doing their best to pay their rent arrears will be evicted for bedroom tax arrears. The Minister's statement on this issue is reproduced below, and GLC hopes that the Scottish Government will reconsider its position on amending section 16 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 in light of its apparent support for Dundee's no evictions for bedroom tax policy.

The Scottish Housing Minister said today: "You may wish to be aware of the policy adopted by Dundee City Council which I believe provides a useful template to protect tenants who genuinely cannot make up the shortfall in rent caused by the bedroom tax. The Council has committed that, where the Director of Housing is satisfied that affected tenants are doing all that can be reasonably expected to in order to avoid falling into arrears, they will use all legitimate means to collect rent due, except eviction. I would encourage you to consider this as a mechanism to protect the most vulnerable of your tenants.”

Scottish Government provide flawed reasoning and no evidence to reject the principle of 'No evictions for bedroom tax arrears'

Addressing a packed roundtable meeting of Scottish community groups, trade unionists and representatives of civic Scotland bodies organised by the Scottish Trade Union Congress (STUC) tonight, Govan Law Centre set out why it believed the Scottish Government had based its decision to reject the 'No evictions for bedroom tax arrears' campaign on flawed reasoning and without any evidence.

The Scottish Government set out its position on why it would not amend section 16 of the 2001 Housing (Scotland) Act to prevent evictions caused by under-occupancy deductions to housing benefit during General Question Time in the Scottish Parliament today (the BBC Scotland video of GQT is below).

Govan Law Centre's analysis of the reasoning put forward by the Scottish Government today can be read here, and these points were discussed at the STUC this evening, where all participants very strongly rallied around the principle of 'No evictions for bedroom tax arrears' in Scotland.

GLC hopes that the Scottish Government will reconsider its position here, and take the opportunity to ingather empirical evidence, as well as taking evidence on the proposal from Scottish community representatives, trade unions, disability rights campaigners, advice agencies and civic Scotland.

Bedroom tax facts, myth and legends: why evicting households for bedroom tax arrears makes poor financial sense in Scotland

The debate on whether Scotland should introduce a 'No evictions for bedroom tax' policy is gaining widespread public support, with many councillors, some councils, MSPs and MEPs now backing the principle of GLC's Scottish Parliamentary petition.  

GLC is aware, however, that some people and politicians remain undecided about the workability of not evicting tenants for bedroom tax arrears, and that a number of assumptions and assertions are circulating against the principle of the petition, which can be summarised as follows:

• Not evicting someone for bedroom tax arrears will mean many people who can pay won’t pay, which is unfair for those tenants who choose to pay, or are unable to do so.
• It would take several years to build up a sufficient level of arrears before a social landlord considered going for eviction, so what is all the fuss about?
• It would be unworkable for a social landlord to separate ‘bedroom tax arrears’ from other rent arrears, and therefore not evicting people for bedroom tax arrears cannot be practical.
• Not evicting tenants for the bedroom tax will damage the revenue streams of social landlords, make their business operations unsustainable, and ultimately damage the interests of other tenants who do pay.

Accordingly, in the interests of well informed public debate, GLC is publishing a 'Bedroom Tax Facts, Myths and Legends' paper  (opens as PDF) which explains the hard facts with reference to the relevant law, practice, and empirical evidence available in Scotland. We believe the facts overwhelmingly support the case for not evicting tenants for bedroom tax arrears in Scotland and hope that you will consider lending your support to our campaign by signing our petition here and tweeting and disemminating this post to a wider audience.

Civic Scotland organisations unite for law reform to protect tenants against bedroom tax evictions

Oxfam, Govan Law Centre, Shelter Scotland, Money Advice Scotland, the Carrington Dean Group and Glasgow Central Citizens Advice Bureaux have come together to support a campaign film calling on the Scottish Government and Parliament to prevent Scottish tenants being evicted for bedroom tax arrears.

The campaigners are calling for section 16 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 to be amended so that bedroom tax arrears are treated as an ordinary debt in law, and not as rent arrears which would constitute grounds or evidence for eviction. The new campaign film explains the expected impact of the 'bedroom tax', and the concerns that advice agencies and anti-poverty charities in Scotland have in relation to increased evictions and homelessness in Scotland.

The campaign film asks for people to sign and support the 'No evictions for bedroom tax' petition in the Scottish Parliament - which is online here: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/GettingInvolved/Petitions/bedroomtax  (anyone, anywhere can sign this, and you do not have to be in Scotland or the UK to do so).  The 'Amend section 16' campaign film can be watched below.

Oxfam Scotland backs 'No evictions for bedroom tax' campaign in Scotland

Oxfam Scotland is backing a change in the law that will help tenants affected by the controversial cuts to housing benefit stay in their homes in Scotland. The charity, which works with partners in Scotland to fight poverty and create sustainable livelihoods, is supporting a petition to the Scottish Parliament by Govan Law Centre (GLC), calling for an amendment to existing housing law.

The amendment will mean that rent arrears caused by the so-called 'Bedroom Tax' can't be used as grounds for eviction by social landlords like councils or housing associations. Government changes to housing benefit mean that, from April, people who are judged to have a 'spare room' will face a massive 14% cut in the support they get to keep a roof over their heads. Those with two 'spare rooms' will face a 25% cut.

Judith Robertson, Head of Oxfam Scotland, said: "Last year our Humankind Index for Scotland found that an affordable, decent and safe home is the top priority for Scots across the country. But housing benefit cuts will put thousands of people at risk of losing their homes. People on low incomes are already struggling.

"We recognise that social landlords are being placed in a difficult situation by these housing benefit cuts, but our priority surely has to be to keep families in their homes. The change in the law proposed by Govan Law Centre will help make sure that happens.

"We hope MSPs will support the petition, and we hope the UK Government realises the enormous damage these cuts will have on people."
 
 GLC's Principal Solicitor, Mike Dailly, said: "We are delighted that a leading global anti-poverty charity has decided to back our 'No Evictions for Bedroom Tax' petition in the Scottish Parliament.

"Oxfam's support for our Scottish campaign underlines the seriousness of the situation, with the prospect of tens of thousands of low income households in Scotland being threatened with homelessness unless they can find extra money for rent, and many families being pushed into destitution and poverty.

"We believe the Scottish Parliament has devolved powers which could be used to significantly mitigate the adverse impact of these changes to housing benefit, and hope that MSPs will join civic Scotland in supporting our No Evictions campaign".

Money Advice Scotland back 'No evictions for bedroom tax'in Scotland' campaign

GLC is delighted to announce that Money Advice Scotland has agreed to back the 'No evictions for bedroom tax in Scotland' petition and campaign. The petition to the Scottish Parliament now has 1,066 signatures since going live at the weekend, and is growing every day. You can sign the petition here.

Money Advice Scotland (MAS) is the national umbrella organisation in Scotland which promotes the development of free, independent, impartial, confidential money (debt) advice and financial inclusion. 

MAS serves a membership of over 200 members organisations and individuals drawn from local authorities, CABx, and other voluntary projects, who all provide money advice. Other members who are supportive of our objectives include Insolvency Practitioners, creditor and debt collection organisations.

GLC believes that the bedroom tax is the new poll tax in Scotland, and that bedroom tax arrears of rent should be treated as an ordinary debt in Scots law, so that tenants do not have to suffer the pain, suffering and indignity of bring evicted from their home because of the bedroom tax.

We can stop evictions for bedroom tax if you sign this petition

GLC's petition in the Scottish Parliament for 'No evictions for bedroom tax arrears' is now online, and we would be grateful if you would consider supporting same by adding your signature here: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/GettingInvolved/Petitions/bedroomtax  Please circulate this link to your friends, family and colleagues and ask them to sign too. The bedroom tax is the new poll tax, but it is much worse than that.

Housing benefit under-occupancy provisions - 'the bedroom tax' for tenants in the social rented sector are introduced by section 69 of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 and the (draft) Housing Benefit (Amendment) Regulations 2012, from April 2013.  These provisions will see tenants of councils and RSLs in Scotland lose on average £ l12 per week, with some tenants losing as much as £22 per week in housing benefit. There is widespread concern in Scotland that these changes will cause major detriment to thousands of households in Scotland.

The DWP estimate 660,000 claimants will be affected across the UK, and the Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland suggest as many as 95,000 tenants could be affected in Scotland.[1] 

When it comes to Scottish rent arrears eviction actions in sheriff courts, often the success or failure of a tenant in preventing eviction will turn on a few pounds per week, for example the standard payment for arrears direct is £3.55 per week. Accordingly, the prospect of £12 to £22 per week being deducted from rent payments under the bedroom tax from next April means Scotland's law centres and advice sector will be unable to defend many eviction cases in practice. 

We are suggesting a minor amendment to section 16 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 (as follows) which would prevent 'bedroom tax rent arrears' being used to establish or justify a crave for eviction, and instead the landlord could obtain a payment decree for these 'type of arrears', and pursue them an ordinary debt. 

We do not believe the bedroom tax is fair or morally justifiable for the following reasons:

• Arrears accrued by tenants due to the ‘bedroom tax’ from April 2013 are not the ‘fault’ of social rented sector tenants, and therefore using such arrears to establish or make out a case for eviction must be unfair and unreasonable as matter of principle and social policy.

• The DWP’s Impact Assessment accepts there are insufficient smaller properties for tenants to downsize to, and therefore many tenants will have no realistic alternatives other than to accrue rent arrears from the bedroom tax.

• The public cost to accommodate a family made homelessness is on average £24,000 per case , which would place major pressure on local authorities and the NHS in Scotland in a time of budget cuts, and therefore the need to prevent eviction from the bedroom tax is in the wider public interest.

• Given the imminent nature of the cuts, and the lack of practical solutions available to tenants, there is a cogent case for providing social tenants with a longer transitional period, and a guarantee that they will not be evicted due to these reforms in the short to medium term.

• Ultimately, many social landlords in Scotland are already taking proactive action to mitigate against these forthcoming housing benefit cuts, and have no desire to evict tenants because of the cuts. However, RSLs and councils are subject to public audit and have a duty to pursue rent arrears as a matter of law, and in terms of their regulatory supervision. Accordingly, this amendment would assist social landlords, by ensuring they could only pursue bedroom tax arrears by way of ordinary debt recovery (payment actions, followed by ordinary diligence). 

[1] http://www.cih.org/resources/PDF/Scotland%20Policy%20Pdfs/Bedroom%20Tax/Bedroom%20Tax%20Final.pdf