ALL people in Warrington in genuine need of an extra bedroom received help with their rent through the Government-funded Discretionary Housing Payments scheme, according to Conservative election hopeful Richard Short.
Mr Short (pictured) Parliamentary candidate for Warrington North, hit out in response to claims that people in the borough were being affected by the so-called “bedroom tax.”
He said: “The Government has taken major steps to make sure we can all have a decent roof over our heads.
“But there are people in receipt of housing benefit in houses larger than their needs require and yet there are also people for whom an extra bedroom is a necessity.
“Figures I have obtained show that all those in Warrington who genuinely needed an extra bedroom had help with their rent through the Government funded Discretionary Housing Payments scheme.
“In 2013/14, the last complete year for which there are figures, almost a 1,000 payments were made using £329,303 of the money given to the council by the Government to cover these costs – falling short of the £332,712 they were allocated.
“To date this financial year, Warrington Council has not used it’s 2014/15 allocation clearly showing that all those that needed help, got the help they needed.
“Access to decent housing is fundamental to us all, this is why I’m very pleased that all those in Warrington who needed genuine help to pay their rent were helped and Warrington Council did not need to use all of its Government allocation to fund discretionary payments.”
Mr Short said there had been recent press coverage regarding the impact of the spare room subsidy on Warrington residents, particularly drawing attention to the plight of disabled residents.
But even at this late stage in the year, not all the money allocated to Warrington Council had been spent – repeating the pattern of last year when there was also money left over.
“This either means that all those who needed help received the help they needed or Warrington Council has withheld money from the most vulnerable in our society. I would prefer not to believe the latter.”
Tory hits back over “bedroom tax” claims
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Gary Skentelbery
Experienced journalist for more than 40 years. Managing Director of magazine publishing group with three in-house titles and on-line daily newspaper for Warrington. Experienced writer, photographer, PR consultant and media expert having written for local, regional and national newspapers. Specialties: PR, media, social networking, photographer, networking, advertising, sales, media crisis management. Chair of Warrington Healthwatch Director Warrington Chamber of Commerce Patron Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace. Trustee Warrington Disability Partnership. Former Chairman of Warrington Town FC.
