'Bedroom tax' cash help for Welsh tenants urged by AMs

AMs want the Welsh government to help tenants, landlords and others adapt to welfare reform

Social housing tenants hit by the so-called bedroom tax should get more financial help from the Welsh government, AMs have said.

Welfare reforms by the UK government include benefit cuts for people deemed to have more rooms than they need.

The Scottish government compensates tenants who lose money, and AMs want Welsh ministers to consider it too.

The Welsh government said it was providing help but could not "plug all the gaps" caused by austerity measures.

'Responsibility'

A report by the assembly's public accounts committee on Tuesday called on the Welsh government to take more of a leading role in helping tenants, landlords, local authorities and charities handle the impact of welfare reform.

It urged the Welsh government to publish its analysis of the costs and benefits of fully compensating tenants for benefit cuts, and confirm whether ministers were asked to consider the idea.

AMs also called on ministers to do more to publicise the availability of discretionary housing payments to tenants most in need of help.

Committee chairman Darren Millar said: "Regardless of whether changes to the welfare system are supported by Welsh public bodies or not, they still have a responsibility to adapt to those changes."

However, Labour AM Jenny Rathbone criticised the Tory AM for a "partisan" foreword which failed to "reinforce just how devastating the bedroom tax has been for tenants in Wales".

'Proper examination'

The report noted that the Welsh government had estimated the cost of meeting tenants' losses through benefit cuts at £22m a year, and preferred to spend money building smaller houses and supporting advice services.

The Scottish government has spent £35m a year on discretionary housing payments.

Jocelyn Davies, a Plaid Cymru member of the committee, said the Welsh government should look again at the idea, asking: "Might it actually be more cost effective to make up the difference?"

Lib Dem AM Aled Roberts said: "I don't think it's the role of the Welsh government to subsidise UK policy.

"But we feel a proper examination should have been undertaken of the Scottish system."

Sioned Hughes, director of policy at Community Housing Cymru, which represents housing associations, welcomed the report's call to boost funding for "much needed" advice services.

"More resources are needed to ensure that our most vulnerable tenants have access to the advice services they need, particularly following the summer budget announcements," she said.

In January, spending watchdog the Wales Audit Office warned that many tenants were being penalised by housing benefit cuts because of a lack of smaller houses for them to move into.

A Welsh government spokesman said it would do what it could to protect people from the "devastating impact" of the UK government's welfare reforms, but claimed it would be "impossible to plug all the gaps caused by the sweeping and unnecessary austerity measures".

It said since the 2011 assembly election it had invested over £40m to build nearly 800 smaller homes for rent, more than £5m in free advice services, £22m to help tenants pay council tax, and £1.3m in discretionary housing payments.