Under-occupancy Penalty Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Work and Pensions
Kirsten Oswald
Main Page: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)Department Debates - View all Kirsten Oswald's debates with the Department for Work and Pensions
Under-occupancy Penalty
Kirsten Oswald Excerpts(8 years, 10 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
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Justin Tomlinson
The money spent on housing benefit was £24.4 billion. Without our reforms it would have been £26 billion per year. The Opposition are calling on us to scrap the whole of the spare room subsidy policy. That would be an extra £2.5 billion in their ever-growing black hole.
Kirsten Oswald (East Renfrewshire) (SNP)
Some 71,500 people in Scotland would be affected by the bedroom tax if not for the actions of the SNP Scottish Government in mitigating that. This UK Government’s policy clearly has a devastating and discriminatory impact on some of the most vulnerable people in our society, so in the week when we have seen an astonishing tax deal with Google hailed by the Chancellor, is it not time this Government stopped prioritising sweetheart tax deals and started representing the needs of the ordinary people?
Justin Tomlinson
No. I wonder how the Scottish National party would explain to the people on the waiting lists why efforts are not being made to create more appropriate housing.