Bedroom tax ruled ‘discriminatory’ at Supreme Court

Bedroom tax demo - credit Stuart Crawford

Two families have won their appeals against the Bedroom Tax after claiming the controversial welfare policy discriminated against their disabled relatives.

Judges at the Supreme Court ruled there is a "line to be drawn" between those who have a medical need to have a spare bedroom in their council home, and those who do not.

The ruling comes two days after a United Nations inquiry found that UK welfare cuts had violated the human rights of disabled people.

Under the policy known as the ‘bedroom tax’, tenants have their housing benefit cut if they have a spare room at their property.

Jayson Carmichael, from Southport in Merseyside, said he needed a spare room at his home for his wife Jacqueline, who has spina bifida.

The court heard that she needs to sleep in a hospital bed, meaning Mr Carmichael needs to sleep in the spare room.

In a separate case, Paul and Susan Rutherford, from Pembrokeshire, said they needed a spare room when providing overnight care for their disabled 15-year-old grandson, Warren. The DWP had appealed after the Court of Session had previously ruled in favour of the family. 

Lord Toulson said the judges unanimously agreed that the scheme was discriminatory in those cases.

He said: "There is a line to be drawn between on the one hand those who have a medical need for an additional bedroom and on the other hand, those who do not have a direct medical need for an additional room but may have powerful reasons for staying where they are, because of their particular personal circumstances."

However, five other cases brought by other families who have also had their housing benefit cut failed.

A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said: "It is welcome that the court found in our favour in five out of the seven cases. The court also agreed with our view that discretionary housing payments are generally an appropriate and lawful way to provide assistance to those who need extra help. In the two specific cases where the court did not find in our favour, we will take steps to ensure we comply with the judgement in due course.

"In most cases, Local Authorities are best placed to understand the needs of their residents, which is why we will have given them over £1bn by the end of this parliament for discretionary housing payments to ensure that people in difficult situations don’t lose out.”

However, the DWP insisted there would be no change to the policy itself.

Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Debbie Abrahams said: "I would like to pay tribute to all the families for their tireless work on bringing this issue to court. The true cruelty of the Tories' Bedroom Tax has been exposed in today’s judgement.

"The Bedroom Tax is a cruel and unnecessary policy. It is widely despised by the British public, who see it what for what it is; a callous attempt to punish low-income, social housing tenants."