Star date: 6th April 2014

SALFORD COUNCIL KEEPS BACK £THOUSANDS OF HARDSHIP PAYMENTS AS BED TAX CAMPAIGNERS TAKE TO STREETS

Yesterday hundreds of people from all over Greater Manchester marched against the hated Bedroom Tax led by an Axe The Tax bed and a `Hunger Kills' coffin.

While speakers at the pre-march rally pointed to the poverty and hardship caused by the Tax, the Salford Star can reveal that Salford City Council is projecting a £650,000 underspend in its Discretionary Support Scheme which helps people in finacial crisis to pay their bills.

Full details here…

Thousands of people took to the streets all over the country yesterday in opposition to the ConDem Government's hated Bedroom Tax. Locally, hundreds of people came from all over Greater Manchester to join a protest rally and march through Manchester City Centre, led by an Axe The Tax bed and a coffin with the words `Huger Kills' and `Bedrom Tax Kills' on its sides.

At the rally, Linda Charnock from Bolton Against Bedroom Tax, explaining why the group had brought the coffin said "There are people out there who are isolated, starving…there's going to be more people dying if this Bedroom Tax is not stopped and abolished immediately."

Meanwhile, Maria Brabiner, from Salford Against The Bedroom Tax, brandished her bill and said "I'm definitely appealing it, I can't afford not to appeal it…and I'm telling everyone to appeal their Bedroom Tax bills, you can ask your council to look at it again or you can appeal. I'll be appealing to Salford Council - at the very least it will clog up the system and make it more unworkable."

Once again, despite the Labour Party finally coming out against the Bedroom Tax nationally, not one single Salford Labour councillor attended the march and rally yesterday. Which was a shame because the Salford Star would have liked to ask them why the Council was predicting a £650,000 underspend in its Salford Discretionary Support Scheme (SDSS), which is supposed to help people in financial crisis to pay their bills.

A report to the Council's Adult Scrutiny Select Committee at the end of last month noted the £650,000 underspend in the scheme plus another £90,000 from `staffing and sundries'.

While the underspend projection figures presented to the March meeting were made in December, and "expected to reduce as recharges are made to reflect contributions from other service areas", an updated report to the Committee on the same day stated that £250,000 of the underspend will be taken from the hardship scheme to offset other savings. That £250,000 would go a long way to help the thousands of people in Salford currently in rent arrears due to the Bedroom Tax (see here)*.

Meanwhile, at the rally, Alex Davidson from Manchester Trades Council and Greater Manchester Anti Bedroom Tax Federation, echoing the findings of the United Nations said "It is an essential human right to have a secure and safe home free of harassment from the authorities, from private landlords and anybody else who exploits people in this country to try and make money out of housing…"

Apart from the coffin, the most poignant banner of the day read `Labour Council Hear Us Say – No Evictions – We Won't Pay!'

* The Salford Star asked Salford Council for an explanation on the Discretionary Support Scheme underspend weeks ago - but Salford Council didn't respond.

*See also previous Salford Star report on the Bedroom Tax at the United Nations in Geneva last month – click here