21 July 2006
Child poverty experts this week launched an effort to halt plans to reduce housing benefits paid to antisocial tenants.
The Child Poverty Action Group targeted backbench MPs who might be opposed to elements of Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton's Welfare Reform Bill, calling on them to consider the effect on children of punitive actions against parents claiming benefits.
In a briefing note on the Bill, sent to MPs this week and seen by Public Finance, the CPAG reports that it 'strongly opposes plans to sanction housing benefit for
antisocial behaviour and deeply regrets the government's decision to resurrect the idea'.
As well as proposing to reform housing benefit and roll out a local housing allowance for tenants in the private rented sector, Hutton's Bill proposes gradually reducing benefit payments to tenants who engage in antisocial behaviour.
Although the CPAG acknowledges that antisocial behaviour causes 'significant problems', its note to MPs claims that the proposals do nothing to address the root causes and 'could result in families with children being made homeless, or children being taken into care'.
The result could be to raise the number of children living in poverty, the group says. It would also affect tenants claiming benefit and not others engaged in antisocial behaviour, the briefing notes.
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