Bedroom Tax minister Lord Freud has threatened councils if
they reclassify homes. Yet I have written to work and pensions secretary Iain
Duncan Smith on two occasions, requesting that disabled people living in
specially adapted homes be exempted from eviction, due to rent arrears, as a
result of the the spare room subsidy.
I have experience working with architects, and told him that it was not a cost-effective measure to evict a disabled person from an adapted property when the cost of retrofitting a new property is so expensive.
Moreover, I pointed out to IDS that I was coming across news stories of disabled people, living in specially adapted properties, who were either being refused Discretionary Housing Payments or under the threat of eviction. (This has been corroborated by research from UK disability campaigners 'We are Spartacus').
I informed him of the legitimate concern that the DHP fund was insufficient in size to meet all genuine needs, and requested that he pressure councils to demonstrate proper discretion in these cases—told him that the Government might even have to issue a directive.
So has Iain Duncan Smith threatened councils if they evict disabled people living in specially adapted homes? The answer is obvious: He doesn't give a damn about the rights of sick and disabled people.
I have experience working with architects, and told him that it was not a cost-effective measure to evict a disabled person from an adapted property when the cost of retrofitting a new property is so expensive.
Moreover, I pointed out to IDS that I was coming across news stories of disabled people, living in specially adapted properties, who were either being refused Discretionary Housing Payments or under the threat of eviction. (This has been corroborated by research from UK disability campaigners 'We are Spartacus').
I informed him of the legitimate concern that the DHP fund was insufficient in size to meet all genuine needs, and requested that he pressure councils to demonstrate proper discretion in these cases—told him that the Government might even have to issue a directive.
So has Iain Duncan Smith threatened councils if they evict disabled people living in specially adapted homes? The answer is obvious: He doesn't give a damn about the rights of sick and disabled people.
Dying because there is something another person cares so much about to murder you at least has the element of feeling to it. To die because of a complete lack of interest feels somehow very demeaning.
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