MINISTERS were yesterday accused of misleading MPs over the catastrophic impact of the Government’s welfare plans.
The claim came after a leaked memo revealed David Cameron was warned his housing benefit cap risked making 40,000 families homeless.
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A letter from the office of Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said capping it at £500 a week could also increase child poverty.
And it warned the estimated £270million savings would be wiped out by the cost of having to rehome people driven out by the cap.
WARNINGS
The fears about the £500 limit were set out in a letter written by Nico Heslop, Mr Pickles’s private secretary, six months ago.
He warned the plans – announced by Chancellor George Osborne at the last Tory conference and due to come into effect in 2013 – would have a “disproportionate” impact on families.
He wrote: “Our modelling indicates we could see an additional 20,000 homeless as a result of the total benefit cap.
“This is on top of the 20,000 additional (homeless) already anticipated as a result of other changes to the housing benefit.”
The letter continued: “We are concerned the savings from this measure, currently estimated at £270million from 2014-2015, do not take account of the additional costs to local authorities through homelessness and temporary accommodation. We think it likely that the policy as it stands will generate a net cost.”
DENIALS
Mr Heslop also warned of a looming “controversy” because families may be forced to use their child benefit to pay the rent.
Ministers have repeatedly denied the cap will cause problems. Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith told the Commons last month: “This is not about punishing people.”
His deputy, Chris Grayling, also rejected claims the benefit cap would hit families. He told MPs in March this year: “I do not believe the measure will exacerbate an existing problem.”
But Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Liam Byrne claimed ministers needed to come clean.
He said: “Perhaps now Iain Duncan Smith might explain if his ministers were being straight.
“If they have been hiding the truth to the House of Commons, that is extremely serious.”
Campbell Robb, chief executive of homelessness charity Shelter, said: “With 21% of people struggling to meet costs, you cannot cut support without risk of people losing their home.
“The Coalition needs to stop bulldozing through bad policies while ignoring independent evidence and its own expert panel.”
Mr Pickles said he was “fully supportive” of the Government’s benefit policies.
3A SURVEY for Shelter out today reveals the growing problem of rogue landlords. The YouGov poll found 7.5 million tenants have had issues with their landlord in the past 10 years. The findings comes as a Channel 4’s Dispatches programme tonight exposes landlords’ underhand tactics, including illegally renting out sheds.
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