Agenda item

“Bedroom Tax”

It was moved by Councillor Harry Harpham seconded by Councillor Tony Damms, that this Council:-

(a)       believes that the “Bedroom Tax” is a cruel and unfair measure hitting vulnerable people through no fault of their own and was introduced by the Conservative-led government, with support of the LibDems in government;

(b)       believes that the outcomes of the Liberal Democrat’s 2013 Conference demonstrates their Party’s indifference to the hardship caused by the Bedroom Tax;

(c)        welcomes the effective and broad-based campaign run by local Sheffield campaigners and activists against this most unfair tax;

(d)       reiterates in the strongest possible terms this Council’s opposition to the Bedroom Tax and warmly welcomes the commitment made by The Rt. Hon. Ed Miliband, MP, Leader of the Opposition, that a future Labour Government will repeal this unfair tax as part of the Labour Party’s concrete action to support families with the cost of living crisis;

(e)       further believes that this commitment is affordable as it is to be paid for without additional borrowing by reversing the current Government’s tax cut for hedge funds, unfair shares for rights scheme and tackling disguised employment in the construction industry; and

(f)        however, regrets that the Government’s failure to listen means Sheffield families are suffering today and resolves to write to the Deputy Prime Minister, who is the only local MP who supports this tax, urging him to take action to reverse this cruel and unfair measure now.

Whereupon, it was moved by Councillor Jillian Creasy, seconded by Councillor Robert Murphy, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the re-lettering of paragraphs (b) to (f) as new paragraphs (c) to (g) and the addition of a new paragraph (b) as follows:-

“(b)      notes the smaller opposition group’s motion to Full Council in April 2013 which called on the Administration to look into not taking eviction proceedings where arrears are solely due to unaffordability caused by the bedroom tax and is glad that the Administration has now implemented this idea”.

On being put to the vote the amendment was negatived.

It was then moved by Councillor Penny Baker, seconded by Councillor Ian Auckland, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the deletion of all the words after the words “That this Council” and the substitution of the following words therefor:-

(a)       reiterates its opposition to the so-called ‘bedroom tax’;

(b)       reaffirms that the root cause of this problem is the nation’s housing crisis and endorses the current Government’s action to build more affordable housing;

(c)        contrasts this action with the lamentable record of the previous Government who during their thirteen years in power:

(i)    saw the building of social housing decline to its lowest figure since the Second World War;

(ii)   built seven times more prison cells than council homes;

(iii)  oversaw the Housing Market Renewal Scheme, in which 4,590 houses in South Yorkshire were demolished, while just 2,415 were built, at a cost of £265 million; and

(iv)  left a legacy of 2 million households in England on housing waiting lists, 250,000 families living in over-crowded accommodation and 1 million bedrooms standing empty;

(d)       reminds Members that the under-occupancy principle was first agreed by the previous Government in the private sector, in which no concessions were made for foster children, overnight carers, or service personnel;

(e)       welcomes the motion agreed at the Liberal Democrat Conference this month, which expressed concerns about the policy and set out practical steps to support those affected by the reform;

(f)        supports concessions which have already been secured as a result of Liberal Democrat influence in Government including:

(i)    exemptions for members of the armed forces and foster families;

(ii)   trebling the Discretionary Housing Payment budget; and

(iii)  providing councils with discretionary funding to help families in difficult circumstances;

(g)       encourages the Government to go further, following the measures set out by the policy motion agreed by the Liberal Democrat Conference;

(h)       highlights the work of Liberal Democrat run Stockport Council in supporting residents affected by the reform, specifically pledging not to evict anyone for arrears if those arrears are exclusively caused by this reform, up until the point that they have rejected two ‘reasonable offers’ of a smaller property;

(i)         draws attention to the complete lack of action from the present Administration in supporting affected residents and in particular notes the following decisions:

(i)    imposing a 23% cut in Council Tax Benefit, refusing an offer of £1.1 million from the Government to reduce the cut;

(ii)   consistent dithering over £10 million of New Homes Bonus funding, which should have been used earlier to help provide affordable housing in Sheffield; and

(iii)  rejecting proposals from opposition councillors for a cross-party working group to support local residents affected by the ‘bedroom tax’; and

(j)         implores the Administration to offer local residents more than crocodile tears and investigate what action the Council can take to support those who are affected.

On being put to the vote, the amendment was negatived.

The original Motion was then put to the vote and carried, as follows:-

RESOLVED: That this Council:

(a)       believes that the “Bedroom Tax” is a cruel and unfair measure hitting vulnerable people through no fault of their own and was introduced by the Conservative-led government, with support of the LibDems in government;

(b)       believes that the outcomes of the Liberal Democrat’s 2013 Conference demonstrates their Party’s indifference to the hardship caused by the Bedroom Tax;

(c)        welcomes the effective and broad-based campaign run by local Sheffield campaigners and activists against this most unfair tax;

(d)       reiterates in the strongest possible terms this Council’s opposition to the Bedroom Tax and warmly welcomes the commitment made by The Rt. Hon. Ed Miliband, MP, Leader of the Opposition, that a future Labour Government will repeal this unfair tax as part of the Labour Party’s concrete action to support families with the cost of living crisis;

(e)       further believes that this commitment is affordable as it is to be paid for without additional borrowing by reversing the current Government’s tax cut for hedge funds, unfair shares for rights scheme and tackling disguised employment in the construction industry; and

(f)        however, regrets that the Government’s failure to listen means Sheffield families are suffering today and resolves to write to the Deputy Prime Minister, who is the only local MP who supports this tax, urging him to take action to reverse this cruel and unfair measure now.

The votes on the above Motion were ordered to be recorded and were as follows:-

For paragraphs (a), (d) and (f) (58)

-

The Deputy Lord Mayor (Councillor Peter Rippon) and Councillors Julie Dore, Jack Scott, Roy Munn, Clive Skelton, Ian Saunders, Chris Rosling-Josephs, Helen Mirfin-Boukouris, Bryan Lodge, Denise Fox, Karen McGowan, Jayne Dunn, Stuart Wattam, Jackie Drayton, Ibrar Hussain, Talib Hussain, Jillian Creasy, Mohammad Maroof, Robert Murphy, Geoff Smith, Mary Lea, Harry Harpham, Mazher Iqbal, Joyce Wright, Steven Wilson, Garry Weatherall, Sheila Constance, Chris Weldon, Alan Law, Steve Jones, Tim Rippon, Cate McDonald, George Lindars-Hammond, Robert Johnson, Janet Bragg, Pat Midgley, Terry Fox, Tony Downing, David Barker, Isobel Bowler, Nikki Bond, Qurban Hussain, John Campbell, Martin Lawton, Peter Price, Tony Damms, Leigh Bramall, Gill Furniss, Richard Crowther, Philip Wood, Neale Gibson, Nikki Sharpe, Ben Curran, Adam Hurst, Alf Meade, Jackie Satur, Mick Rooney and Ray Satur.

Against paragraphs (a), (d) and (f) (16)

-

Councillors Simon Clement-Jones, Shaffaq Mohammed, Colin Ross, Joe Otten, Penny Baker, Diana Stimely, Roger Davison, Sue Alston, Andrew Sangar, Cliff Woodcraft, Denise Reaney, Ian Auckland, Bob McCann, Anders Hanson, Katie Condliffe and David Baker.

Abstained on paragraphs (a), (d) and (f) (1)

-

The Lord Mayor (Councillor Vickie Priestley).

For paragraphs (b) and (e) (56)

The Deputy Lord Mayor (Councillor Peter Rippon) and Councillors Julie Dore, Jack Scott, Roy Munn, Clive Skelton, Ian Saunders, Chris Rosling-Josephs, Helen Mirfin-Boukouris, Bryan Lodge, Denise Fox, Karen McGowan, Jayne Dunn, Stuart Wattam, Jackie Drayton, Ibrar Hussain, Talib Hussain, Mohammad Maroof, Geoff Smith, Mary Lea, Harry Harpham, Mazher Iqbal, Joyce Wright, Steven Wilson, Garry Weatherall, Sheila Constance, Chris Weldon, Alan Law, Steve Jones, Tim Rippon, Cate McDonald, George Lindars-Hammond, Robert Johnson, Janet Bragg, Pat Midgley, Terry Fox, Tony Downing, David Barker, Isobel Bowler, Nikki Bond,Qurban Hussain, John Campbell, Martin Lawton,Peter Price, Tony Damms, Leigh Bramall, Gill Furniss, Richard Crowther, Philip Wood, Neale Gibson, Nikki Sharpe, Ben Curran, Adam Hurst, Alf Meade, Jackie Satur, Mick Rooney and Ray Satur.

Against Paragraphs (b) and (e) (16)

Councillors Simon Clement-Jones, Shaffaq Mohammed, Colin Ross, Joe Otten, Penny Baker, Diana Stimely, Roger Davison, Sue Alston, Andrew Sangar, Cliff Woodcraft, Denise Reaney, Ian Auckland, Bob McCann, Anders Hanson, Katie Condliffe and David Baker.

Abstained on paragraphs (b) and (e) (3)

The Lord Mayor (Councillor Vickie Priestley) and Councillors Jillian Creasy and Robert Murphy.

For paragraph (c) (74)

The Deputy Lord Mayor (Councillor Peter Rippon) and Councillors Julie Dore, Jack Scott, Roy Munn, Simon Clement-Jones, Clive Skelton, Ian Saunders, Chris Rosling-Josephs, Helen Mirfin-Boukouris, Bryan Lodge, Denise Fox, Karen McGowan, Jayne Dunn, Stuart Wattam, Shaffaq Mohammed, Jackie Drayton, Ibrar Hussain, Talib Hussain, Robert Murphy, Jillian Creasy, Mohammad Maroof,Geoff Smith, Mary Lea, Harry Harpham, Mazher Iqbal, Colin Ross, Joe Otten, Joyce Wright, Steve Wilson, Garry Weatherall, Penny Baker, Diana Stimely, Roger Davison, Sheila Constance, Chris Weldon, Alan Law, Sue Alston, Andrew Sangar, Cliff Woodcraft, Steve Jones, Tim Rippon, Cate McDonald, Denise Reaney, Ian Auckland, Bob McCann, George Lindars-Hammond, Robert Johnson, Janet Bragg, Pat Midgley, Terry Fox, Tony Downing, David Barker, Isobel Bowler, Nikki Bond, Qurban Hussain, Anders Hanson, John Campbell, Martin Lawton Peter Price, Tony Damms, Leigh Bramall, Gill Furniss, Katie Condliffe, David Baker, Richard Crowther, Philip Wood, Neale Gibson, Nikki Sharpe, Ben Curran, Adam Hurst, Alf Meade, Trevor Bagshaw, Jackie Satur, Mick Rooney and Ray Satur.

Against paragraph (c) (0)

Nil.

Abstained on paragraph (c) (1)

The Lord Mayor (Councillor Vickie Priestley).