The Government today made a U-turn over plans that could have left low-income families £780 a year worse off. Proposed changes to the Local Housing Allowance (LHA), which would have meant some of the poorest families in the country losing up to 20% of their income, have been scrapped in today’s Pre-Budget Report.
Affordable housing champion Heather Kidd had said in August “For local families struggling to make ends meet £15 a week is a lot of money. This Labour government has consistently raised taxes on the poorest and the most vulnerable by stealth. This won’t actually save any money.” Now the Government, with an election on the horizon, have granted a reprieve to hundreds of thousands of the poorest families in Britain.
“The idea that Gordon Brown could solve the budget deficit by picking on the poorest should never even have been on the table.” said Heather “Just as on the 10p tax debacle, Gordon Brown has had his fingers well and truly burnt. This affair should be a warning to Labour that the public will not swallow their knee jerk reaction of swiping money from those at the bottom.”