Clegg’s lack of understanding on housing benefit is breathtaking

By Sarah Hayward / @Sarah_Hayward

Nick Clegg’s comments on housing benefit at yesterday’s Deputy Prime Minister’s Questions should be deeply worrying for Londoners and the local councils who will have to deal with the fall out of these draconian changes. As a recap, the government has decided to cap housing benefit at £400 per week for a four bed property and £340 per week for a three bed property.

To anyone outside London this probably sounds like a king’s ransom – but as Frank Dobson MP points out – £340 is the cap that MPs have given themselves for a 1 bed flat in central London in recognition of the astronomical housing costs here. Once again it appears to be one for rule for Nick and his millionaire chums in cabinet and another for the rest of us.

Nick seems to think that housing benefit claimants are all unemployed. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Very many people in receipt of housing benefit are in work and paying tax. They’re doing jobs that are pretty fundamental to our communities – cleaning the local primary school, running local shops, working as teaching assistants, keeping central London’s cafes, restaurants and bars going. The thing that all these jobs have in common is are that they are at the lower end of the pay scale. Hence these workers qualify for a benefit to help out. But imagine our local communities without these people. That’s what these changes will mean in reality.

It seems that even London’s Tories are starting to recognise the calamatous effect these changes could have on London communities. So why can’t Nick see?

I can only draw the conclusion that he and his cabinet colleagues don’t want to see because they are intent on socially cleansing central London. I know you don’t like the phrase Nick but that’s exactly what you’re doing and Labour are right to point it out.

This afternoon Grant Shapps, coalition housing minister boasted on Twitter about an extra £10m of money will be distributed to councils to make transitional arrangements. Well Mr Shapps, there are around 2000 families (most of them with at least one worker in the household) affected by this in Camden. The average loss per household is over £55 per week or close to £250 per month.

I assume you can do the maths but just incase, Camden’s families alone will lose nearly £6m in benefit in one year. Your £10m (if distributed in line with the current Discretionary Housing Fund) would give Camden just shy of £500k. Tell me Mr Shapps how does that help Camden help our families make transitional arrangements?