South Wales East AM and Penyrheol ward councillor Lindsay Whittle pays tribute to the late Anne Collins.
Bedroom Tax
The Plaid group on Caerphilly council has put forward a notice of motion to the authority highlighting the impact of the bedroom tax.
There are almost 3,000 local tenants affected by this dreadful piece of UK Government legislation but Plaid believes that action can be taken by the authority to ease the pain.
It may be possible for the authority to increase the number of smaller units of housing, especially in those areas most affected by the bedroom tax, by reclassifying properties. This is something which has been proposed by some local authorities in England which have reclassified the number of bedrooms from two to one-bed properties.
Recent research by BBC Wales revealed that there are around 28,000 people across Wales affected by under-occupancy under the new rules and only 400 available one-bedroom properties. There is no option for tenants to move elsewhere.
Plaid wants to see a joint working group set up to monitor the impact of benefit changes and believes the council should support calls by campaign groups to get rid of the bedroom tax. In addition, it is important people are not forced to move from homes and out of communities where they have lived for many years.
Anne Collins
Many warm tributes have been paid to my Penyrheol ward colleague Anne Collins who passed away last week.
Anne, who had been a councillor since 1985, was originally elected as an Independent councillor but soon made Plaid Cymru her political home.
She was re-elected time and time again illustrating that people in the Penyrheol ward appreciated her unstinting work for the community. Anne was also a splendid mayor of Caerphilly County Borough Council in 2008-09.
Anne, who was well liked and respected by politicians of all parties, will be sorely missed.
She remained extremely active outside politics and was chair of the Caerphilly Committee of Save The Children, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.
Anne’s late husband, Cyril was also a Plaid Cymru councillor. Condolences to her son, John and her sister Margaret Sargent, who also represents Penyrheol ward on the council and all Anne’s family.
Lindsay Whittle
Plaid Cymru AM South Wales East
Why should the government help with rent in the first place? They don't help with my mortgage. If the people chose not to live in a council house they would have to pay more in the form of rent or a mortgage. They should be happy with the little help they get and stop demanding more and not complain when they are given less.
The tenants living in Social Housing who have been hit by the bedroom tax have every right to be unhappy that financial help to pay rents is being withdrawn from the government. The Tories will have you believe that everybody who claims benefits are workshy sroungers. This patently isn't the case as most of the people hit by the bedroom tax are WORKING.
The £14 a week average cut was needed to top up the income of low – paid workers, under the hammer from real terms cuts in earnings and wider austerity measures. The Labour Party locally ran a campaign against the Bedroom Tax and we managed to amass 8,000 signatures against it. I spoke to a lady in my ward last night who has had to pay the bedroom tax. As a result she goes without to save her only son from even greater hardship. This policy is one of the most regressive in the last 30 years and was brought in the same time as multi – millionaires got a humping tax cut. Utterly shamefull.
Councillor James Pritchard is right of course.
Would Matthew have the streets full of homeless families, children, disabled and sick people?.
The British, (including the Welsh) welfare state system ( what will be left after the current Governments demolition of it) is designed to ensure that ALL citizens of these islands are protected from starvation, (failed – food banks being provided by charitable people who refuse to see families starve), homelessness, (failed- huge increases in people living on the streets), eradication of Child Poverty, ( failed – families being driven further into poverty by government inspired measures which squeeze these families budgets till the pips squeek), and, as Councillor Pritchard states, most of these people are working families, not `work shy scroungers`, and if this government had its way they would even REDUCE the minimum working wage forcing more families into abject poverty.
Matthew, and those he cares about, may one day be grateful for " the little help they get", I wonder if he would be so `generally` critical of its existence of such necessary benifits then?, would Matthew like to us all to be paying for our medical care? even though most people have paid for it of course all their lives through taxes and national insurance contributions.
This odious Tory government, propped up by their slobbering Lib Dem lapdogs, will pay in the ballot box for the dismantling of many creditable social policies which keeps our citizens who fall on hard times fed and homed, the sick and disabled treated and cared for, and, children and their families from the deliberate `designer` poverty this government is so proud of.