NEWS FROM LABOUR: Government in denial over Bedroom Tax loophole mess Ministers are under pressure over the number of people who were unlawfully charged the Bedroom Tax in the last year. Responses to a Freedom of Information request from 175 out of 346 local authorities show 19,140 people affected by the Bedroom Tax loophole. Iain Duncan-Smith and his ministers have repeatedly claimed that between 3- 5,000 people were affected by a loophole. At the beginning of this year, it was revealed that Government errors in legislation had led to a loophole in the Bedroom Tax which meant thousands of people have been wrongly charged. The loophole meant that people who have claimed housing benefit at the same property non-stop since 1996 are exempt from the Bedroom Tax. Chris Bryant MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Welfare reform, said: “Iain Duncan Smith is in complete denial over the number of people affected by his Bedroom Tax loophole blunder. He has repeatedly promised that no more than 5000 people had been illegally charged the bedroom tax because of the loophole “We now know that over 19,000 people have been wrongly charged following responses to Freedom of Information requests from 175 councils. Yet despite Tory, Liberal and Labour councils from all corners of the country completely contradicting his claims, Iain Duncan Smith continues to refuse to accept he was wrong. "The Bedroom Tax is cruel and unfair.  The Government should ditch it; if they don’t then a Labour Government will.” Ends Editor’s Notes: 1.    Inaccurate government claims on the Bedroom Tax loophole 13th January 2014 Iain Duncan Smith MP told the House of Commons on January 13th that, ‘that the number is likely to be between 3,000 and 5,000. http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2014-01-13d.576.8&s=speaker%3A10180#g577.3 12th February 2014 A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: "We expect very few people to be affected by this - around 5,000 - and are working with councils to ensure affected claimants are kept informed. http://www.itv.com/news/story/2014-02-11/bedroom-tax-error-labour/ 17th February 2014 A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said it expected "very few” households to be affected and was working with councils to ensure affected claimants were kept informed. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-26226030 2. Freedom of Information responses from local authorities On 14th January 2014, the Labour Party sent a Freedom of Information request to all 346 local authorities in the country asking how many people were affected by the Bedroom Tax loophole. 175 local authorities have so far replied to the Freedom of Information reporting 19,140 people affected by the Bedroom Tax loophole including; •         Birmingham City Council - 2100 cases •         Peterborough City Council – 200 cases •         Cheshire West and Chester Council – 275 cases •         Southend on Sea Borough council – 79 cases •         Cardiff - 220 cases •         Glasgow – 913 cases •         Lambeth Borough Council – 648 cases •         Warrington Council - 452 cases For full details of the FOI responses please contact joseph.derrett@parliament.uk