Tag Archives: Scotland
Home-grown talent to honour Scotland’s hidden army of carers at Celtic Connections concert line up announced
Monday, 23 December 2013
IT team raise over £90,000 for carers’ charity
Dec 19 2013 by Our Correspondent, Ormskirk Advertiser
Raise more than £94,053
A TRIATHLON squad from Skelmersdale helped fundraisers from the Co-operative’s IT team raise more than £94,053 for their charity of the year, the Carers Trust.
The Skem runners, swimmers and cyclists organised by Nadine Burns, John Jones and Stephanie Moran, raised £1,200 for the charity.
MPs urge scrapping of ‘bedroom tax’
A House of Commons select committee has called on David Cameron’s Government to scrap the “bedroom tax” changes to housing benefit.
16th December 2013
The Scottish Affairs Committee said that while ministers considered whether to repeal the measure, the Government should suspend the penalty for claimants who cannot reasonably be offered alternative accommodation.
The MPs said the measure, which cuts housing benefit for social tenants deemed to have a spare room, was ” a budget cut suffered by those in greatest need”.
The interim report was opposed by Tory and Liberal Democrat MPs on the Labour-led committee, but they failed to prevent it being produced.
The Government reduced entitlement to housing benefit for working-age tenants in April 2013. Those with an extra bedroom have a reduction of 14% to their eligible rent, and those with two or more extra bedrooms lose 25%.
The Government estimated that 80,000 claimants in Scotland would be affected by the bedroom tax, with an average weekly loss of £12.
