Commenting on the DWP’s Housing Benefit caseload statistics which show that the City of Glasgow Area has the highest number of ‘bedroom tax’ cases in the UK at 12,443, the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) said that it hoped the new powers offered in the Scotland Bill to vary the level of the ‘bedroom tax’ to zero will, once enacted, be used by the Scottish Parliament to consign it to history.

Mary Taylor, Chief Executive of the SFHA, said: “The figures do show East Ayrshire, Falkirk and West Dunbartonshire as having some of the highest percentages of Housing Benefit claimants hit by the ‘bedroom tax’. There are, in fact, only two Scottish authorities with a percentage of ‘bedroom tax’ cases below the UK average. But it should be borne in mind that, in terms of absolute numbers, the City of Glasgow is the highest in the UK at 12,443, outstripping the next biggest authority, Birmingham, by over 2,000 cases”

She added,“Throughout the UK, the ‘bedroom tax’ had an exceptional impact on some of the poorest and most vulnerable families, and the cross party support in the Scottish Parliament for full mitigation of the policy in Scotland is fully appreciated by Scottish housing associations. We hope that the new powers offered in the Scotland Bill to vary the level of the ‘bedroom tax’ to zero will, once enacted, be used by the Scottish Parliament to consign it to history.”