REVEALED: Merseyside Councils Spent £4.6M Compensating 'Bedroom Tax'

Latest figures show Merseyside councils spent £4.6 million last year on Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP).

They're given out to families struggling to pay their rent.

The figures across Merseyside are as follows;

• £791,502 in Wirral (up by £317,962 from £473,540 in 2013-14) - £513,732 in St Helens (up by £195,477 from £318,255 in 2013-14) - £308,043 in Halton (up by £109,949 from £198,094 in 2013-14) - £562,268 in Sefton (up by £3,328 from £558,940 in 2013-14)

Commenting on the latest figures, Frank said:

‘We know from what’s happening in our communities that the human cost of the Bedroom Tax is devastating.

This cost has been borne by some of the poorest families in Merseyside who find themselves now consistently short of rent money. But these latest figures highlight an additional and growing cost to taxpayers, who have been asked by the Government to paper over the cracks of the great Bedroom Tax disaster.

Might the Government now learn from the chaos and misery the Bedroom Tax has caused tenants, social landlords and taxpayers, and immediately bring this vicious policy to an end?’