Doctors have said the youngster needs a custom built room – but family will lose £20 a week because of new rules
A family will lose £80 a month under the hated new bedroom tax – after an extension prescribed by doctors is built for their disabled girl.
Health chiefs say Angel Hooper, five, who cannot walk or stand, must have the custom-built room.
But the bedroom tax means parents Gary and Heather will lose £20 a week – because she won’t be sharing it.
Gary told the Sunday People: “It is disgusting that they think a disabled child like Angel should share a room.”
The couple have five children with another on the way and live in a four-bedroom council house in Hull.
When Angel’s special room is built the government’s new tax, due in April, will plunge the Hoopers and 95,000 other families into poverty.
The levy, called “under occupancy tax”, means council or housing association tenants with ‘spare’ bedrooms will lose £40 to £80 a month in benefits.
There are no exceptions for disabled kids, elderly who need care or families with children fighting in Afghanistan.
Angel’s parents care for her 24/7 and mum Heather, 28, warned: “I think the tax could make people with disabled children depressed or suicidal.”
Angel developed meningitis and septicaemia when she was 12 days old, leaving her severely disabled.
The box room she has outgrown is too small to be classed as a bedroom at 6ft by 9ft. Her wheelchair doesn’t fit so she has to be carried in and out by her dad.
But the extension recommended by the local NHS Occupational Therapy team will mean the house is reclassified.
And under new rules for larger families, bedrooms must be shared by two kids, so the Hoopers will be deemed to have a spare.
Dad Gary, 44, who receives a £58.58 a week carer’s allowance, says he hopes Angel’s extension will mean he can return to work.
“When I was made redundant I became Angel’s carer because my wife can’t lift her into her room.”
Angel’s appalling case was raised last week in the House of Commons by MP Diana Johnson who branded the tax “shambolic” and “unfair
The Mirror
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this is not a racist comment but a truthful
comment,
just ask yourself this,why are this z.o.g.govenment giving £billions and£billions every year in foreign aid yet squeezing the life out of disabled British citizens?,although I doubt it will ever happen,this country needs a government of patriots who will give the sick and disabled the decent life they deserve.
I think more people are waking up to this fact, it’s taking a lot to shake people out of their apathy, as the truth they have to face is so vast that many just prefer to blot it out as coming to understand what evil we face is just to much for them to comprehend.
Paul,your absolutely right,because what’s happening is so evil the people tend to switch off from it in the hope that it will stop
the likes of Cameron/milliband ect will never stop,it’s not in thier nature,your website gives help comfort and support to the hundreds of thousands of British citizens being persecuted by this rotten government,thank you.
I think we have a case of mistaken identity. I always use my real first name in blogs, I might have to change it here, I think the person who runs this site must be called Paul to, not that I don’t know what is going on and comment on many things I have researched over the past decade.
This “Tax” ,is, I believe the straw that will break this Government. In a few short months many 1000s of people will face the decision of whether to pay this tax or put food on the table. Its a no brainer really 1000s of social housing tenants will be forced into debt. Evictions in the 1000s will follow . Councils across the country will have a duty to re-house these families but re-house them where??. We all know the housing stock is not available, the Government have acknowledged this yet they still persist in forcing this abominable “Tax” on the weakest in our society. I strongly believe that if there was any kind of fairness attached to this “Tax” then everyone who lives in social housing , employed, unemployed or disabled should be subject to this “Tax”. To exempt working tenants from the “Over Occupancy Tax” is discriminatory against the unemployed and disabled members of our society.
It is heading that way. The poll tax riots and the riots of 2011 will pale into insignificance when the people on benefits in the inner cities start to understand what is happening. Many already live “Giro to Giro” to coin an old phrase, and are only just scraping by now. The bedroom tax along with the Universal Credit will be an unmitigated disaster. The system has already been shown to be not fit for purpose by its own dept. The housing associations have been Common Purposed ( you might need to do some research on this “Political Charity” to understand them more.) This summer could turn out to be very interesting in more ways than one, in ways we do not wish them to be. The armed forces practiced deployment onto the streets of the UK last year at the Olympics as well. Not only that they trialed the fast track courts at the Olympics to, just look up the secret courts Ken Clarke wants, totally unlawful courts. So it looks like they are prepping across the board for it to. Just observations so make of it what you will. We also have massive banking fraud going on and a prospective large war by the looks of it to distract people from what is going on.
I find it baffling that the hypocrites who have brought this absurd ruling into being are themselves living in large houses and mansions with several, surplus-to-requirement bedrooms. Clearly yet another instance of “do as I say not do as I do”.
How low can this government go I wonder?
I wonder exactly when will this government stop, not until we are all destitute and living on the streets, I think the answer is. I work full time, and receive working tax and child benefit. You would think I had it made, not so, it is an absolute struggle, borrowing form Peter to pay Paul, never in all my life has it been so hard and demoralising, as a single parent I form part of the group this current government seem to target.
This bedroom tax has a nasty stink to it, where do the govt propose people live? as there is a lck of housing in my area, and landlords without scruples, who as long as they recive rent, seem to charge as much as they like without doing any of the essential repairs.
Actually nothing this present govt do surprises me, I bet all the people who did not vote in the elections are kicking themselves, hard. I am not pyschic, but I predict a hell of alot of rebellion and strikes this year.
Do the government want riots and unrest this year? Everything they are doing seems designed to create it.
I have not seen this story here so I am sharing it http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/health/carer-to-be-hit-by-introduction-of-bedroom-tax-1-4711733
Where does Mr Cameron think people who are on benefita and low wage credits think their going to find this amount of money each month?
It beggars belief that Mr Cameron has set out to destroy everything that many people need help with? taking away hospital care, money from the sick and the disadvantaged and now spare bedrooms that a disabled child needs?
I just can not understand why our so called caring Queen is allowing this dictator of a man to set out these awful laws, and why is she making it possible for him to succeed with his evil doings?
It makes you wonder why We the British public keep this outdated Monique in our country? they sure as hell don’t care about us as long as they can have the life style which they have been accustomed too.
Does anybody know if Cam the morons child had his own room..?
My wife and I are going to get caught out by this rubbish, still I expect they will reduce the civil list by 14% as HM and the Prince have separate rooms in all the houses.
I’ve just been researching an entierly unrelated matter and came accross thisbpage on the goverments website – http://www.dwp.gov.uk/adviser/updates/size-criteria-social-rented/
It seems to suggest that they should be okay?
The approval seeking bureaucrats are seeking to make an obvious action in order to be seen to be doing something rather than doing something actually beneficial. This they think will win them the election. Has anyone else realised that they are just repeating what the Thatcher government did and wanted to do?? Labour are just as snivelling, too afraid to tax their friends. The real situation is there is nobody willing to face reality, tax people who should be rich in the first instance and regain that money. There is NOBODY worth giving vote to because they simply aren’t in the business of genuinely looking after their people. How does that saying go? A great nation is determined by how well they look after their poor??? Hmmmmm well it’s not Great Britain anymore.
Omg that’s awful, see the government attack the needy again when we have so many people in this country who shouldn’t be here claiming benefits. Disgusting, it makes me not want to admit that I’m born and bred here :/