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| Welfare reforms come into effect | Welfare reforms come into effect |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Sweeping government changes to parts of the UK's welfare system have started coming into effect. | Sweeping government changes to parts of the UK's welfare system have started coming into effect. |
| They include a reduction of benefit for social housing tenants of working age with spare bedrooms. | They include a reduction of benefit for social housing tenants of working age with spare bedrooms. |
| Ministers say the changes - which also affect council tax benefits - will make the system fairer as well as saving the country money. | Ministers say the changes - which also affect council tax benefits - will make the system fairer as well as saving the country money. |
| Some churches, charities and campaign groups as well as the Labour Party have criticised the changes as unjust. | Some churches, charities and campaign groups as well as the Labour Party have criticised the changes as unjust. |
| The biggest shake-up of the welfare system for decades will see low income households in many local authority areas in England begin paying council tax for the first time. | The biggest shake-up of the welfare system for decades will see low income households in many local authority areas in England begin paying council tax for the first time. |
| Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Chancellor George Osborne and Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said they were "just restoring the original principles of the welfare state - that those who can work must work, and a life on benefits must not be more attractive than working". | Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Chancellor George Osborne and Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said they were "just restoring the original principles of the welfare state - that those who can work must work, and a life on benefits must not be more attractive than working". |
| They also said that "what we're doing this coming week is making welfare fairer, helping to create jobs, and making sure you can keep more of what you earn". | They also said that "what we're doing this coming week is making welfare fairer, helping to create jobs, and making sure you can keep more of what you earn". |
| Pensions minister Steve Webb said the new measures were aimed at striking a balance. | Pensions minister Steve Webb said the new measures were aimed at striking a balance. |
| "It's bringing people together - some of whom are prepared to trade down so that they don't have the spare room but some of whom are in desperate need and you're not even hearing the voice of those people in this debate," he said. | "It's bringing people together - some of whom are prepared to trade down so that they don't have the spare room but some of whom are in desperate need and you're not even hearing the voice of those people in this debate," he said. |
| "These are people - a quarter of a million in Britain, in cramped, overcrowded accommodation - desperate for a family home and there aren't enough homes and we've got to make better use of the houses we've got." | "These are people - a quarter of a million in Britain, in cramped, overcrowded accommodation - desperate for a family home and there aren't enough homes and we've got to make better use of the houses we've got." |
| But shadow employment minister Stephen Timms said the changes would not work. | |
| "The big problem with the bedroom tax is that people cannot get out of it," he said. | "The big problem with the bedroom tax is that people cannot get out of it," he said. |
| "There are not the smaller places for people to move to. They are just going to be hit with a big penalty and there's nothing they can do." | "There are not the smaller places for people to move to. They are just going to be hit with a big penalty and there's nothing they can do." |
| On Sunday, four churches joined together to criticise the government's plan as unjust - they fear that society's most vulnerable will be disproportionately hit. | |
| That criticism has come from the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Methodist and United Reformed Churches, and the Church of Scotland. | |
| Fierce arguments | Fierce arguments |
| BBC local government correspondent Mike Sergeant says that while the fiercest argument has been about benefit cuts for social housing tenants with spare bedrooms, some of the other changes will affect many more people. | BBC local government correspondent Mike Sergeant says that while the fiercest argument has been about benefit cuts for social housing tenants with spare bedrooms, some of the other changes will affect many more people. |
| It has been estimated that two million low income households will pay more, as a result of changes to council tax benefit. | It has been estimated that two million low income households will pay more, as a result of changes to council tax benefit. |
| The benefit is being replaced by council tax support and responsibility for it is being moved from central government to councils. | |
| At the same time, the total spent on the benefit is being cut by 10 per cent - and each council in England has had to decide whether to pass on the reduction to residents. Most are to increase bills for low income families. | |
| The Local Government Association, the body that represents councils in England and Wales, argues that if councils had been given more freedom to close the gap in different ways then they would not have to impose bigger bills on the poorest. | |
| Sir Merrick Cockell, chairman of the LGA, said: "The regret is that we agree with the principal that this should be down to local communities - local councils - to decide the right mixture for their area, but we're not [being] given discretion to sort it out ourselves." | |
| Also from this month, most working age benefits will increase by just one per cent - less than the likely rise in the cost of living. | |
| An overall limit of £500 a week on claims is beginning in four London boroughs, and will come into force across England, Scotland and Wales over the coming months. | An overall limit of £500 a week on claims is beginning in four London boroughs, and will come into force across England, Scotland and Wales over the coming months. |
| But government plans to test a new Universal Credit - which combines several benefits into one payment - have been delayed. | But government plans to test a new Universal Credit - which combines several benefits into one payment - have been delayed. |
| Three out of four pilot areas in the north west of England will not now start using the system until July. | Three out of four pilot areas in the north west of England will not now start using the system until July. |