Benefits axe will affect council

JOHN McCANN

OLDHAM Council will be forced to pick up the pieces when government cuts hit the borough’s most vulnerable residents.

Liberal Democrat Councillor John McCann claims the most recent cuts will see up to 4,700 working families lose around £280 a year in tax credits. From April 2017, new claimants considered temporarily too ill to work will lose an extra £30 a week as their allowance drops to the level of the Jobseekers Allowance.

Other measures include a reduction to the household benefit cap, child tax credit limited to two children and an end to automatic housing benefit for 18-21-year-olds.

Councillor McCann said: “These measures mean big reductions for the poorest Oldham residents, particularly those too ill to work and those working but unable to make ends meet.

“The local council will have to pick up the pieces when people have nowhere else to turn. This expenditure will in turn affect other services used by most residents.”

“While our party realised in the last government that it isn’t possible to address the deficit without looking at the welfare bill, the Lib-Dems ensured any changes were as fair as possible and blocked many of the harshest suggestions of the Tories.

“We’re now seeing the Tories jump at the chance to implement all those measures.”