Government wins 'bedroom tax' fight

The Government has won its fight with peers over ministers' proposed "bedroom tax".

The coalition last week suffered a setback in its bid to dock benefits for social housing tenants who have spare rooms as the House of Lords narrowly voted to block the plan.

But MPs have overturned peers' amendments which would have spared the disabled, war widows and foster carers from seeing their handouts cut if they refused to accept a suitable alternative home.

Speaker John Bercow earlier ruled that because the Lords' changes would involve extra spending, they infringed on the "financial privilege" of the Commons, which has responsibility for the budget.

Opening a debate on the amendments, employment minister Chris Grayling defended the coalition's plans to free up space for tenants and cut the housing benefit bill.

He said: "There are large numbers of people in our community who are under-housed and in temporary accommodation.

"We have formed the view it is neither good value for the taxpayer, nor for those people, that we pay for those in social housing to have spare rooms."

He said the Government needed to slash the "spiralling" housing benefit bill which would hit £26 billion by 2014-15 unless ministers changed the system.

Mr Grayling said it would be "all too easy" to accept the Lords' restrictions on the bedroom tax, but added: "Our aspiration is to protect the most vulnerable in our society but to deal with the broader challenge of under-occupation.

"What we are proposing is fair for the taxpayer and fair for tenants in the private sector who receive housing benefit based on the same size criteria."