Families must 'eat or heat' (From South Wales Guardian)

Families must 'eat or heat'

7:00am Wednesday 13th March 2013 in News

HARD-pressed families in the Amman Valley are having to choose whether to “eat” or “heat”.

That is the grim claim of Carmarthenshire county council leader Kevin Madge who says some people on housing benefit cannot afford to pay their heating and food bills.

He made his comments after members of the local authority’s executive board pledged to try to support tenants affected by the Government’s controversial “bedroom tax”.

Councillors are now planning to organise a seminar to warn tenants of the implications of changes to the system and highlight the county’s unclaimed benefits.

Under the Welfare Reform Act 2012 tenants whose households exceed the size criteria for a property will see their benefits slashed.

Cllr Madge said families were already struggling.

“Forty thousand people in this country will have to choose between food and heating,” he said.

“A lot are going to become ill, so how will that affect the health service further down the line?

“When David Cameron and his millionaire pals sit down to their Christmas turkeys they should ask themselves what the poorer members of society have to look forward to.

“We are setting up a foodbank in Ammanford in early spring and at this rate we’ll be going back to soup kitchens – this Government has a lot to answer for.”