In an article in the Telegraph Grant Shapps, "Conservative Party chairman, accused Miss Rolnik of bias and questioned how she felt justified in criticizing British government policy when 50 million people have inadequate housing in her own country."
I suggest she is justified to comment, that is her job, in her role as the special rapporteur on housing, a role I imagine she has because of expertise and experience in the housing sector as a former urban planning minister in Brazil.
Her former role provided her with insight & experience of the social and health issues involved, or does Grant Sharp hold her personally responsible for the 50 million people in Brazil who have inadequate housing, because frankly that would just be stupid.
Sharp comments in the article “This report is an absolute disgrace and I’m going to be writing to the UN Secretary General today to ask serious questions including how this came about.
"How it is that a woman from Brazil, a country that has 50m people in inadequate housing, has come over, failed to meet with any government ministers, with any officials from the Department of Work and Pensions or even to refer to the policy by its accurate name anywhere in the report at all.
Might I suggest that firstly it is not necessary to meet goverment ministers to research the policies & preprocessed involved in the bedroom tax, the information is freely available online, at Uk gove legislation.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/5/contents/enacted
http://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/how-we-can-help/benefits-information/law-pages/acts-and-regulations/welfare-reform-act-2012
http://www.ageuk.org.uk/money-matters/claiming-benefits/the-welfare-reform-act/
http://www.lbbd.gov.uk/AdviceBenefitsAndEmergencies/HousingBenefit/Pages/HousingBenefitchanges2013.aspx
http://www.housing.org.uk/policy/welfare-reform/bedroom-tax
https://www.gov.uk/housing-benefit/what-youll-get
Additionally there are numerous citations regarding the impact it is having, and expected to have from various sources, from academics, sociologist, economist all with special knowledge in housing & within the social health & welfare field & all reflect a negative opinion of the "additional room subsidy" .
How pompous & frankly ridiculous that Mr Sharp stated that "her intervention as an "abuse of process" and said she had failed to meet with any ministers or government officials responsible for the policy:
Perhaps its fair to suggested that in light of the reputation of Uk Members of Parliament & their reflected lack of honestly when it comes to housing issues, as reflected by the many, many, fraudulent claims made across the board political party specter in the UK that was expose by the expenses scandal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_expenses_claims_in_the_United_Kingdom_parliamentary_expenses_scandal
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/
when it became widely available via the media and internet that MP's were strewing the arse out the UK coffers, for 2end home mortgages, their furniture, their utility bills & their ponds & paddocks!!
Maybe that is why that Ms Rolnik saw little point in discussing the matter with such a deviant bunch of criminals despite their parliamentary titles,when their behaviors & public records reflect lack of integrity, and what a a bunch of out right fraudulent thieving bunch of lying bastards they are.
Perhaps that was why she went straight to the people affected by these shoddy shady criminal policies.
In an interview with The Guardian, Rolnik said
“the most vulnerable, the most fragile, the people who are on the fringes of coping with everyday life” were being hit hard by the policy.
“My immediate recommendation is that the bedroom tax is abolished,” .
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights artcle 25, includes housing as part of the “right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of self and family”
Ms Rolnik goes on to say ;
“I was very shocked to hear how people really feel abused in their human rights by this decision and why - being so vulnerable - they should pay for the cost of the economic downturn, which was brought about by the financial crisis"
Ironic &t insulting, that a presumptions spokesperson from Department for Work and Pensions said it was ”surprising to see these conclusions being drawn from anecdotal evidence and conversations after a handful of meetings - instead of actual hard research and data“.
Perhaps this spokesperson is unaware of the information on line & available via freedom of information, documents available on line and the other aforementioned citations available for research that one would expect an United Nations special rapporteur on housing to research in the course of her duties, before speaking to those affected by various policies & proceedures, or indeed those implementing them.
The spokes person for the Department for Work and Pensions went on to say;
"Britain has a very strong housing safety net and even after our necessary reforms we continue to pay over 80 per cent of most claimants' rent if they are affected by the ending of the spare room subsidy,"
I guess they are unaware of the the fact that homelessness has risen by 18% as reported by shelter.
Maybe they need to learn more about how one goes about researching in the course of their occupation particularly if they have a duty of care in their job description as a social care provider.
http://england.shelter.org.uk/news/previous_years/2012/march_2012/homelessness_up_18
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