OIC awarded additional welfare funding following lobbying campaign

Orkney Islands Council has been awarded additional funding to lessen the impact of the recent welfare reforms on its island communities.

This follows significant lobbying from the council, in which the OIC convener, Councillor Steven Heddle, highlighted to the UK Government the additional issues that affect those living in remote and rural areas, where alternatives like additional work, a smaller house or a lodger are not readily available.

Originally, the council was awarded £27,000 from the Department of Work and Pensions for Discretionary Housing Payments, which can be used to help offset the cost of the so-called “bedroom tax” on council tenants who are over-occupying properties.  The DWP has now increased that funding to just over £64,000 – more than double what they had originally set aside for Orkney.