Bedroom Tax: Mum hit by charge for disabled daughter's sensory room challenges David Cameron to visit

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/bedroom-tax-dawn-lennon-hit-2982210 (Video at link)

A mother has invited David Cameron and Iain Duncan Smith to visit her to see the damage caused by the hated Bedroom Tax as she is charged for a vital sensory haven for her severely disabled daughter.

Dawn Lennon’s girl Kelly Marie, 28 – who is blind and unable to walk or talk – relies on the tiny room, which contains a soft ball pit and is also used to store her wheelchairs.

But the heartless Government has decided it is “spare”, meaning her mum must stump up more than £570 a year in Bedroom Tax.

It has left Dawn, 52, on the bread line as she cuts back all her shopping in a bid to make ends meet.

Sobbing Mrs Lennon dared PM and his Work and Pensions Secretary to witness the true reality of 2014 Britain: “Come to my house and see how we struggle to live. In fact we’re not living, just surviving.

The single parent pleaded via the Mirror: “Scrap this terrible tax. My daughter is 28 but she’s a baby really.

“She wears nappies, which I change every day. I make sure Kelly Marie gets what she needs but she deserves a lot more.

"I can’t afford another £13 a week. Even food now has to be ­sacrificed. Life is a constant battle.”

Mrs Lennon lives in a three-bedroom bungalow in Runcorn, Cheshire.

The third bedroom is used as a sensory room for Kelly, who has Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome, a development condition that meant doctors estimated she would live for just 18 months after her birth.

In the room are fairy lights and a ball pit for Kelly Marie to play in.


Sometimes she falls asleep in it. The room is also used to stack her wheelchairs, as the hall is too narrow to store equipment.

Dawn has managed to secure some discretionary housing benefit till April to cover the shortfall but fears she will miss the payment in three months.

She said: “Kelly Marie is so severely disabled she just rolls around on the floor.

“Classing that third room as a bedroom is a disgrace. I’m doing the best I can but I can’t get a job because I’m her full-time carer. I get scared about getting evicted.”

The Lennons’ plight at the hands of the Government has caused outrage and inspired a shocked Surrey businessman to offer the £570 they need for the next annual bill.

The anonymous Good Samaritan, 42, said: “I commend Mrs Lennon in caring for her disabled daughter.”

The tax, introduced last April 1, means a ­property with one spare room suffers a 14% cut in housing benefit for council and housing association tenants. Two spares bring about a 25% drop.

The Department for Work and Pensions said: “Housing benefit reform is essential.

"But we are giving £150million discretionary funding this year to support the vulnerable.”



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If he goes I will be very surprised.

Sassy wrote:If he goes I will be very surprised.  

Very unlikely isn't it...They are so out of touch and couldn't care less.