Westminster should abolish the ‘bedroom tax' or give the Scottish Parliament the power to do so, a group of MSPs has demanded.

In an interim report published today by the Scottish Parliament's welfare reform committee, MSPs have concluded that the controversial ‘bedroom tax' is ‘bad law' and should be scrapped.

The report looks at on-going attempts by Scottish local authorities to mitigate the impact of the UK Government's welfare reforms and describes the cost to tenants as ‘iniquitous and inhumane and may well breach their human rights'.

Committee convener, Michael McMahon, said: ‘Treating people's homes only as bricks and mortar, homes of around 65,000 disabled people and 15,000 homes with children, is simply not acceptable in this day and age.

‘Smaller properties just aren't available because we spent years developing our housing stock to offer homes people could grow their families in, so they could set down roots and establish communities. The reality for many is they cannot pay, and they cannot move.

‘And to make the situation even more frustrating, it is entirely possible it is costing the public purse more to implement than it is saving.