A COUNCIL has backtracked on its decision to suspend a benefit payment to tenants threatened with homelessness.

Falkirk Council had put on hold 120 applications for discretionary housing payment (DHP) from those who were struggling to pay their rent but had not been hit by the bedroom tax.

Last month, the Labour-led authority said it had been told by the Scottish Government that it must help those affected by the bedroom tax as a priority and that it was waiting to find out how much additional funding it would receive before deciding whether it could afford to pay the top-up to others.

The council initially said it expected to have to wait until the end of next month to make a decision.

However, it has now confirmed that it will resume making payments to all eligible applicants.

Successful applications will now be backdated.

A spokesman for Falkirk Council insisted that the decision had been taken after it received new information from the Scottish Government.

A spokesman said: "We had temporarily held claims for good reason because of the uncertainty over funding, but assurances over funding have now allowed us to go ahead and progress these claims.

"We have processed the high-priority ones and are considering all of the remaining ones which were on hold."

The Scottish Government had previously said that there was "no reason" for DHP payments to be cut in Falkirk for those not affected by the bedroom tax.