HC Deb 15 November 1976 vol 919 c399W
Rear-Admiral Morgan-Giles

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what consideration he has given to proposals that social security rent allowances should be paid to landlords rather than to tenants.

Mr Orme

Direct payment to the landlord is normally made when it is known that a supplementary benefit recipient is persistently failing to pay his rent. To make direct payment where the tenant is paying rent regularly would be an unnecessary intrusion into his private affairs as well as being very costly in Civil Service manpower.