§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list each of the(a) inquiries and (b) research products initiated by his Department into the housing benefit scheme.
§ Mrs. Gillian Shephard[holding answer 3 May 1990]: When the reformed housing benefit scheme was introduced in April 1988, the Department established, in conjunction with local authorities, the housing benefit management information system (HBMIS). This system enables the Department to collect information about housing benefit caseload on a regular basis. Caseload counts are carried out at quarterly intervals, and a survey of 1 per cent. of the housing benefit caseload is conducted on an annual basis.
In addition, the Department's officials make regular visits to local authorities to obtain feedback about the operation of the housing benefit scheme, and meet representatives of the local authority associations quarterly at the housing benefit standing committee.
In the period following the implementation of the reforms a number of research projects have been commissioned as follows:
(i) the reform of housing benefit—a project commissioned in 1986 which resulted in the publication by the Housing Centre Trust entitled `Housing Benefit: A Discussion About Reform';
299W(ii) a special survey of amenity charges conducted by the social policy research unit at the university of York in 1986, the results of which formed part of the above mentioned publication and produced a working paper;
(iii) research into the housing benefit review system, commissioned from the social policy research unit, university of York in 1988, and due to report in the autumn of 1990;
300W(iv) research recently commissioned from the Institute of Public Finance, in relation to the formula used for distributing housing benefit administration costs subsidy, and due to be completed in the summer.