§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how much money will be saved by1072W reducing housing benefits to prisoners; and what assessment he has made of the consequential effect on the numbers of prisoners and the effect on expenditure; [17506]
(2) what plans he has to increase the amount of housing benefit for newly released prisoners. [17505]
§ Mr. Roger EvansWe estimate that there could be up to 10,000 single prisoners in receipt of housing benefit in a full year at a cost of up to £10 million. By limiting benefit for single prisoners to a maximum of 13 weeks, we expect to save most of that. We are discussing the possible financial effects of the changes with interested Government Departments, however, we do not expect that there will be any impact on the prison population. On release from prison, ex-offenders will be able to claim help with their housing costs in the same way as other tenants.