Housing Benefit (Hansard, 14 November 2001)

§ Mr. Kirkwood
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to fix housing benefit awards for set periods. [12949]

§ Malcolm Wicks
As with all benefits, we keep all aspects of Housing Benefit claims under review

§ Mr. Kirkwood
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what plans he has made to simplify the non-dependent deduction scheme; [12950]
(2) what plans he has to reform the rate at which housing benefit is withdrawn as earnings rise; [12954]
(3) what plans he has about increasing earnings disregards for housing benefit. [12953]

§ Malcolm Wicks
We keep all matters relating to benefit under review. Our proposals in respect of Housing Benefit were set out in our policy statement "Quality and Choice: A decent home for all— The way forward for housing" (December 2000).

§ Mr. Kirkwood
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the reform of the housing benefit extended payment scheme. [12952]

§ Malcolm Wicks
The reformed Housing Benefit extended payment scheme was introduced on 9 April 2001 and it is too early to assess the effectiveness of the new scheme. However, work in progress includes interviews with clients who have received extended payments since April 2001 and with staff responsible for administering and promoting the reformed scheme.

§ Mr. Kirkwood
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what plans he has to simplify the rent limitations mechanism in the private rented sector; [12951]
(2) what plans he has to reduce the number of transitional protection schemes that different housing benefit recipients are on. [12959]

§ Malcolm Wicks
From 2 July 2001 the definition of the Single Room Rent was broadened to reflect better the type of accommodation available in the market to young single people.
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Our response to consultation on the Housing Green Paper—"Quality and Choice: A decent home for all—The way forward for housing" (December 2000)—explained that we would look further at the scope for simplifying the different protection schemes which restrict Housing Benefit in the private rented sector. We have commissioned a research project to inform this work, which is now starting its fieldwork stage.

§ Mr. Kirkwood
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effect of the introduction of the housing benefit verification framework on the increase in formal complaints of maladministration. [12956]

§ Malcolm Wicks
Formal complaints about maladministration of the Housing Benefit scheme are made to the Local Government Ombudsman. Information from the Local Government Ombudsman on the number of complaints where the Verification Framework has been cited as a contributory factor is not available.

§ Mr. Kirkwood
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to divide the housing benefit caseload into age-related client groups. [12958]

§ Malcolm Wicks
We are reforming the welfare system so that welfare services will meet the different needs of our client groups: pensioners, people of working age and children.
We will ensure that the Housing Benefit scheme supports our strategy to transform the services we provide through the development of Jobcentre Plus and the Pension Service. For those of working age, we intend to streamline the claims process to enable people to claim Housing Benefit at the same time as other benefits, without having to give the same information twice.
And we are considering how Housing Benefit for pensioners should fit into the new, simplified framework of the Pension Credit from 2003.