§ Mr. Kennedyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) whether he will publish his draft conclusions on possible changes to the housing benefits scheme as it affects students as a consultative document; and if he will make a statement;
(2) which representative and interested bodies he has consulted over the changes which he is considering to the housing benefits scheme as it affects students;
(3) if he will give figures for the total numbers of students likely to gain financially and lose financially, respectively, as a consequence of the changes he is considering to the housing benefits scheme; and if he will make a statement.
§ Dr. BoysonThe local authority associations have asked us to consider ways of simplifying the administration of student claims for housing benefit. Officials have discussed preliminary proposals with the Department of Education and Science, the local authority associations, and a number of individual authorities. As a result of these discussions we do not propose to make changes in the near future and will not be producing a consultative document. If, at a later date, we do decide to make changes, the draft regulations will be put to the Social Security Advisory Committee and the local authority associations for formal consultations in the normal way.