§ Mr. Wareingasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement on the report of the National Audit Office on the housing benefits scheme.
§ Mr. Newton[pursuant to the reply, 19 November 1984, c. 64]: The National Audit Office report records the results of an initial examination of the housing benefits 474W scheme and gives some provisional findings about the administrative difficulties that arose during its first year of operation. Those difficulties are being examined by the independent review of the scheme now being conducted under the chairmanship of Mr. Jeremy Rowe, CBE. The review has been asked to examine the structure and scope of the scheme with a view to simplifying it and improving its administration by local authorities.