§ Mrs. Beckettasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what will be the (a) gross and (b) net savings to the social security budget of abolishing the rent addition paid to 21 to 24-year-olds from 28 July 1986 in (i) 530W 1986–87, (ii) 1987–88 and (iii) in a full year after the policy affects all claimants at current benefit rates assuming no other major changes in social security.
§ Mr. Newton[pursuant to his reply, 10 March 1986, c. 376]: The information available on non-householder additions in supplementary benefit is based on 1983 returns. On these figures the change in arrangements would suggest a gross saving of about £8 million to £9 million in 1986–87 and £26 million in 1987–88. We do not collect information centrally on non-dependant deductions from housing benefit, but our estimates suggest that the increase in the number of households where a deduction would not be made in future might reduce the gross saving by somewhere around a tenth. 1987–88 is the only full year before the wider social security changes which are planned, and since the change applies to new claims it will not affect all claimants. However, we estimate that abolition of the addition in all cases would result in an annual gross saving of about £35 million.