§ 51. Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will increase housing benefit in real terms in the next financial year.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardThe uprating of housing benefit and community charge benefit personal allowances and premiums takes effect in April 1990 and will take expenditure on those benefits to more than £6.3 billion in the financial year 1990–91. Expenditure on comparable items in the current financial year is estimated at £5.6 billion. In April certain premiums are being increased above the amount required to maintain their value in real terms; these are the family disability, disabled child and lone parent premiums. In October, the lone parent's earnings disregard is to increase from £15 to £25, and a carer's premium is being introduced.
493WThe recently announced increases in the capital limits, to £16,000 for housing benefit and community charge benefit and to £8,000 for income support and family credit, also take effect from April. The change will benefit up to a quarter of a million people at a new cost for social security benefit estimated at £120 million a year.