Benefit Deductions (Hansard, 2 July 1992)

§ Mr. Morgan
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the total number of organisations, bodies or companies approved for the purposes of making deductions from benefit either for(a) current consumption or (b) repayment of accumulated debt.

§ Mr. Burt
Third parties in the following general categories may, in prescribed circumstances, receive direct payments from income support for current charges or repayment of debts:

Mortgage lenders,

Landlords

Fuel companies,

Water and sewerage companies,

Local authority community charge collection departments,

Residential care and nursing homes¹,

Hostels.¹

Independent adjudication officers are responsible for determining whether a deduction may be made in an individual case. ¹ Current charges only.

§ Mr. Morgan
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proposals he has to set a maximum level of deductions from income support and other state benfits for the payment of current consumption and repayment of accumulated debt owing to water, gas, electricity and other utilities, crisis loans and other bodies approved for deduction and direct payment.

§ Mr. Burt
There are already limits to the amounts which may be deducted from a person's income support.
698W
Deductions to repay arrears of housing. gas. electricity and water debt may not exceed 3 x 5 per cent. of the income support personal allowance for a person aged 25 or over —currently £6.45 a week. Deductions for the repayment of community charge debt are not subject to this limit because income support was adjusted to take account of this liability.
Deductions to cover current charges for gas, electricity and water may be made in addition to this limit. These deductions, together with those for the repayment of housing and utility debt, may not exceed 25 per cent. of the total income support entitlement for the family, less housing costs, without the consent of the claimant. The current income support housing costs allowance may also be paid to the creditor in certain circumstances.
We have no plans to amend these limits.
Social fund officers take account of a person's existing commitments, which may include other deductions from benefit, before deciding on repayment terms for social fund loans.