§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to study the implications of the transfer of housing benefit administration from local authorities to the Benefits Agency.
§ Mr. BurtThere are no proposals for such a transfer. In March this year the Department issued guidelines designed to help individual local authorities to make informed decisions about whether or not to contract out those aspects of benefit administration which the law permits.
§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what steps his Department are taking to increase the take-up of housing benefit.
§ Mr. BurtInformation on housing benefit is available at all Benefits Agency and unemployment benefit offices, although, as responsibility for the administration of housing benefit lies with individual local authorities, they are in the best position to undertake local publicity and initiatives to improve local take-up.
Latest estimates of housing benefit take-up, for 1989, which were published earlier this year, show 91 per cent. of available benefit being claimed.
§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to introduce compensation to tenants when local authorities do not issue interim payments for housing benefit purposes.
§ Mr. BurtWe have no such plans. Local authorities are responsible for the administration of housing benefit and it is for them to decide whether any recompense should be made following their investigation of individual complaints. In addition, if the local government ombudsman finds maladministration and injustice in a particular case, the judgement can include a recommendation about financial compensation.
§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to issue a national form for reporting change of circumstances for housing benefit.
§ Mr. BurtWe have no such plans. Full statutory responsibility for the administration of the housing benefit scheme rests with local authorities. That responsibility extends to the design and production of appropriate claim forms. Authorities may produce supplementary forms where they consider it would help to streamline benefit administration.
§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will set out in a table for every year since 1984 the amount of housing benefit going to tenants(a) in local authority housing, (b) in housing association properties and (c) in private rented housing; and if he will make a statement.
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§ Mr. HagueThe available information is in the table.
1 2Rent Rebates 1 3Rent Allowance £ million £ million 1983–84 1,980 536 1984–85 2,146 687 1985–86 2,296 881 1986–87 2,419 996 1987–88 2,506 1,030 1988–89 2,718 1,055 1989–90 2,946 1,337 1990–91 3,345 1,596 1991–92 3,659 2,399 41992–93 4,445 2,903 Source:—The source of the data is the departmental report.
1 Rent rebates are housing benefit in respect of local authority tenants; rent allowances are housing benefit paid to tenants in privately rented accommodation.
2 Includes transitional payments introduced when the responsibility for housing benefit was fully transferred from supplementary benefit to housing benefit. (1983–84)
3 Separate information for housing associations is not available; information for these properties is included with rent allowance.
4 Estimated outturn.
§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what percentage of the average council rent is the maximum non-dependant deduction for housing benefit.
§ Mr. BurtThe maximum non-dependant deduction in 1993–94 is estimated to represent approximately 65 per cent. of the average local authority rent in Great Britain.