HC Deb 29 March 1993 vol 222 c77W
Mr. Alfred Morris

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what evidence there is on the financial effects for landlords of bed-and-breakfast accommodation of an increase in the income support paid to homeless families living in such accommodation.

Mr. Burt

In the mid-1980s, benefit regulations and procedures relating to board and lodging were substan-tially re-appraised and tightened in response to widespread public criticism of abuse of the existing arrangements. The persistence of such abuse led to the subsequent abolition of the special treatment of boarders within income support in 1989. Retrieval of the evidence then available could now be obtained only at disproportionate cost.