§ 7. Mr. RaynsfordTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement about his proposals to restrict housing benefit expenditure. [12994]
§ Mr. Roger EvansFrom October, we propose that housing benefit in the deregulated private sector will be limited for rents which are above the general level of rents for similar properties in the same area. Local authorities will have discretion to pay more housing benefit in individual cases of exceptional need.
§ 13. Mr. EtheringtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when the Income Support, Housing Benefit and Council Tax (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No. 2) Regulations 1995 on the proposed changes to housing benefit eligibility of sentenced prisoners will come into force. [13000]
§ Mr. Roger EvansThe relevant regulations were laid on 10 March and are due to come into effect from 1 April 1995.
§ 25. Mr. SpellarTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the total savings in housing benefit that will arise from his proposed changes in that benefit in the first year of operation. [13013]
§ Mr. Roger EvansThe savings to housing benefit from the restrictions on rents above the general level in the locality, the increase in non-dependent deductions, and the restriction on housing benefit claimants temporarily absent from home are estimated to amount to around £75 million in 1995–96.