§ Lord Blackwellasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the recent announcement of regulations to restrict the backdating of housing benefit to three months is consistent with the assurances given by the Baroness Hollis of Heigham on 6 April 1998 (H.L. Deb., cols. 546–547) in withdrawing the proposed clause 72 of the Social Security Bill. [HL4109]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Social Security (Baroness Hollis of Heighham)The intended changes to the backdating rules are consistent with our aims to improve the structure and administration of housing benefit. These proposals have been now considered by the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC), and we expect to receive their report to the Secretary of State shortly. We have also consulted the local authority associations (LAAs) on these proposals.
We will consider the responses from the LAA consultation and points raised in SSAC's report very carefully and will take these into account along with other representations made.