§ Mr. DoddsTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the estimated cost of administration was in relation to the introduction of charging and means testing for housing support services in Northern Ireland. [87336]
§ Mr. BrowneIn the interests of targeting resources to where the need is greatest I have decided that those who can afford to pay for their housing support services should continue to do so. However it is important that the administration costs of operating such an arrangement are kept to a minimum. Rather than spending around £250,000 to develop and administer a specific supporting people means test, I have decided that eligibility for housing benefit or any other means tested benefit, should be the automatic passport to free housing support services. This will be easy to operate with little additional costs in terms of administration.