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1020263

registered interest
date	05/12/2018
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the savings to the Exchequer as a result of reducing housing benefit entitlement for those deemed to be under-occupying social housing, in each financial year since 2012/13.
tabling member constituency	Wentworth and Dearne
tabling member printed	John Healey
uin	199300
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/12/2018 answer text <p>The removal of the spare room subsidy (RSRS) policy has saved over £1.7bn since its introduction in April 2013. A breakdown by financial year is provided in the table below:</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Total Estimated Housing Benefit RSRS Deductions, 2013/14 to 2017/18 (£m pa)</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>2013/14</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2014/15</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2015/16</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2016/17</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2017/18</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>385</p></td><td><p>365</p></td><td><p>355</p></td><td><p>335</p></td><td><p>320</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p>Deductions figures do not take into account any additional savings due to behavioural change before/after the policy has been introduced, for example moving to a smaller property to avoid a deduction.</p><p /><p> </p><p><strong>Notes</strong></p><p> </p><ol><li>Figures do not include claimants on Universal Credit (UC) with a removal of the spare room subsidy (RSRS) deduction, as these data are not currently available.</li></ol><p> </p><ol start="2"><li>The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has been looking at the savings realised from the RSRS policy and may publish something in future.</li></ol><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 11/12/2018 12:08:22 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	400 label Biography information for John Healey

993586

registered interest
date	23/10/2018
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will introduce an exemption to permit students from low-income families to travel during a gap year without the family home incurring an under-occupancy penalty.
tabling member constituency	Easington
tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
uin	182743
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/10/2018 answer text <p>The Government has no plans to introduce an exemption from the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy to allow students from low income families to travel during a gap year without the household incurring a reduction in benefit due to under-occupancy.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 26/10/2018 14:01:00 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

971682

registered interest
date	11/09/2018
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households are subject to the under-occupancy penalty in each constituency; what the average weekly reduction in income is for those households; and in how many of those households there is a claimant or partner who (a) receives (i) disability living allowance, (ii) personal independence payment and (iii) employment and support allowance and (b) has children.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	173519
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/10/2018 answer text <p>Figures on Housing Benefit spare room subsidy deductions in Great Britain are publically available through the DWP Stat-Xplore website. Both volumes and average deductions by parliamentary constituency are available, including broken down by whether or not the household has children. Stat-Xplore website:</p><p><a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/jsf/login.xhtml" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/jsf/login.xhtml</a></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Guidance for users is available at:</p><p><a href="https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html" target="_blank">https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html</a></p><p> </p><p>However, breakdowns by whether or not the claimant or partner also receives any of the specified disability benefits are not publicly available and so have been provided in the table attached.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has provided easements to allow an additional bedroom for couples and children who are unable to share a bedroom due to their disability or medical condition and are in receipt of a relevant qualifying benefit, or where a non-resident overnight carer (or group of carers) is required for an adult, child or non-dependant adult on a regular basis.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 09/10/2018 17:03:31 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson attachment 1 file name Breakdown by whether or not claimant or partner also receives any of the specified disability benefits.docx title Breakdowns table
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

964141

registered interest
date	03/09/2018
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households in (a) Birkenhead constituency, (b) Liverpool City Region, and (c) the UK, have been subject to under-occupation penalty; and how many and what proportion of those households contained (i) one and (ii) more than one disabled person.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	169040
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/09/2018 answer text <p>As at March 2018, there were:</p><p> </p><p>a) 1,220 households in Birkenhead constituency who had a deduction made from their Housing Benefit due to the removal of the spare room subsidy. Of these, there were 860 (71%) where the claimant or partner was receiving Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). It is not possible to ascertain the number of disabled people in each of these households.</p><p> </p><p>b) 17,490 households in Liverpool City Region who had a deduction made from their Housing Benefit due to the removal of the spare room subsidy. Of these, there were 12,350 (71%) where the claimant or partner was receiving Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). It is not possible to ascertain the number of disabled people in each of these households.</p><p> </p><p>c) 387,160 households in Great Britain who had a deduction made from their Housing Benefit due to the removal of the spare room subsidy. Of these, there were 269,150 (70%) where the claimant or partner was receiving Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). It is not possible to ascertain the number of disabled people in each of these households.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has provided easements to allow an additional bedroom for couples and children who are unable to share a bedroom due to their disability or medical condition and are in receipt of a relevant qualifying benefit, or where a non-resident overnight carer (or group of carers) is required for an adult, child or non-dependant adult on a regular basis.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 10/09/2018 15:58:45 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

964143

registered interest
date	03/09/2018
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits on excluding disabled people from the under occupancy penalty, in the event that suitable alternative accommodation at (a) the same or (b) a lower rent not available.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	169041
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/09/2018 answer text <p>An assessment has not been made regarding the exclusion of disabled people from the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy if suitable alternative accommodation at the same, or lower rent is not available. However, the size criteria rules that are used to work out the size of the household and whether the property is under-occupied for the purposes of Housing Benefit and Universal Credit, already allow an additional bedroom for disabled people and children in the following circumstances:</p><p> </p><ol><li>Where a disabled child or a couple are unable to share a bedroom because of a disability or medical condition and where the person or child is in receipt of a relevant qualifying benefit;</li></ol><p> </p><ol start="2"><li>Where a disabled adult, disabled child or disabled non-dependant has overnight care on a regular basis from a non-resident overnight carer (or team of carers).</li></ol><p> </p><p>In cases where a relevant qualifying benefit is not in payment, but either a couple or child are unable to share a bedroom due to disability, the local authority should consider whether a Discretionary Housing Payment is appropriate.</p><p> </p><p>Since 2011, the Government has provided around £1 billion to date to local authorities to help support vulnerable people affected by different welfare reforms. This includes £25 million per year to support disabled people living in significantly adapted accommodation, including any adaptations made for disabled children.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 07/09/2018 13:22:48 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

942871

registered interest
date	17/07/2018
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with disabilities in Glasgow South West constituency had a deduction made from their benefits due to the removal of the spare room subsidy in the latest period for which figures were available.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	165082
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2018 answer text <p>As at February 2018, there were 2,120 households in Glasgow South West constituency who had a deduction made from their Housing Benefit due to the removal of the spare room subsidy. Of these, there were 1,580 where the claimant or partner was receiving Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).</p><p> </p><p>The Government has provided easements to allow an additional bedroom for couples and children who are unable to share a bedroom due to their disability, or where a non-resident overnight carer (or group of carers) is required for an adult, child or non-dependant adult.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 23/07/2018 13:28:23 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

516003

registered interest
date	26/04/2016
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the under-occupancy penalty on families with severely disabled children.
tabling member constituency	Pontypridd
tabling member printed	Owen Smith
uin	35677
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/05/2016 answer text <p>The rules allow severely disabled children who are normally expected to share a bedroom with another child to have a bedroom of their own.</p><p> </p><p>This easement applies when a severely disabled child is in receipt of the middle or higher rate care component of Disability Living Allowance and their disabilities would mean that they would disturb the sleep of the other child; or there is a potential threat of violence. This easement applies across both the private and social rented sectors.</p><p> </p><p>Discretionary Housing Payments are available for those who do not satisfy these conditions.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 04/05/2016 09:14:37 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4042 label Biography information for Owen Smith

513113

registered interest
date	14/04/2016
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether a bedroom which is currently unusable pending repairs by a social landlord is included by his Department in its assessment of whether a household under-occupying accommodation.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
uin	34140
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/04/2016 answer text <p>This is a matter between the claimant and the landlord and we would always advise claimants in this situation to contact their landlord in the first instance.</p><p> </p><p>Some landlords may choose to reduce the rent whilst the bedroom is uninhabitable others may not. The reduction that applies for under-occupation depends on whether the rent has been reduced to reflect that the property temporarily has one less bedroom.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 19/04/2016 16:06:13 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

483226

registered interest
date	21/03/2016
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that rules relating to under-occupancy do not affect households in which couples have to sleep in separate rooms due to medical appliances.
tabling member constituency	Southampton, Itchen
tabling member printed	Royston Smith
uin	32005
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/03/2016 answer text <p>The High Court and Court of Appeal have accepted that disability, including situations where medical equipment is being used, does not necessarily prevent couples from being able to share a bedroom. Because of this administering a blanket exemption would be extremely difficult.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, an enhanced package of Discretionary Housing Payment funding (£870 million over 5 years) will enable Local Authorities to provide support to the most vulnerable claimants.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 23/03/2016 15:39:55 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	4478 label Biography information for Royston Smith

459469

registered interest
date	08/03/2016
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes to housing benefit eligibility in respect of under-occupancy in the social rented sector on low-income families.
tabling member constituency	Jarrow
tabling member printed	Mr Stephen Hepburn
uin	904062
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/03/2016 answer text <p>This measure puts social sector tenants on a par with their counterparts in the private rented sector who receive Housing Benefit based on household need rather than the full rental costs. Affected claimants can mitigate the impact by entering work, increasing their working hours or downsizing to a smaller property.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 14/03/2016 16:15:39 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
tabling member	520 label Biography information for Mr Stephen Hepburn