Housing – Parliamentary Written Answer (HoL)

Lord Ouseley To ask Her Majesty's Government whether an equality impact assessment has been made of the cap on housing benefit and what the implications are for race relations and social cohesion when families are moved from established residential neighbourhoods to other parts of the country.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord Freud): An equality impact assessment for the changes to local housing allowance arrangements, including the caps to rates, was published in July 2010. Taking all the measures together, this did not show a disproportionate impact on any one group. The department has commissioned an independent consortium of leading research organisations to evaluate the effects of the local housing allowance changes. The report of early findings is expected to be published in June.