Freud 'Not In A Position' To Give Timetable for Universal Credit

Lord Freud has said he is ‘not in a position’ to say when couples and children will be moved onto universal credit. The welfare reform minister was asked in the House of Lords about the timetable for the flagship welfare policy. Lord Michael German, Liberal Democrat peer, said: ‘Given the significance of universal credit in that it will always make work pay more than being on benefits, does my noble friend agree that getting it right is more important than making mistakes as we go along? But, if he will forgive my impatience, when will we see the first families with children being able to receive universal credit?’ Lord Freud said: ‘When you are introducing a large cultural change like this, it is important to do it in a careful and controlled way, and to make sure that it is safe and secure.’ Read the full debate on the Parliament website.

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.

Minister Calls On Landlords to Boost Credit Unions

Welfare reform minister Lord Freud has called on councils and social landlords to help boost their local credit unions in a bid to ensure the poorest in society have equal and fair access to financial services. The Government has spent £113 million in the past six years on the movement and sees it playing a key role in the role out of Universal Credit. Responding to a question in the House of Lords on whether councils should be encouraged to help with the start-up costs of credit unions - in particular with the very high council taxes that are levied on premises - Lord Freud agreed. Read what Lord Freud had to say on the Parliament website.

Lib Dem Peers to Fight Housing Benefit Cutbacks

Liberal Democrat peers will rebel against the coalition’s cuts to housing benefit for unemployed tenants, according to the party’s former work and pensions spokesperson. Baroness Thomas of Winchester has teamed up with independent peer Lord Best to vote against a proposed 10 per cent cut in housing benefit for tenants who have been claiming jobseeker’s allowance for more than a year. Lib Dem peers would be unlikely to support the cut if the proposal escapes the Commons unscathed, the Baroness said. ‘If it comes here [the House of Lords], then I’m sure that it will not survive a vote. I would not have thought that many Lib Dems would be able to vote for it.’ Other Lib Dem peers, including Lord German, are lobbying the government to drop the cut before it appears in the government bill, which is due to be published in January. Read more on Inside Housing.

Peers Debate Changes to Social Housing – House of Lords Oral Answers

Baroness Hollis of Heigham (Labour – Former Work and Pensions Minister): Is it not the case that if you cannot find a job your Housing Benefit is cut after 12 months, your rent arrears mount up, you are evicted and you become homeless? Equally, however, if you find a job with an adequate income, you are also likely to lose your home and be encouraged to move into a different form of tenure. So, fail to get a job and you are out; get a job and you are out. Is that decent?
Baroness Hanham (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, CLG): I think it is. When the income of some people who are living in subsidised accommodation rises after taking that accommodation, their change in circumstances needs to be taken into account. We have just discussed housing benefit levels. As far as I can see from the proposals, nobody will be evicted. Everyone will be given an opportunity. Local housing authorities will have the responsibility to ensure that they deal with people decently and respectably.

Lord Skelmersdale (Conservative): Are the Government looking at the knotty subject of succession tenancy in social and local authority subsidised housing?
Baroness Hanham: The answer is yes for future tenancies, and no for existing tenancies and arrangements.

Lord Best (Crossbencher): On housing benefit, am I right in thinking that, following the announcement in the CSR, somebody in their 30s in a one-bedroom flat who loses their job will find that if they need housing benefit they will have to leave that flat, where they might have lived for some time, and find somewhere to share with other people? That is a fairly tall order in many parts of the country. Is that the position we find ourselves in with the raising of the level for housing benefit?
Baroness Hanham: My Lords, I need to write to the noble Lord about that, if I may. His question is quite technical.