Housing Benefit – Parliamentary Written Answer

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether discretionary housing payment (DHP) funds provided to local authorities are ring-fenced in total, and within each category of DHP; and whether local authorities can top up from their general funds the amount provided for DHP.
Lord Freud: Local authorities receive a single allocation towards discretionary housing payments and can increase this from their own funds, up to two and a half times the government contribution. The overall allocation local authorities receive is ring fenced. Local authorities have flexibility within the overall fund to deal with local circumstances arising from the housing reforms.