Written question asked by Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord McKenzie of Luton (Labour) on Monday, 24 November 2008.

Housing: Benefits

Question: asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the remarks by Lord McKenzie of Luton on 10 November (Official Report, col. 521), what guidance they have issued to local authorities on monitoring applications to back-date housing and council tax benefit for periods of between three and six months; and

Answer: The department receives data from local authority computer systems which include information on whether a claim is back-dated and for what period, broken down by client group (ie older people and working-age customers). By the end of 2009, we expect to have enough data from local authorities to inform our review of the new policy. In addition, authorities are requested to submit additional data by completing questions in the local authority omnibus survey, which is sent to all authorities in Great Britain every six months. The next survey includes questions about the new back-dating rules. The department provided funding to local authorities to support the shift towards the new method of collecting data, enabling local authorities to send information direct from their computer systems to the department, as part of the programme to reduce the data collection burden on local authorities.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 6323; 705 c244-5WA
Session: 2007-08
Related items: Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No. 4) Regulations 2008
Monday, 10 November 2008
Parliamentary proceedings
House of Lords
Subjects: Council tax benefits Benefits rules Housing benefit Finance Local government Monitoring
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk