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Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No. 4) Regulations 2008

My Lords, in the briefing that I received from Shelter, these words came off the page for me: "““It is no exaggeration to say that these changes will inevitably cause homelessness in a number of cases””." That certainly got my attention. I am extremely familiar with the problems of housing benefit administration, which can hold things up almost interminably. I am glad to say that the administration of housing benefit has improved a good deal in the past three or four years. Further simplification is a thoroughly good idea. I was surprised, therefore, to learn that it is still possible that people might need to have their backdating go all the way back 12 months. I asked Shelter and Citizens Advice, which has also carried out good work, through Liz Phelps’s good offices. I received a couple of examples to show how the delays can lead to severe problems. I shall relate a successful story. Shelter stated: "““In late 2007 a housing aid centre case worker had a client in Hackney, a single man with significant mental health issues. He had a large gap in his HB (housing benefit) claim as a result of a failing on the part his support worker””—" you cannot always blame the support worker, as these matters are extremely complicated, but it was the support worker’s fault that the necessary forms had not been completed. The case study continued: "““The housing association landlord””—" I am afraid that housing associations evict people when they are in arrears; that is how it goes— "““had issued a notice to seek possession on the basis of rent arrears. As a result of Shelter’s intervention under the current backdating rules, HB was backdated for the full 12 month period and the landlord withdrew the eviction proceedings””." I give small praise to the landlord for holding on as long as he did. In the end, that was justified, because he got his money. In the second case, Shelter had been liaising with the Norfolk Offender Accommodation Forum, which has carried out work in this field looking at remand prisoners, who are entitled to housing benefit for initially up to 52 weeks. Shelter states: "““The chaotic organisation within the prison system may mean that claimants on remand are not able to complete a HB form until after the 3 month period. Resources are further strained in the prison system by the need for a new claim to be made even if the person was claiming HB before being sent to prison. This also has an impact on any partners involved who are also required to make a fresh claim due to a change in circumstances. Even when individuals are finally able to gain access to an advisor, they may be moved to another prison and end up back at the beginning of the process””." One can see how arrears can accumulate: claimants are not receiving the benefit to which they are entitled because they have not filled in all the necessary forms. If one thing is guaranteed to get someone, after leaving prison, reoffending and back into prison, it is that they do not have a home to go to. They do not have accommodation and there is an impact on their family, if they have one. There are still, and still likely to be, cases where the full 12-month backdating is essential if homelessness is to be prevented in relation to housing benefit. I hope that the Government will look at this again.