House Of Commons Welsh Affairs Committee The Impact Of Changes To Housing Benefit In Wales Hc 159

The costs of housing benefit currently makes up more than a tenth of the UK Government's expenditure on welfare, with costs forecast to reach £25 billion by 2014-15. The Government's policy on under-occupation came into force in April 2013 and it is estimated that 40,000 tenants in Wales will be affected; representing 46% of working age housing benefit claimants living in the social rented sector. This is the highest proportion of any region in Great Britain. There could therefore be a shortage of one and two bedroom homes in Wales to re-house everyone who wants to downsize. If local authorities are struggling to find alternative smaller accommodation for Government should undertake a speedy review of this policy. It is also increasingly urgent for the Welsh Government to continue with its house-building programme, with a particular focus on the building of smaller sized properties: obviously this is a long-term solution that would require additional resources. If no social housing is available, tenants may need to move to the private rented sector and private rental costs would need to be monitored. The costs of moving disabled households who require adaptations are also a concern. There may be a case for exempting disabled households from the policy. The Government's proposal to pay housing benefit direct to social tenants under Universal Credit may result in some tenants being unable to manage their rent payments. The Committee recommends that the Government provide for housing benefit to be paid direct to the landlords in certain circumstances, for example after a specified period of non-payment

The Work Programme is the latest government-contracted employment programme, which aims to support long-term jobseekers into work and off unemployment benefits. Launched in June 2011, the Work Programme replaced a number of previous welfare-to-work programmes and consolidates employment support for a very wide range of jobseekers into a single mainstream programme. Providers, who are predominantly commercial companies, provide support to participants, and receive payments for finding participants sustained employment. In Wales one in nine people who joined the Work Programme in its first two years found sustained employment (defined as 13 or 26 weeks). This is the lowest rate in Great Britain, though not much lower than the average. The Committee's conclusions include: Working Links Wales and Rehab Jobfit-the two providers operating in Wales-must ensure that both they and their subcontractors have specific measures in place to support lone parents; and that Work Programme participants in Wales-unlike those in England-cannot access European Social Fund training and skills courses which is hampering the performance of the Work Programme in Wales and ultimately the opportunities available to the long-term unemployed. Similarly, DWP must enable participants to exit the Work Programme if required in order to access Jobs Growth Wales. The key issue here seems to be that there is a lack of flexibility in and between the various programmes set up to get people into work, and that this lack of flexibility appears to be more marked in Wales

The Scottish Affairs Committee calls for the repeal of the Bedroom Tax. While this is being considered, the Committee calls on the Government to suspend application of the Bedroom Tax for all those tenants to whom a reasonable alternative offer cannot be made. There are not enough smaller houses available for tenants to transfer into. The lack of any alternative offers means that tenants have no choice but to go into arrears if they simply cannot afford the extra costs. Other amendments proposed for the operation of the tax include: exemptions for those disabled people who require a room to store or use equipment or aids; non application where it would be financially perverse to do so - eg where removing fixed aids and adaptations, and then reinstalling them in a smaller home, would be more expensive than the savings over two years; all children of secondary school age should be allowed a bedroom of their own to allow quiet study; all disabled children, of whatever age, should have a bedroom of their own. The Committee also calls for changes to the system of Discretionary Housing Payments, which have been designed by the Government to mitigate the worst impacts of the Bedroom Tax. There should be a standard nationwide entitlement system, across the UK as a whole, rather than the present postcode lottery. The UK and Scottish Governments should make longer term commitments to the provision of DHP payments in order to allow local authorities to plan and structure their budgets.

Shale gas represents an opportunity for Wales but it must not come at the expense of Wales's natural environment. Both the UK and Welsh Governments must consider environmental risks, including the traffic and noise caused by commercial shale gas operations as well as the visual impact and other environmental risks associated with fracking. The issue of treatment, transportation and disposal of wastewater is a growing concern: toxic and radioactive water must not be allowed to contaminate water courses. The Government forecasts that nearly 70% of the UK's gas supply will be imported by 2025. It is vital that the UK identifies new sources of gas if it is to safeguard the UK's security of supply. Shale gas production across the UK is currently at the exploratory stage and there is no good data yet on the amount of shale gas in Wales. Should considerable reserves of shale gas be present-as industry representatives predict-it could be a decade before a viable shale gas industry is created in Wales. The UK Government and the Welsh Government should work with commercial companies and others to provide a reliable range of estimates of shale gas available in Wales and assess the overall impact of shale gas supply on the level and mix of energy produced in Wales and the UK. The Welsh Government should also begin to consider how the employment opportunities presented by shale gas production could be maximised

Reforms to the support provided for housing costs - including the Social Sector Size Criteria (SSSC) (also known as the "Bedroom Tax" and the "Spare Room Subsidy") and the household Benefit Cap are causing financial hardship to vulnerable people who were not the intended targets of the reforms and are unlikely to be able to change their circumstances in response. The SSSC is having a particular impact on people with disabilities who have adapted homes or need a room to hold medical equipment or to accommodate a carer. Anybody living in a home that has been significantly adapted for them should be exempt from the SSSC and all recipients of Carers Allowance where the carer lives with the disabled person should be exempt from the Benefit Cap. The Report further urges the Government to exempt all households that contain a person in receipt of higher level disability benefits (DLA or PIP) from the SSSC. Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are only temporary, and whether or not a claimant is awarded DHP is heavily dependent on where they live because different local authorities apply different eligibility rules. Local authorities often have no option other than to place homeless households in expensive temporary accommodation and claimants can then fall within the scope of the Benefit Cap. Local authorities then often have to pay the shortfall for those affected by the Cap so there is no overall saving to public funds. All households in temporary accommodation should therefore also be exempt from the Benefit Cap.

Government response to HC 159, session 2013-14 (ISBN 9780215062734)

The effect of this proposed LCO would be to devolve wide-ranging legislative competence for social housing policy to the National Assembly for Wales. The terms of the proposed Order include the provision of social housing, provision by local authorities of caravan sites for use by gypsies and travellers, measures to tackle homelessness, and council tax payable in respect of dwellings that are not the main residence of an individual. The current proposal is a revision of an earlier, much narrower, affordable housing LCO laid before Parliament in 2008, which was criticised because the terms of the LCO went much wider than the policy purposes described to us by the Minister in her evidence. The Committee believes that there is indeed a demand in Wales for comprehensive social housing legislation for Wales, to include the regulation of social housing providers and reform of tenure law. It concludes that the current Order is a logical extension of the current devolution settlement and, with minor technical changes outlined in this Report, is content that it should proceed. The Committee reiterates its continuing concerns about the naming of LCOs. There is now a number of draft or proposed Orders with similar titles. The recommendation is that LCOs should be given a simple title which conveys the actual subject of the Order to the general reader.