New clause 7 - Regulations
Housing Benefit (Withholding of Payment) Bill
5:00 pm
Mr Malcolm Wicks (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions; Croydon North, Labour)
I beg to move amendment No. 9, in line 1, leave out
'Secretary of State to withhold'
and insert 'withholding of'.
There is little to say about the amendment, but that is only my opinion. It simply amends the Bill's long title to clarify that the Secretary of State would not be responsible for withholding housing benefit. Local authorities administer housing benefit so they would take the decision to withhold, although the decision would be triggered by notification by the Department for Work and Pensions. I commend the amendment to the Committee.