Clause 27
Welfare Reform Bill
9:45 pm
Danny Alexander (Shadow Minister and Disability Spokesperson, Work & Pensions; Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, Liberal Democrat)
I beg to move amendmentNo. 257, in clause 27, page 19, line 15, at end insert
‘and those categories of tenants to whom it applies’.
In proposing the amendment I feel a little like the minister in my constituency whose sermon was eaten by his dog. When he arrived in the pulpit he said, “I am going to speak to you as the Lord directs, but I shall try to do better next week.” The purpose of the amendment is fairly clear. There has been some controversy surrounding the local housing allowance and we will no doubt go into that in more detail in our next sitting. In respect of the amendment there has also been some controversy about the categories of tenants. I notice that the Minister’s supporting cast has left the room, so perhaps now is a good time to get some concessions out of him.
The question to which I want an answer from the Minister is which categories the local housing allowance will apply to. Clearly, the Government’s intention is to look at housing allowance for tenants in the private sector only; tenants in social housing whether it is provided by registered social landlords, housing associations or local authorities, and, if I remember correctly, those in pre-1989 tenancies, would also be exempt from the local housing allowance. However, that is not stated anywhere in the Bill and as far as I can see from how the Bill is constructed it does not allow that to be made clear in regulations, although the Minister will correct me if I am wrong.
Concern has been expressed about the possibility of rolling out local housing allowance to the categories of tenancy that I have outlined—it is not an exhaustive list, but the Minister knows what I mean. There has also been a lot of concern to roll out the local housing allowance to the social housing sector without further primary legislation. I know that Ministers have decided that that is not what they want to do and it would be worrying to the landlords. I hope that the Minister can clarify that the provisions of the Bill will apply only to tenants in receipt of housing benefit in private sector tenancies and not to any other categories. Should any proposals be made either to extend it to social housing or more generally by virtue of a pilot, that would be subject to further primary legislation and could not be achieved simply by regulation under this Bill.