Board and Lodging Payments

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 5:03 pm on 21 October 1985.

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Photo of Mr Norman Fowler Mr Norman Fowler Secretary of State for Health and Social Security 5:03, 21 October 1985

For the second time this afternoon, the hon. Gentleman is exaggerating the position. It is absurd to believe that there is no problem or that things could be kept as they were, because that is clearly not the case. I think that that is recognised, perhaps even on both sides of the House. The hon. Gentleman claims that hardship has been caused. The early results of our monitoring do not show evidence of general hardship being caused by the policy. The survey in southern England showed that a quarter of claimants were covered by exemptions and that over one third, approximately, continued to live in the same accommodation. Therefore, it is not anything like the picture that the hon. Gentleman is painting.