Welfare Reform Bill

I think that the Minister has the Benefits and Contributions Information Guide 2006 in front of her. Not quite, apparently, but I have. We all know that at the moment, if a housing benefit claimant is a council tenant, the amount of rent due is reduced correspondingly. If the claimant rents from a housing association or has a private landlord, housing benefit is paid directly to the person entitled. New claims from private tenants, including changes of address, are paid in arrears. If the rent is eight weeks or more in arrears, housing benefit is automatically paid directly to the landlord unless the local authority has reason to believe that the landlord is not a fit and proper person to receive those payments. Lastly, direct payments to the landlord may also be made if the claimant requests or agrees to such payments or if the local authority thinks that they are in the claimant’s interests. New claims from private tenants, including changes of address, where payment is made directly to the landlord are paid four weeks in arrears. Much of that will be changed by the Bill. It would be of use to the Committee to know exactly how much is staying and how much is going, not least to tie this amendment into the ESA, which we spent two and a half days discussing. Is the £20 earnings disregard to continue for housing benefit if the claimant is entitled to disability premiums, severe disability premiums and carer premium? I appreciate that I may not be speaking to the right amendment, but it would be extremely useful to have the answers before the next one.