Housing Benefits (18 to 21-year-olds) Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Work and Pensions
Cat Smith
Main Page: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)Department Debates - View all Cat Smith's debates with the Department for Work and Pensions
(7 years, 2 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
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Caroline Nokes
The policy is expected to affect 5,000 young people in the first year, and 10,000 a year in steady state.
Cat Smith (Lancaster and Fleetwood) (Lab)
Given that the number of people rough sleeping has more than doubled since 2010, does the Minister think that the policy, which singles out young adults, will make that shameful statistic better or worse?
Caroline Nokes
As I have said repeatedly, we have put in place a long list of exemptions precisely to prevent homelessness. Those who are unable to return to the family home will be exempt from the policy, so we do not expect it to increase homelessness.