Under-occupancy Penalty

Steve Double Excerpts
Thursday 28th January 2016

(8 years, 3 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Justin Tomlinson Portrait Justin Tomlinson
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It is not cruel to provide support to the most vulnerable in society. It is also sensible, as there would be a £2.5 billion extra cost if Labour were to abandon this policy.

Steve Double Portrait Steve Double (St Austell and Newquay) (Con)
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Does the Minister agree that not only is the discretionary housing payment the right way to address this issue, but the fact that so many local authorities are not spending their full allocation is evidence that the Government are fully resourcing this matter?

Justin Tomlinson Portrait Justin Tomlinson
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I thank my hon. Friend. Not only is £870 million proving to be the right amount of money for local authorities, but awareness continues to increase year on year.