Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the representations made by Shelter and the Money Advice Trust on the effect on tenant choice of the removal of a tenant's ability to have payment of the housing element of the universal credit paid directly to their landlord.

The independent evaluation of the Universal Credit (UC) Direct Payment Demonstration Projects report showed that asking claimants to take responsibility for paying their rent did not lead to big increases in rent arrears. We are drawing on the findings from these Projects as part of our approach to continually improving the service. The reports can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/direct-payment-demonstration-projects-final-reports