Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the value for money of the system for paying housing benefit to providers of exempt accommodation.

No such assessment has been made.

We are working with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government to improve value for money and quality in the supported housing sector through our joint oversight regime. An important step in this programme was the launch of Local Authority pilots in Birmingham and four other areas, to test innovative ways of ensuring good quality and value for money in supported housing, including exempt accommodation.