Offenders: Housing Benefit

(asked on 17th July 2018) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the effect on people on remand of the reduction under universal credit in the period for which they can claim housing benefit from 12 to six months; and if he will make a statement.


Answered by
 Portrait
Rory Stewart
This question was answered on 29th November 2018

There are no current assessments either by the Ministry of Justice or the Department for Work and Pensions.

We recognise that having somewhere stable to live on release from prison can be a critical factor in supporting rehabilitation and reducing homelessness, and this is particularly acute for short-sentenced offenders. This is why Universal Credit continues to pay housing support for up to 6 months to support those benefit recipients who are imprisoned, whether on remand and/or sentenced.

Reticulating Splines