Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households in (a) Birkenhead constituency, (b) Liverpool City Region, and (c) the UK, have been subject to under-occupation penalty; and how many and what proportion of those households contained (i) one and (ii) more than one disabled person.

As at March 2018, there were:

a) 1,220 households in Birkenhead constituency who had a deduction made from their Housing Benefit due to the removal of the spare room subsidy. Of these, there were 860 (71%) where the claimant or partner was receiving Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). It is not possible to ascertain the number of disabled people in each of these households.

b) 17,490 households in Liverpool City Region who had a deduction made from their Housing Benefit due to the removal of the spare room subsidy. Of these, there were 12,350 (71%) where the claimant or partner was receiving Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). It is not possible to ascertain the number of disabled people in each of these households.

c) 387,160 households in Great Britain who had a deduction made from their Housing Benefit due to the removal of the spare room subsidy. Of these, there were 269,150 (70%) where the claimant or partner was receiving Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). It is not possible to ascertain the number of disabled people in each of these households.

The Government has provided easements to allow an additional bedroom for couples and children who are unable to share a bedroom due to their disability or medical condition and are in receipt of a relevant qualifying benefit, or where a non-resident overnight carer (or group of carers) is required for an adult, child or non-dependant adult on a regular basis.