Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department made an estimate of the financial saving that would be achieved by redefining abroad in the Housing Benefit (Temporary Absence) (Amendment) Regulations 2016 to include Northern Ireland.
It is a basic condition of entitlement for State Pension Credit and Housing Benefit to be in Great Britain. The Housing Benefit and State Pension Credit (Temporary Absence) Regulations 2016 did not change that condition. The regulations did, however, amend the length of time that a person could be absent from Great Britain, for example, travelling to Northern Ireland, whilst maintaining entitlement to Pension Credit and Housing Benefit. There was no change to either the meaning of Great Britain or of being abroad for the purposes of entitlement to Pension Credit and Housing Benefit.