Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effect of the bedroom tax on payments to universal credit claimants.

The removal of Spare Room Subsidy was monitored and evaluated over a two-year period from April 2013. The interim report that was published in July 2014 identified that claimants were either increasing their hours of work, or earnings in order to meet the shortfall in their rent. The final report was published in December 2015 and this showed that the policy promoted more effective use of housing stock and encouraging people to enter work and increase their earnings. We are therefore maintaining this policy and continue to protect vulnerable claimants who require additional support through Discretionary Housing Payments.