Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of households in (a) Birkenhead constituency and (b) England that were subject to the under occupancy penalty contained one or more (i) person in employment (ii) child and (iii) person who is disabled in the most recent month for which data is available.

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.

As at April 2019, there were:

a) 970 households in Birkenhead constituency who had a deduction made from their Housing Benefit due to the removal of the spare room subsidy. Of these, 130 (13%) had at least one person in employment and 190 (20%) had at least one dependent child. Additionally, in 730 (75%) the claimant or partner was receiving Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Incapacity Benefit (IB), or Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA). It is not possible to ascertain the number of disabled people in each of these households.

b) 240,350 households in England who had a deduction made from their Housing Benefit due to the removal of the spare room subsidy. Of these, 37,350 (16%) had at least one person in employment and 48,350 (20%) had at least one dependent child. Additionally, in 170,360 cases (71%) the claimant or partner was receiving Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Incapacity Benefit (IB), or Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA). It is not possible to ascertain the number of disabled people in each of these households.

Figures do not include claimants on Universal Credit (UC) with a removal of the spare room subsidy (RSRS) deduction, as these data are not currently available.