Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the potential effect of the extension of the benefit cap to £23,000 per year in London and £20,000 per year outside London on the number of households applying for discretionary housing payments.

The estimated number of households affected by the new, lower benefit cap is published in the latest impact assessment: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/welfare-reform-and-work-act-impact-assessment-for-the-benefit-cap. This includes a regional breakdown of the total numbers.

To take account of the welfare reform measures announced at Summer Budget and Autumn Statement 2015, we have committed £870 million in overall Discretionary Housing Payments over the next five years. As part of this, the £150 million allocated for Discretionary Housing Payments in 2016/17 rises to £185 million in 2017/18.