Chris Bryant – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Bryant on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many councils in (a) England, (b) Wales and (c) Scotland funded discretionary housing payments beyond the funds allocated to them by his Department in (i) 2013-14 and (ii) 2014-15.

Steve Webb

In 2013/14, a) 85 (out of 326) English authorities, b) 15 (out of 27) Welsh authorities and c) 27 (out of 32) Scottish authorities spent more than the contribution provided by DWP towards Discretionary Housing Payments.

Figures for 2014/15 will not be available until after 30 April 2015 – the deadline for local authority DHP returns for the year in question.