Owen Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Owen Smith on 2015-11-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of the under-occupancy penalty on people with disabilities.

Justin Tomlinson

People with disabilities are entitled to an extra bedroom for non-resident overnight carers and disabled children who are unable to share with another child.

Since 2013, we have provided local authorities with £470 million in Discretionary Housing Payments funding. This has enabled local authorities to give additional support to claimants where appropriate. This includes £175 million specifically for those affected by the removal of the spare room subsidy, of which £75 million is for those living in significantly adapted properties.

We will continue to provide additional support through Discretionary Housing Payments and have made a further £800 million in DHP funding available for the next 5 years of this Parliament.