Universal Credit

Lord Campbell-Savours Excerpts

Monday 24th November 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Freud]

It is very important that local areas look after the more vulnerable people, and one of the most important elements that we are introducing alongside universal credit and supplementing it is universal support delivered locally. That produces a partnership where we can get all the resources that people need to become independent and take responsibility for their own lives and get them into a place where that can be done. We have 11 formal trials of universal support going on now.

[Lord Campbell-Savours (Lab)]

My Lords, the Minister was asked by my noble friend Lady Lister about what the Government were going to do about housing costs. Does he believe that housing rents in the United Kingdom are now too high?

[Lord Freud]

Excuse me, I just missed that. The housing what were too high?

[Lord Campbell-Savours]

Rents.

[Lord Freud]

Thank you. We have borne down on rents in the local housing allowance rates and have seen rents come down—I do not know if that was as a direct result, but they have come down at the same time. I have some statistics that I will send to the noble Lord.