Asked by: Andrew Turner (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of housing benefit on the level of private-sector rents.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Department has not made an assessment of the effect of housing benefit on the level of private sector rents.
The Local Housing Allowance rates for 2015/16 (effective from April 2015) were published by Rent Officers on 30 January 2015 together with the 30th percentiles of local rents.
Asked by: Andrew Turner (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the supply of one-bedroom properties for people affected by the under-occupancy penalty (a) on the Isle of Wight and (b) nationwide.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
In the social rented sector there are 1.4 million one-bedroom properties, with approximately 130,000 of these becoming available each year. This equates to a turnover of about 10%.
Asked by: Andrew Turner (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of jobseeker's allowance claimants were subject to sanctions in each county in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answered by Esther McVey
The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Information on JSA sanctions, including a range of geographical breakdowns is published and available at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/
JSA claimant count data by geographical area is published and available at: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/