Chamber and committees

The following information has been provided by the Department of Work and Pensions.

Number of Housing Benefit Recipients and Average Weekly Award, by Tenure and Local Authority - July 2010

Local Authority	Social Rented Sector
	Recipients	Average Award
Aberdeen City	14,000	57.69
Aberdeenshire	8,850	56.36
Angus	6,650	49.62
Argyll and Bute	4,770	57.18
Clackmannanshire	4,430	60.40
Dumfries and Galloway	9,000	57.51
Dundee City	14,700	63.64
East Ayrshire	10,480	52.32
East Dunbartonshire	3,330	62.98
East Lothian	5,500	51.30
East Renfrewshire	2,920	61.15
Edinburgh, City of	27,510	81.58
Eilean Siar	1,230	57.77
Falkirk	11,420	53.98
Fife	24,690	60.51
Glasgow City	77,060	65.07
Highland	12,950	60.03
Inverclyde	7,380	63.15
Midlothian	4,950	54.69
Moray	4,120	45.45
North Ayrshire	12,420	56.89
North Lanarkshire	29,030	51.34
Orkney Islands	710	54.23
Perth and Kinross	6,260	59.53
Renfrewshire	14,130	61.58
Scottish Borders	6,490	56.18
Shetland Islands	940	52.73
South Ayrshire	7,300	56.88
South Lanarkshire	22,190	56.77
Stirling	4,780	62.10
West Dunbartonshire	10,850	59.49
West Lothian	12,150	57.36
Scotland	383,160	60.54

Notes:

1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

2. Average awards are shown as pounds per week and rounded to the nearest penny.

3. Breakdown by tenure does not include recipients with unknown tenure type.

Source: Single Housing Benefit Extract 100% individual level data (SHBE).

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-37165 on 8 November 2010, which includes the average level of housing benefit in the social rented sector.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

The best source of information on housing benefit claimants is the Single Housing Benefit Extract (SHBE) collected by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). However information from this source does not separately identify housing benefit recipients who are unemployed. It should be noted that the definition of those who are unemployed is people who are out of work and actively seeking work. The information available to us from this source is given in the following table. This distinguishes those who receive housing benefit which has been passported because they receive other benefits (including sickness and disability benefits as well as unemployment benefits) and, for those whose housing benefit has not been passported, whether or not they are employed. The footnotes to the table explain the basis of the analysis.

Of the non passported claimants who are not in employment the SHBE does not separately distinguish those who are unemployed and for those who are otherwise out of work (known as the economically inactive). It is therefore not possible to give an estimate from this source of the number who is unemployed.

Another potential source of information on the characteristics of people on housing benefits is the Family Resources Survey (FRS). The FRS provides information, among other things, on the characteristics and circumstances of households which identify themselves in the survey as receiving housing benefit. In the 2008-09 survey 11% of housing benefit recipients in the survey in Scotland were recorded as unemployed. A further 40% of housing benefit recipients were recorded as being economically inactive and of working age. It should be noted that this is a sample survey and that there will be related levels of uncertainty around these estimates. Also there is evidence of under reporting of benefit receipt in the survey.

All Housing Benefit Recipients by Passported Status and Employment Status: Scotland July 2010

Number of Housing Benefit Recipients	468,960
All Passported4	337,280
Non-Passported in Employment	42,220
Non-Passported not in Employment	89,180

Notes:

1. The data refers to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple.

2. The figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.

3. SHBE is a monthly electronic scan of claimant level data direct from local authority computer systems. It replaces quarterly aggregate clerical returns.  The data is available monthly from November 2008 and July 2010 is the latest month for which data is available.

4. People receiving housing benefit which has been passported are receiving Income Support, Job Seekers Allowance, Employment Support Allowance, or Pension Credit (guaranteed credit).

5. People claiming Housing Benefit not in receipt of a passported benefit are recorded as being in employment if their local authority has recorded employment income from either the main claimant, or partner of claimant (if applicable), in calculating the housing benefit award.

6. The analysis covers all housing benefit recipients in social housing and private rented accommodation.

7. Passported Status does not include recipients with unknown passported status.

Source Department for Work and Pensions Single Housing Benefit Extract.

Information on the employment status of housing benefit recipients is available from the Single Housing Benefit Extract (SHBE) managed by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). From an analysis of this source provided to us by DWP, of 468,960 housing benefit recipients in Scotland in July 2010, there were 42,220 (9% of all housing benefit recipients) whose benefit was not passported and for whom the local authority recorded employment income from either the main claimant or partner in calculating the housing benefit award.

Another potential source of information on the characteristics of people on housing benefits is the Family Resources Survey (FRS). The FRS provides information, among other things, on the characteristics and circumstances of households which identify themselves in the survey as receiving housing benefit. In the 2008-09 survey 8% of housing benefit recipients in the survey in Scotland were recorded as having either the main applicant, spouse or both in employment. It should be noted that this is a sample survey and that there will be related levels of uncertainty around these estimates. There is also evidence of under reporting of benefit receipt in the survey.

The information below has been provided by the Department for Work and Pensions:

Authority	Private Rented Sector
	Recipients	Average Award
Aberdeen City	1,390	101.20
Aberdeenshire	1,830	98.32
Angus	1,840	83.77
Argyll and Bute	1,670	84.47
Clackmannanshire	690	89.14
Dumfries and Galloway	2,720	74.85
Dundee City	4,180	87.90
East Ayrshire	2,220	91.79
East Dunbartonshire	1,000	105.34
East Lothian	1,220	107.01
East Renfrewshire	800	99.61
Edinburgh, City of	10,900	112.18
Eilean Siar	190	77.84
Falkirk	1,410	90.20
Fife	5,850	82.64
Glasgow City	13,710	100.51
Highland	2,520	84.41
Inverclyde	1,950	88.27
Midlothian	1,240	120.37
Moray	1,120	85.00
North Ayrshire	3,190	87.72
North Lanarkshire	4,620	91.53
Orkney Islands	250	78.18
Perth and Kinross	2,160	87.01
Renfrewshire	3,050	86.94
Scottish Borders	1,710	74.74
Shetland Islands	80	76.24
South Ayrshire	2,590	84.21
South Lanarkshire	4,770	90.56
Stirling	870	87.77
West Dunbartonshire	1,100	98.08
West Lothian	2,760	102.11
Scotland	85,600	94.03

Notes:

1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

2. Average awards are shown as pounds per week and rounded to the nearest penny.

3. Breakdown by tenure does not include recipients with unknown tenure type.

Source: Single Housing Benefit Extract 100% individual level data (SHBE).

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-37120 on 4 November 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

12 local authorities have agreed to participate in the current procurement for the National Housing Trust initiative. The local authorities and the maximum number of houses they are willing to procure are as follows:

Local Authority	Maximum Number of Houses to be Procured
Aberdeen City Council	50
Dumfries and Galloway Council	100
Dundee City Council	75
East Lothian Council	30
East Renfrewshire Council	150
City of Edinburgh Council	600
Falkirk Council	100
Glasgow City Council	400
Highland Council	50
Midlothian Council	75
Scottish Borders Council	100
Stirling Council	50

The exact number of houses each local authority procures will be dependent on the outcome of the procurement process.

The following housing interests are being invited to sit on the advisory group:

·                    COSLA;

·                    Council of Mortgage Lenders;

·                    Scottish Federation of Housing Associations;

·                    Chartered Institute of Housing;

·                    Equalities groups;

·                    Shelter (Scotland);

·                    Housing Support Enabling Unit to nominate housing support provider;

·                    Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers;

·                    Citizens Advice Scotland;

·                    Scottish Council for Single Homeless;

·                    Two COSLA nominated local authorities (urban and rural);

·                    Consumer Focus (Scotland); and

·                    Scottish Rural Property and Business Association.

I spoke at the National Association of Pension Funds'' annual conference in Liverpool on 7 October 2010, and the Scottish Government is in continuing discussions with pension funds, fund managers and advisers about the investment opportunities provided by social and affordable housing. Officials are also talking to the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations and their members about the opportunities presented by pension funds as a source of innovative finance.

A policy paper on housing priorities will be published this winter which will include plans for future funding options like pension funds.

The Scottish Government recognises the important role that carers play in Scotland and has put a number of measures in place to support carers. To that end, we have published, with COSLA, a carers strategy on 26 July 2010. This strategy takes into account the views of a wide range of interests and is based on a review of progress against the Care 21 report, The Future of Unpaid Care in Scotland, and on the input from stakeholders. It will focus on improving outcomes for carers through better recognition and support.

The Energy Assistance Package is open to anyone in Scotland. It offers energy efficiency advice, benefits and tax credit checks, tariff checks and physical measures to eligible households to improve the energy efficiency of their homes. Because it is broader than previous schemes, such as the Central Heating Programme, it can help a much wider group of people, including carers. If anyone is having difficulty heating their home I would urge that they contact the freephone number for assistance
0800 512012.