asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 18 May (WA 68), on what date they received the draft report of the research to inform a review of the mechanisms of how housing benefit is administered to Travellers claiming at county council, district and unitary council sites, and private sites; whether they propose to alter the draft before publication; and, if so, why they have not given Parliament, local authorities, Travellers and members of the public the opportunity of scrutinising the draft and suggesting changes.[HL6254]

The draft report was received by the department in December last year. It is normal practice for external research commissioned and funded by the department to go through a number of routine draft stages to ensure factual accuracy and the robustness of the evidence. The drafting process is not intended to affect the conclusions and findings of the research unless it brings new evidence to light or identifies a misinterpretation of the evidence presented in the research.

Drafts of research reports are working documents and not therefore circulated beyond the project advisory group until publication. The report is expected to be published shortly.