Benefits: Backdating

Baroness Thomas of Winchester
asked Her Majesty's Government:

What plans they have to commission independent research to assess the impact of the reduction of the backdating period for pension credit, housing and council tax benefit, which took place on 6 October, before making further policy decisions on that issue. [HL6325]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton)
We will be inviting key stakeholders such as Citizens Advice and Shelter to submit case study data to this department over the next 12 months, which will help us to understand the impact of the change in backdating rules. We will consider this alongside other evidence, for example from the local authority associations. We will review the policy at the end of 2009.