Supplementary Benefit And Housing Addition

Mr. Ralph Howell
asked the Secretary of State for Social Services why a non-householder in receipt of supplementary benefit receives a housing addition; and why these two benefits should not be combined.

Mrs. Chalker
A non-householder on supplementary benefit gets a standard housing addition to enable him to make a contribution towards the housing expenses of the household. In theory this addition could be combined with each of the non-householder scale rates, but in practice it has been found preferable, for legislative and administrative reasons, to keep the two elements separate.