I move amendment No. 26:
In page 10, lines 24 and 25, to delete "exceed the amount of the weekly rent payable" and substitute "be less than the amount of the weekly rent payable plus £1".
The Bill provides that unpaid rent arrears may be deducted from social welfare entitlements, provided the amount to be deducted is no greater than the rent. Suppose a tenant is £10,000 in arrears and the local authority seeks to have the amount deducted on a weekly basis from his social welfare entitlements, even if, say, £10 per week was deducted for the next ten years there would still be arrears outstanding. In view of this, the amount to be deducted should be a minimum of the weekly rent plus £1.