The supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme provides for a weekly or monthly supplement to be paid in respect of rent to any person in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs. The scheme is administered on behalf of my Department by the health boards and neither I nor my Department have any function in deciding entitlement in individual cases.
The purpose of rent supplements is to assist with reasonable accommodation costs of eligible persons living in private rented accommodation who are unable to provide for their accommodation costs from their own resources and who do not have accommodation available to them from another source.
Rent supplements are normally calculated to ensure that the person, after the payment of rent, has an income equal to the supplementary welfare allowance basic weekly payment rate, less £6. This £6 represents the minimum contribution which recipients are required to pay from their own resources.
In budget 2000 I introduced a new £25 disregard in the assessment of means for rent supplement for people who take up part time employment or participate in training courses. As a result, a higher rate of rent supplement is paid in these cases. This ensures that the person is better off after taking up employment.
In the particular case raised by the Deputy, the person concerned has a total income of £60 per week more than the standard rate of unemployment assistance payable in that household's circumstances. The total amount of rent supplement in payment is £24 less than what would ordinarily be paid and consequently, the household is £36 per week better off. This £36 comprises the £25 disregard that I introduced last year and a disregard of £11 per week towards work-related expenses, such as travel.
I have now also arranged for one of my officials to contact the person in question to give her details of the full range of supports that are available in her circumstances.
On the wider policy issue, I share the Deputy's concern about escalating rents in the current housing market. There is a process in place to adjust rent supplement payment levels to take account of this. Each health board is required to set reasonable maximum rent levels in respect of various classes of persons, e.g. single persons, couples, lone parents with one child, etc., as a basis for calculating the amount of rent supplement payable. The limits are set using local knowledge as to what constitutes a reasonable rent for private rented accommodation for various household types within and across the health board area.