Every year, the councils in Wales receive discretionary housing payment money from the Department for Work and Pensions, and, last year, Merthyr Tydfil, Rhondda Cynon Taf and Anglesey were criticised for handing money back that should have gone to people who receive housing benefit or universal credit and need extra help with rent or housing costs. Commenting on this, Merthyr Tydfil said that,

'Sending this money back is not a bad thing for us. Our benefits numbers are shrinking—the applications are approximately half of what they were last year.'  

How, therefore, do you respond to concern expressed this week by Community Housing Cymru that support for housing costs is now included within the universal credit payment, there is no longer a need for interaction with the local authority in order to claim mainstream benefits, and this makes it less likely for claimants to access local authorities benefits they might be entitled to, such as discretionary housing payments or council tax reduction or free school meals? They call on the Welsh Government and Welsh local authorities to work with Jobcentre Plus in Wales to co-locate services and enable applications for local authority benefits to be made at the same time as the first appointment for universal credit.