Quote:
Originally Posted by nomadking
Deducting it from Housing Benefit is just a mechanism for deducting money from their total. Simpler than having to work out deductions from across benefits X, Y, Z etc. They are expected to make up the difference from the rest of the benefits they are getting.
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That's right, Housing Benefit will be the first benefit to be cut if their total exceeds the reduced benefit cap. If they are still over the cap, other benefits may be reduced.
The idea of letting them keep 50p a week is to give them a token entitlement to Housing Benefit so that they will be eligible to apply to their local authority to claim a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) to make up some or all of the shortfall.
It's unlikely that local authorities will be able to help as their DHP budget has been slashed by 1/3 and is being used a lot to cushion the most needy from the effects of the Bedroom Tax.