Government puts housing benefit cut on hold

A government proposal to claim back £15 a week from housing benefit claimants has been put on hold following an outcry from recipients and a campaign by a number of Liberal Democrat councils.

At present, if a housing benefit claimant finds a property to rent at less than the rate of housing allowance set by the council, they can keep up to £15 of the difference.  However, the Labour Government had tried to scrap this scheme in April, which would have hit those on the lowest incomes the hardest.  However, the government has now been forced to put off this cut until at least 2011.

More details from the BBC