Dear John Brown,

I acknowledge receipt of your Freedom of Information request and will
liaise with the relevant Department in order to provide a response.

We will endeavour to provide this information within 20 working days.

Yours faithfully,

Information Governance Team / Tîm Llywodraethu Gwybodaeth

H  Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council

       Legal Section, The General Offices, Steel Works Road, Ebbw
Vale, South Wales NP23 6DN

H   Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Blaenau Gwent

       Mae'r Adain Gyfreithiol, Y Swyddfeydd Cyffredinol, Heol Gwaith Dur,
Glyn Ebwy NP23 6DN

Mae’r Cyngor yn croesawu gohebiarth yn Gymraeg a saesneg a byddwn yn
cyfathrebu gyda chi yn eich dewis iaith, dim ond I chi rhoi gwybod I ni pa
un sydd well gennych. Ni fydd gohebu yn Gymraeg yn creu unrhyw oedi.

The Council welcomes correspondence in Welsh and English and we will
communicate with you in the language of your choice, as long as you let us
know which you prefer. Corresponding in Welsh will not lead to any delay.

If you are unhappy with the handling of your request, you can ask us to
review our response. Requests for reviews should be submitted within 40
days of the date of receipt of our response to your original request –
email: [1][Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council request email].

If you are unhappy with the outcome of our review, you can write to the
Information Commissioner, who can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner’s Office - Wales

2^nd Floor Churchill House

Churchill Way

Cardiff

CF10 2HH

Telephone: 029 2067 8400

Fax: 029 2067 8399

Email: [2][email address]

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Dear John Brown,

In response to your Freedom of Information request, please see the
Officer's response below.

1)     494 private tenants subject to Local Housing Allowance had their
housing benefit paid directly to their landlord between January and
December  2019 . This excludes payments to Registered Social Landlords.

2)    Housing Benefit is administered on behalf of DWP. The criteria for
paying rent allowance directly to a landlord in the case of a private
tenant is stipulated in Housing Benefit Regulations 2006 Part 12 95 & 96.
There is also DWP guidance relating to this. An example of where payment
must be made direct to a landlord is where a person has rent arrears
equivalent to 8 weeks rent or more.

I trust this answers your request and if you have any queries please don't
hesitate to contact us.

Kind regards,

Information Governance Team / Tîm Llywodraethu Gwybodaeth

H  Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council

       Legal Section, The General Offices, Steel Works Road, Ebbw
Vale, South Wales NP23 6DN

H   Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Blaenau Gwent

       Mae'r Adain Gyfreithiol, Y Swyddfeydd Cyffredinol, Heol Gwaith Dur,
Glyn Ebwy NP23 6DN

Mae’r Cyngor yn croesawu gohebiarth yn Gymraeg a saesneg a byddwn yn
cyfathrebu gyda chi yn eich dewis iaith, dim ond I chi rhoi gwybod I ni pa
un sydd well gennych. Ni fydd gohebu yn Gymraeg yn creu unrhyw oedi.

The Council welcomes correspondence in Welsh and English and we will
communicate with you in the language of your choice, as long as you let us
know which you prefer. Corresponding in Welsh will not lead to any delay.

If you are unhappy with the handling of your request, you can ask us to
review our response. Requests for reviews should be submitted within 40
days of the date of receipt of our response to your original request –
email: [1][Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council request email].

If you are unhappy with the outcome of our review, you can write to the
Information Commissioner, who can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner’s Office - Wales

2^nd Floor Churchill House

Churchill Way

Cardiff

CF10 2HH

Telephone: 0330 414 6421

Email: [2][email address]

show quoted sections