Deductions from benefits

Read CPAg and cannot make head or tail of it when it comes to deductions from JSA. My client is 21 years old and is entitled to JSA of £56.25 a week. However, he is having a total of £20.47 a week deducted leaving him with £35.78 a week to live on. The deductions are:

£10.51 a week for on going hostel charges.
£ 4.20 a week benefit overpayment ( unspecified)
£5.76 a week SF loan.

Client also has magistrates court fines which are not being deducted.

My question is as follows: Is there a maximum amount that can be deducted from benefit? Also , is it possible to have hostel charges ( not arrears) deducted from benefits? I am very concerned about this last point because a housing assocaiation has informed me that the DWP are ‘trialling’ deductions for on going housing costs. This ‘trialling’ has resulted in me making 4 referrals to food banks because clients are not left with enough money to live on.

Thanks

DWP have told me they can deduct 25% of benefit entitlement, excluding repayment of social fund loans, when I queried them for one of my clients who was having roughly half her weekly JSA deducted for various things.

Thank you. Interestingly, it transpires that the DWP were deducting money for a ‘damages deposit’ at the request of the hostel andlord. It was hidden in the ‘housing costs’. I queried the legality of this and the DWP agreed to stop deductions for the ‘damages deposit’ for all tenants and instructed the landlord to refund ALL monies deducted from their tenants in receipt of benefits for this cost. My lesson learned was to query the breakdown of housing costs and check legality for deducting money from benefits for such costs.