The DWP has set up a number of Benefit Integrity Centres (BIC) with the specific aim that claimants are receiving the right amount of benefit.

These centres are contacting claimants by telephone and post to conduct full case reviews. If the BIC asks the claimant to return a review form or provide additional information they must return it within the timesales given otherwise they can find their benefit suspended.

For more information see page 3 of November's Touchbase magazine 

Another nail in the Housing Benefit coffin!

Lord Freud has confirmed that Housing Benefit for people of Pension Credit age will, like Universal Credit taking over Housing Benefit for working age people, be taken over by Pension Credit.

He also confirmed that someone of Pension Credit age would be able to claim help with tehir rent via Pension Credit even if they are not entitled to Guarantee or Savings Pension Credit ie that is will be a separate assessment.

And hinted that a capital limit will be introduced across the whole of Pension Credit - extract from Hansard:

 Lord McKenzie of Luton: I am most grateful to the noble Lord for a number of detailed replies, with some follow-up, but can he just be a little more specific around the capital rules? From his answer, it was very unclear what is intended. We have two systems for housing benefit: we have the cut-off at £16,000, whereas for the pension credit we do not. I am not sure whether those two systems will sit side by side in the new arrangements, or whether there will be some common approach to capital, and whether that will adopt the pension credit approach or the current housing benefit approach.

Lord Freud: My Lords, it will go somewhere in between. It will be a capital limit as opposed to a tariff income approach, but it will be a higher capital limit than that for working-age claimants.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: As I understand it, that will operate for pension credit as well as the housing component.

Lord Freud: Yes, that is correct.

U4/2011 - Non state pension uprating in PC claims update

U3/2011 - Non state pension updrating in PC claims - scan cancelled.

U2/2011 - Non state pension uprating in PC claims error - scan to be provided to HB Offices.

The future of payments for Housing Costs direct to social landlords under Universal Credit

It now looks that some parts of the current Housing Benefit direct scheme may be saved under Universal Credit. Speaking at the National Housing Federation (NHF) annual conference Welfare Reform Minister Lord Freud announced that vulnerable people and pensioners will continue to see the housing element of Universal Credit paid directly to their social landlord. (Although there is no information on the criteria that will class someone as vulnerable.)

He also announced that the government is seeking to establish six small-scale projects to help prepare for the move to the default position being that the housing cost element of Universal Credit paid directly to the tenant. These will run from June 2012 for a year. He said that "The projects will also look at potential safeguards for landlords. For example, we want to have in place a trigger which switches the housing payment to direct to landlords if tenants start to get behind with their rent."

Recent Circulars

G7/2011 - report on the trial of incapacity reassessment - views of claimants and staff.

G6/2011

Have your say on Supported Housing.

The government is seeking ideas, and views on proposed changes to, the way supported housing is funded. If you work in supported housing here is your opportunity to protect the rights of the people you work with.

In the consultation summary the government says it is looking at what makes supported housing rents higher and whether it is reasonable to meet these rents through benefit.  In the light of the move to Universal Credit they are considering whether the costs  should be based on Local Housing Allowance principles. They are proposing to pay Local Housing Allowance but with fixed additions, and with additional help for those who need more intensive levels of personal care and support. Decisions about this extra funding would be made by "local authority officials who have experience in such things, or who have access to those with such expertise". 

Response to the consultation is through a set of questions. You can respond either online or on paper. Responses must be in by October 9th. Click here for the consultation.  

Have your say on ESA assessment. 

The WCA Independent Review Team are asking organisations and individuals to comment on the ESA Work Capability Assessment. They are particularly interested in your opinions on what should be in future reviews, and on the face to face assessments   Click here to find out more and have your say. Deadline is 16th September.

Have your say on Council Tax Benefit replacement.

The government is seeking views on the proposal to replace council tax benefit in England with 'localised support',from April 2013. Key elements of the proposals are:

• Having a discount system instead of a benefit, (on top of the current discounts).
  

• LAs deciding who gets the discount and how much, with pensioners being protected, and the aim to ensure people are better off in work.
  

• Pensioners will be protected from reduced income, and the government are looking into whether other groups of people should also be protected.
  

• Ensuring the design of local council tax support schemes support work incentives.
  

• LAs being able to make changes to schemes so long as they consult where the changes are major.
  

•  

  Appeals coming under a local scheme instead of the Tribunal system.

The closing date for responding to the consultation is 14 October 2011. Click here for the consultation paper.

No u-turn on Benefits Cap

Hopes that plans to relax the benefits cap, that would see no out of work family getting more than £500 a week in benefits, in special circumstances appear to have been dashed following a statement from Ian Duncan-Smith.

 

Iain Duncan Smith has denied a u-turn on the benefits cap after Welfare Reform Minister Lord Freud, Speaking on the Politics Show on BBC on 13^th June said:

 

"We're looking at exceptional circumstances which some people may find themselves in and we're going to be putting out arrangements for that later in the year."

 

When asked what form the changes would take, he said: "Wherever we think that there's something happening that is undesirable and we're looking very carefully at how to draw up those protections."

 

However Iain Duncan Smith has said since that "The benefit cap will restore fairness to the taxpayer and fairness to those who do the right thing on benefits. The policy is unchanged. The £26,000 benefits cap remains."

Updated non-dependant deduction leaflet 

We have updated our non-dependant deduction leaflet to encourage tenants to ensure that the correct deduction is being made form their HB award. It has the deduction levels for 48, 50 and 52 rent years: flyer front, flyer back. If you would like a supply of these please contact us - info@hbnotes.co.uk.

Possible delays to Universal Credit

The Guardian has reported leaks from the Government that the complexity of the IT system may mean Universal Credit implementation is delayed: click here.

Landlords- do they have the right of appeal?

It is generally accepted that landlords only have a right of appeal against decisions regarding direct payments of HB and recovery of HB overpayments where the HB Office is seeking to recover the overpayment from the landlord. However, a recent case - CH/3186/2099 - has suggested that a landlord is a 'person affected' by a decision regarding HB for one of their tenants and therefore can make an appeal. Many commentators believe this interpretation of the Regulations to be misleading, but this case can be used to argue that a landlord does indeed have a direct right of appeal.

CPAG - granted permission to challenge reform of LHA

The Child Poverty Action Group have been given permission to proceed to Judicial Review  to challenge two aspects of the governments reforms to LHA - the overall cap on the LHA rates payable and the maximum size of dwelling being reduced to a 4 bedroomed property. For more information, see the CPAG website.

Have your say!

Increasing age for Shared Accommodation rate. The Social Security Advisory Committee have been asked to comment on the government's proposal to amend the definition of 'young individual' for the shared accommodation rate for HB claims in the private rented sector so that the age is increased from 'under 25' to 'under 35' from January 2012. Before it responds the SSAC would like to hear from interested organisations and individuals who would like to make representations about the proposed change - click here for the press release - the closing date is 17th June 2011. The plans are outlined in the DWP's consultation document.

A state pension for the 21st century. The government has recently published its green paper outlining its proposals for simplifying the State Pension system. If you would like to respond you have until 24th June 2011 to do so.

Minimum wage and permitted earnings

The minimum wage is set to increase from £5.93 to £6.08 on 1st October 2011, and the higher permitted earnings disregard will increase from £95.00 to £97.50 a week from 3rd October 2011 to take account of this.

Recent Circulars

G5/2011 - Various including a reminder to HB Offices that underlying entitlement must be considered for all overpayments including those caused by fraud.

A10/2011 - end to Worker Registration scheme.

S5/2011 - HB subsidy for customers living in temporary accommodation - corrections to S1/2011.

Human Rights and Social Housing

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has published a document 'Human Rights at Home' which gives guidance on all apsects of Human Rights Law as they apply to social housing. This includes rent arrears, re-possession, anti-social behaviour etc. Click here for the document.

Definition of 'sheltered' for service charges

The HB Regs allow fuel/cleaning charges to be eligible for communal lounges, dining areas, kitchens in 'sheltered' housing'. But what is 'sheltered' housing for these purposes?
In a recent decision - CH/322/2010, the Judge said that 'sheltered' should take a wide definition and can therefore probably include many types of supported schemes - not just those for the elderly with a warden or alarm. The Judge said: '....that it is accommodation provided for people who are in some way (and probably for some defined reason) more vulnerable that most people are, or are vulnerable in a particular kind of way'.

Use this standard letterSelf Employment Credit replaced by New Enterprise Allowance where your HB Office has decided not to pay for the fuel / cleaning of communal rooms in a supported housing scheme.

The Self Employment Credit - which pays £50 a week to people who have been claiming Jobseekers Allowance for 13 weeks or more who set up in self employment for the fist 16 weeks of trading - has been replaced from 1st April 2011 by the New Enterprise Allowance. This provides access to business mentoring and financial support to people who have been on Jobseekers allowance 6 months or more who set up in business. For more details - click here.

Recent Circulars

A9/2011 - LHA transition fund

A8/2011 - Various including the New Enterprise Allowance; enhanced disablity premium continuing for 8 weeks after death of dependant child; automatic renewal of Tax Credit award if cliamnt on IS, IB JSA, IR ESA or PC; and an amendment to A26/2010.

G4/2011 - general bulletin 4 - various info.

A8 Nationals

The registration scheme that the majority of A8 nationals had to register with in order to claim benefits ended on 30th April 2011. The closure of the scheme will mean that nationals of the A8 countries - the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - have, from 30th April 2011, for the first time the same benefit rights as other EU nationals.

This means that they will not either have to be undertaking registered work or have completed 12 months registered work in order to claim in-work HB, nor will they have to have been in registered work for 12 months or more before they can claim out of work HB (and JSA/ESA/IS).

Note: there are still restrictions on EU nationals claiming HB - for more information see the People from Abroad pages of the site.

Crisis Loans

The government has announced new restrictions to crisis loans. The changes, which the government says are designed to protect the social fund budget that might otherwise 'run out before Christmas', are, from April 2011 - 

• crisis loans won’t be available for items such as cookers and beds, although some help will be available for people following a disaster such as flooding;

• the rate paid for living expenses will be cut from 75 per cent down to 60 per cent of benefit rate; and

• a cap of three crisis loan awards for general living expenses in a rolling 12 month period will be introduced.

Recent Circulars

G5/2011 - Need to consider underlying entitlement when calculating overpayments. It appears many HB offices are not doing this and this general circulare reminds them it must be done even where there is fraud.

A7/2011 - Inspection arrangements and operational & performance info for 2011/12.

A6/2011 - Extension of shared accommodation rate to people under 35 from Jan 2012.

A5/2011 - Unrest in Libya & potential claims from Libyan students whose funds are disrupted.

G3/2011 - general bulletin 3, various info.

Local Housing Allowance

A new guidance manual has been issued by the DWP this includes information to the changes to LHA from April 2011.

Universal Credit

As the Welfare Reform Bill passes through parliament, policy briefings are being published which give us more idea as to how various aspects of the reforms will work. There have been three briefings recently published giving further details about Universal Credit.

Briefing Note 1: Looks at how disabled claimants and family members will be financially supported under Universal Credit.

Briefing Note 2: Looks at how payments will be made, with no real mention of whether HB direct will continue under the new system.

Briefing Note 3: Confirms that there will be a savings limit of £16,000.

Local Housing Allowance - single room rent for under 35's

Under Local Housing Allowance those claimants who are single and under 25 have the maximum amount of HB payable restricted to that charged for a room in a shared house. The government announced that it was extending this Single Room Rent (SRR) to single claimants under 35 from April 2012. They have now announced that they are to bring this forward 3 months ie to January 2012. For more infomration on the changes to Local Housing Allowance - please click here.

Education Maintenance Allowance

Last year the government announced that they were scrapping EMA with no new claims since January 2011. It was expected that all existing EMA payments would stop this summer. However the government have announced that there will be a partial reprieve for some students already getting EMA.

Those who started courses during the 2009/10 academic year will now continue getting the same payments until the end of the 2011/12 academic year.

And students who started courses last September and currently qualify for £30 a week will receive continuing support of £20 a week for the 2011/12 academic year.

EMA is to be replaced by a bursary scheme administered by schools and colleges and it is expected that every child eligible for free school meals who chooses to stay on in education past their GSCE's can get paid £800 a year. And £1,200 a year will be given to 12,000 teenagers with the greatest needs, such as pupils in care, care leavers and severely disabled.

Employment and Support Allowance - new medical test

A new medical test (Work Capability Assessment) is being introduced for ESA from 28th March. Whilst it makes it easier for some severely disabled claimants to be found to have a limited capability for work related activity and therefore be put into the Support Group, it makes it harder for the majority of claimants to be found to have a limited capacity for work ie makes it harder to be found unfit for work. 

Click here for the new form, and here for the new points system to be found to have a limited capacity for work (ie to be found unfit for work) and here for the criteria to be found to have a limited capacity for work related activity (ie put into the Support Group). 

 Welfare Reform Bill – Have Your Say

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Iain Duncan Smith, introduced the second reading of the Welfare Reform Bill in the House of Commons on Wednesday 9 March.

The Bill passed with a vote and will now be considered by a Public Bill Committee for scrutiny and there is a call for written evidence.

Do you have relevant expertise and experience or a special interest in the Welfare Reform Bill? If so, you can submit your views in writing to the House of Commons Public Bill Committee which is going to consider this Bill - click here for more information.

Recent Circulars

A4/2011 - LHA - guidance on new provision for payment to landlords.

A3/2011 - LHA - extra bedroom for carer.

Discretionary Housing Payments Guidance

G2/2011 - ICB/IS reassessment to ESA and 'Tell Us Once' project update.

Abolition of Discretionary Social Fund

The Welfare Reform Bill includes enabling powers to abolish the Discretionary Social Fund (ie Community Care Grants, Budgeting Loans, Crisis Loans). The idea is to transfer the funding for Community Care Grants and Crisis Loans to Local Authorities who can redesign this emergency provision for vulnerable groups. The government our asking for comments and feedback on how this might work - deadline 15th April 2011. Please click here for the DWP's call for evidence paper.

10% reduction in HB for long term JSA claimant abandoned

On 17th February Iain Duncan Smith announced on 'Today' on Radio 4 that  the Government has ditched the plans to reduce by 10% the Housing Benefit paid to people who have been on JSA for 12 months or more - it has been removed from the Welfare Reform Bill.

Welfare Reform Bill published

The Welfare Reform Bill was published on 17th February 2011. It oulines a radical shake up of the Welfare Reform system including the introduction of Universal Credit which will see the end to Housing Benefit. Click here for the Bill, here for the explanatory notes and here for the impact assessments.

Local Housing Allowance - report

The DWP have recently produced a 'Two Year Review of Local Housing Allowance. The LHA scheme went national in April 2008, this report  investigates whether or not the LHA has achieved it's objectives.

Recent Circulars

A2/2011 - Information on secure emailing.

S2/2011 - Allocation of Discretionary Housing Budget for 2011/12.

G1/2011 - Various including a reminder to HB Offices that where conf1rmation is needed of a child living in the household that they can use bank statements showing payment of Child Benefit, or Tax Credit letters.

A1/2011 - Future HB inspections in England following the abolishment of teh Audit Commission.

U1/2011 - Overpayment recovery and debt relief orders: due to a current appeal, all on-going overpayment recovery from a claimant with a debt relief order must be supended until the outcome of the appeal to the Supreme Court is known.

Tribunal confirms communal gardening is eligible for HB

A recent Tribunal  (CH 1350/2010) has confirmed that where:

1. A service charge for communal gardening is included in the rent and is therefore a condition of the tenancy, and

2. The tenant has no responsibility to maintain the garden,

then the service charge (so long as not excessive) is eligible for HB.

This situation is different to that in CH/0755/2008 where the gardening charge was not eligible because it was a condition of the tenancy that the tenant maintained the garden, it was not a communal garden and the tenant could have opted out of the gardening service that the landlord was providing.

For more information on what is and isn't eligible, please click here.

Recent Circulars

A26/2010- new benefit rates 

Proposed Benefit Rates from 2011

The government have announced the proposed new benefit rates from April 2011. No surprises apart from how much the non-dependant deductions are increasing - see below, and click here for our 2011 non-dep deduction table.

Supported Housing

The DWP has published a report into Supported Housing commissioned to fed into a review of the way Housing Benefit is worked out for claimants living in social and voluntary supported housing. The report makes no real conclusion, but lists suggestions put forward by councils and other groups interviewed. These include: making the claimant exempt rather than the accommodation, a cap on payments; a banding system based on LHA; a role for Adult Social Care; and an assessment of benefit by a centralised team rather than local councils.

The final paragraph of the report may help predict what the DWP may do, it says 'The current system is complex and probably not amenable to minor modifications. There are, however, some potential short-term actions that may be worth exploring further. Suggestions included a national, standard pro-forma for presenting rent and service charges to simplify administration, and clearer definitions of the terms 'unreasonably high' and 'minimal care, support and supervision'.'.

Social Security Advisory Committee consultation report on LHA changes

The government has published it's response to the SSAC's report on the changes to LHA due to take effect during 2011. Despite the SSAC having significant concerns about the changes the government have decided to proceed with the changes. Click here to read the report and the governments reponse.

DWP Impact Report on LHA

The impact assessment produced by the DWP on how cuts to Local Housing Allowance will affect poorer families states that almost a million families are likely to suffer as a result. 

It warns of overcrowding, eviction, homelessness, disruption to children’s education, the need for temporary classrooms in some schools and costly surplus places in others as large numbers of people are forced to relocate and gaps and delays in support for people with disabilities. 

Recent Circulars

U5/2011 - Advise to HB Offices to continue to make Right to Reside decisions following statement from European Commission declaring test breaches EU law.

 

G9/2011 - Various.

 

CPAG’s challenge against LHA changes

Child Poverty Action Group’s challenge against two of the changes to LHA in April 2011 has been unsuccessful.

CPAG challenged the maximum weekly caps - as ultra vires because they went against the purposes of the HB scheme ie to prevent homelessness through inability to meet rent; and that the caps and the reduction of the maximum size property eligible for HB under LHA to four bedrooms - as discriminative.

 

The Judge disagreed on both accounts. It was concluded that the purpose of the HB scheme is to assist claimants with rent, whilst also protecting the public purse; and that the changes are not discriminatory as those most affected by the caps are claimants living in one and two bed roomed properties, and that the DWP’s data had shown that the reduction in bed room size ’may’ impact on ethnic minority groups ‘disproportionately’ but had sufficient information to discharge their duties. For more information see the CPAG website.