Housing Benefit news is added as it arrives, with the most recent at the top. More ancient news can be found in the archives.
Changes to Appeal process afoot- have your say!
The DWP have issued a consultation document on their plans to make appellants go through a 'robust review' before being allowed to appeal to a tribunal. This would be in place from April 2013. BUT it will not affect HB. So it could be confusing for claimants appeals a DWP and HB appeal at the same time.
There is a concern that the DWP's intention to 'weed out' frivolous or hopeless cases may actually dissuade genuine appeals. Furthermore it may prove harder to get 'late' appeals accepted, as the decision whether to accept them as late would stop at the DWP rather than being down to the Tribunal Service's agreement. If you want to have your say go to ucnotes for more information.
Rights of landlord to appeal
The Court of Appeal, in Wirral MDC v Salisbury Independent Living Ltd (2012) EWCA Civ 84 ruled against the decision of CH/3186/2009 that a landlord had a right of appeal that extended those limited rights given in Decisions and Appeals reg 3. To the contrary, a landlord only counts as a person affected in these limited cases and therefore a landlord's rights of appeal are limited to these: ie to whom direct payments are made and recovery of overpayments where the landlord is the target of recovery.
Has your LA underspent its DHP budget?
The Guardian found that nearly £1m of the 2010-11 Discretionary Housing Payment was not spent by Local Authorities, some spending only half. Some LAs are unclear about the extent of circumstances DHPs can cover, so if your LA is an 'underspender' it might be worth a meeting with them to discuss how they can help vulnerable tenants. Click here to find out if your LA is an underspender.
Recent Circulars
U1/2012 - Confirmation- following a decision in the Supreme Court- that overpayments of benefits or Social Fund loans cannot be taken where they have already been included in a Debt Relief Order. Moreover, where there is a Bankruptcy Order in place, such overpayments are not recoverable if they pre-dated the Bankruptcy Order. Note this means that any such HB overpayments recovered since DROs came in, in April 2009, have to be refunded. The DWP are still seeking legal advice on how to treat Scottish forms of insolvency: Sequestration and Protected Deed Funds.
G1/2012 - DWP asking LAs to tell them (BY 8TH FEBRUARY) how many claimants might be affected if expected change in regs confirms that heat/light/cleaning charges in communal living rooms in shared/group homes are ineligible (as opposed to sheltered, which is eligible). NOTE: We have prepared a standard email response for you to send if you are concerned about the potential effect on your shared housing/hostels/group homes. Click here.
A2/2012 - Extension, for a further two years, of restrictions on rights to work and claim benefits for A2 Nationals
Demonstration Projects announced
On 19/01/2012 the government announced the 5 volunteers (from LAs and Housing Associations) who will take part in the demonstration projects looking into how to manage the change to direct payments of housing costs to tenants under Universal Credit; and testing how a limited direct payment to landlord scheme could function. More info, including who has volunteered, on the DWP website.
Recent Circulars
A1/2012 - Proposed benefit rates from April 2012
A14/2011 - Further guidance on extension of Shared Accommodation Rate (SAR) to under 35's. For more information on this change see our ucnotes site.
A13/2011 - Non-citizens of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia
U6/2011 - Debt relief orders amd overpayment recovery - click here for more information.
G10/2011 - Gender reassignment project.
Welfare Reform: Undeoccupancy penalty - amendment passed by House of Lords
Peers in the House of Lords voted on 14th December 2011 by 258 to 190 to pass an amendment that waters down proposals for the under occupancy penalty. The government had been hoping to cut £500 million a year from the housing benefit bill by restricting payments to working age households in social housing with ‘spare’ bedrooms. Sadly this does not necessarily mean that these amendments will stay. See our ucnotes site for more information.
Proposed Benefit Rates 2012/13 - increases in non-dependant deductions cotinue.
Proposed benefit rates from April 2012 published - click here for DWP benefits and click here for Tax Credits. Take a look at the non-dependant deductions!!
These are the proposed rates that will need to be 'approved' by Parilament - generally approved in early Spring.
Despite earlier fears, most benefit rates are increasing in line with Septembers CPI ie 5.2%. However, as announced in the Government's Autumn Statement the couple and lone parent element of Working Tax Credit has been frozen.
Person from Abroad Upper Tribunal decision - although DWP to appeal
CIS/886/08 - the claimant was a EU national (German) with a daughter who was born in the UK. The claimant could not be classed as a 'worker' but the Upper Tribunal decided that she has the right to reside in the UK in order to render effective her daughter's right. The DWP are appealing this decision and so any 'lookalike' claims for IS / IB-JSA / IR-ESA are currently being 'stayed' until the outcome of the appeal is heard. Memo DMG 35/11.
Recent Circulars
A12/2011 - More information about the extention of the LHA single accommodation rent to single people under 35 from January 2012.
A11/2011 - Miscellanous amendments including: confirming that a payment from the 16-19 Bursary Fund is disregarded in full as income; the New Enterprise Allowance payments are not classed as earning from self-employment; and that the Enhanced Disability Premium 8 week run on after the death of a child is awarded regardless of whether the HB claimant or their partner was in receipt of Child Benefit in respect of the child.
S11/2011 - Extension of risk based verification.
G8/2011 - Various