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The Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) have just published its annual report for 2018/19. A large part of the report, not surprisingly, focuses on the final phase of Universal Credit’s Managed Migration exercise – and explains, in detail, the various exchanges it’s had, with both DWP and Parliament…

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DWP has just issued its latest statistics on Universal Credit, covering, amongst other things, the numbers of claims and awards made so far, broken down, and including an analysis at regional and district level. The figures cover the period up to 11th July 2019 and can be found 

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You’ll find below, an exchange I’ve had with Neil Couling, DWP’s Director General, relating to the way DWP is currently mishandling the Third-Party Deductions (TPDs) scheme, especially as it relates to rent arrears recovery and levels of deductions being applied to some tenant awards.

I wrote to DWP…

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Amber Rudd, Secretary of State, Work & Pensions made a statement to Parliament yesterday confirming the commencement of the Harrogate (Managed Migration) Pilot; and announced the go ahead of the compensation scheme for claimants who previously qualified for Severe Disability Premium (SDP) who transferred to Universal Credit, prior…

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More details from DWP’s guidance to landlords can be found here.

Private landlords are landlords who usually own the property they are renting out.

Private landlords can be:

a company that owns a lot of properties a person or family that owns one or more properties…

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In today’s bulletin, we highlight the critical part played by specialist benefits staff, in helping tenants overcome the ever-increasing obstacles placed in their path, by DWP’s mishandling of claims, its seeming reluctance or inability to remedy errors, and, on occasions, downright intransigenence.

West of Scotland Housing Association (WOSHA)…

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My recent bulletin “Notifying DWP of a change in your tenants’ rental charge” has produced a response from DWP management.

One of my Housing Association clients, wrote to their Partnership Manager, attaching a spreadsheet, with details of tenants who had failed to respond to DWP’s April 2019 “journal”…

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In recent weeks, I’ve had a number of website clients, and private landlord posters on, for example, Property Tribes, raising examples of councils not making, the 2 week run-on of Housing Benefit (LHA) even though this should be paid automatically, when a tenant transitions from Housing Benefit…

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An increasing number of my clients have been expressing concern about the ongoing fiasco, relating to the April rental charge, uprating exercise, which has contributed to some tenants failing to report the change in rent level to the DWP, in some cases creating under or over-payments. As DWP…

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Appealing Housing Benefit (HB) decisions is something I do on a weekly basis, mainly for landlord clients but, on occasions, when instructed by a landlord, I will represent their tenant(s). In this connection, I recently helped an elderly tenant and her landlord daughter successfully appeal a decision by…