A briefing note designed for frontline staff who will be required to offer advice & support to tenants as UC is rolled out nationally. Click here to read the briefing note….

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Hi, As we fast approach October 2013 and Universal Credit delivery is extended to another 6 Pathfinder sites, more and more associations are contacting us seeking to organise training for their frontline troops. Whilst that’s perfectly understandable, given all the DWP and Ministerial hype, about the “national roll-out”, I would…

“The champagne corks were flying yesterday in Whitehall as Ian Duncan Smith announced that the Benefit Cap has been successfully delivered in the 4 London Boroughs of Enfield, Haringey, Bromley and Croydon. In total, just over 2,400 households were capped by having their Housing Benefit reduced. Bill extrapolated the key…

Good morning, As I’m sure you’re already aware, Iain Duncan Smith, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions announced on Thursday, the DWP’s plans for the next stages in the Universal Credit roll-out. You can read the full transcript here. a)      The Government’s priority has been to deliver Universal Credit…

Earlier today I advised you that the Judicial Review attempt had failed. You’ll find the full judgement at: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/QB/2013/2213.html Below you’ll find evidence of the court’s displeasure with our Secretary of State for not creating secondary legislation in relation to the earlier Gorry, Burnip Judgement and relying instead on the…

Judicial Review Appeal fails! The BBC and Guardian have just announced that the Judicial Review (JR) attempt, pursued by a number of disabled families, has been unsuccessful. The JR involved ten families who wished to challenge the loss in their housing benefit due to the imposition of “Bedroom Tax” sanctions.…

The Work and Pensions Committee has just announced it intends to undertake an Inquiry into the provision of support to meet housing costs in the reformed welfare system. Recently the Committee published a report in November 2012 on Universal Credit implementation: meeting the needs of vulnerable claimants. The Government Response was…

Almost every day you’ll find newspaper articles covering protests against: under-occupation penalties; threats of repossession action by councils and RSLs for rent arrears; combined with complaints about new Council Tax charges arising from the less generous Council Tax Reduction scheme which started in April. In Sheffield anti-Bedroom Tax protestors gathered outside…

Earlier this week, the DWP issued its latest circular A14/2013 providing councils with some advice on how the Ashton-under-Lynne Pathfinder will prepare the way for the national roll-out of Universal Credit. The circular is really quite technical, as a whole, so I’ve decided not to attach it nor depress you. But…

In earlier bulletins I’ve commented on the critical importance of Housing Benefit (HB) to RSL revenue streams. With all the attention being focused on the Bedroom Tax and Universal Credit it’s easy to overlook the scheme still has still another 5 years, at least, to run, and probably many more as the…