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…

The DWP confirmed on Monday this week that Personal Independence Payments (PIP), the replacement for DLA for people between 16 and 64, will now be rolled out nationally. Those currently receiving DLA outwith this age band are not affected and so will continue to receive DLA. In contrast, those 16-64…

DWP has just issued a HB circular which provides a breakdown, council by council, of how much of a DWP allocation has been made, and secondly, how much the budget can be increased to with your local council’s support. If you examine Annexe A you’ll see the “Government Funding” column…

The DWP announced yesterday, that the 6 demonstration projects, designed to assess the amount of assistance tenants will require, under Universal Credit (UC) with budgeting, opening bank accounts and paying rent to their landlord, have been extended by 6 months, until December 2013. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/direct-payment-projects-extended-for-6-months Significantly, this means the projects won’t…

DWP has just issued a briefing note, in response to frequently asked questions (FAQ’s), which is designed to help you understand how the “extra room” should be assessed, when dealing with formally approved Foster Carers; “family and friend” fostering placements(Kinship in Scotland); and those awaiting to be formally approved as…

The DWP has just provided an update to its February 2013 Local Support Services Framework (LSSF) report which gives much more detail on what is likely to happen to claimants, needing budgeting and alternative payment arrangements, as Universal Credit is rolled out nationally from October 2013. The update https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-local-support-services-framework firstly…

As you know, from my earlier bulletins, the Benefits Cap (limiting of Social Security household benefit awards to £350 or £500 per week, depending on household make-up) is designed to ensure workless households should no longer receive more in social security benefits than the average earnings of working households. The…