Information Library

Good morning, Hard on the heels of Tuesday’s surprise announcement, DWP has released news of yet further developments in the North West of England. It has announced, Universal Credit eligibility will extend to single people and couples, with the usual pre-conditions, ensuring only the simplest of cases can claim. The…

Good morning, One of my recent bulletins http://www.ucadvice.co.uk/housing-associations/2014/04/universal-credit– commented on the DWP announcement that its Universal Credit would be rolled out to 12 new council districts, starting from June 2014. Since then I’ve heard from a number of my RSL and Private Sector clients that they’ve received notification, from their respective councils, of notional…

Hi Universal Credit delivery has now been extended to another 6 Pathfinder sites and this process will incrementally progress to other districts, throughout the UK. The “claimant commitment” and associated “benefit sanctions” are already being rolled out to 20,000 Job Centres, creating major problems for both tenants and landlords alike because of sanctions…

Hi, In recent months, landlords have expressed increasing concern over the introduction of Universal Credit but, argues Lord David Freud, the changes he’s promoting should actually make their lives easier. In an interview with Inside Housing he sends out a message to landlords – “Don’t be afraid”! http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/home/blogs/don%E2%80%99t-be-afraid/7002258.article So will…

Hi DWP has just published a Landlords’ booklet, which adopts a Q & A format, designed to explain to Landlords all of the key issues in relation to Universal Credit. Although the publication is new, most, if not all of the information, has previously been provided in documents like Landlords Managed Payments (see http://www.ucadvice.co.uk/housing-associations/2013/11/dwp-pubish—landlords-managed-payments-of-uc-housing-elelment)…

Hi, DWP have just issued the latest statisitcs on the rollout of Universal Credit in the various Pathfinder sites. Almost all of the data applies to those sites in Ashton-under-lyne (first to go live) followed by Oldham, Warrington and Wigan. Six further sites are rolling out between October and spring…

Good morning, The Scottish Government yesterday released a bulletin, based on Discretionary Housing Payment spending (DHPs) in Scotland between 1st April and 30th November 2013. The bulletin provides information on the number of DHP applications, decisions and awards. It also gives the total value of DHP awards through to 30…

Hi, The Chartered Institute of Housing’s in-house magazine “Inside Housing” recently reported on a scandal that’s been developing over the past year, in particular, caused by a mixture of DWP/Council maladministration and some of the welfare reform measures. http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/finance/‘unintended’-housing-benefit-cuts-hit-tenants/7001667.article In the article, reference was made to: “The number of sanctions…

Hi, As we start the new year, Universal Credit delivery is being extended to another 6 Pathfinder sites. The “claimant commitment” and associated “benefit sanctions” are being rolled out to all 20,000 Job Centres, and are already creating major problems for both tenants and landlords alike. Making benefit claims, using digital services,…

Hi,The following article was published on 24 Dash.com. Bill Irvine, of universal credit advice website www.ucadvice.co.uk, analyses the latest UC demonstration project findings. The six demonstration projects (DPs), set up nearly 20 months ago, to help determine how best to manage ‘direct payments’ or ‘landlord managed payments’ have just published…