Information Library

Council Tax Benefit abolition (consequential provision) regulations 2013 – remove or amend references to Council Tax Benefit in various statutory instruments…

Access to some of the content of this page is limited to members of the site. If you are already a…

Rent officers (Universal Credit functions) order 2013 – allow for rent officers in England, Wales and Scotland to make decisions about housing costs relating to Universal Credit…

Access to some of the content of this page is limited to members of the…

Loss of benefit amendment regulations 2013 – change the reduction applied to some means-tested benefits and to hardship arrangements, and also sets out the ‘serious fraud’ offences which attract an immediate 3 year loss of benefit….

Access to some of the content…

Overpayments and recovery regulations 2013 – set out rules for calculating and recovering overpayments of Universal Credit, certain Tax Credits and contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance….

Access to some of the content of this page is limited to members…

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…

Universal Credit took it first hesitant steps yesterday in the Ashton-under-Lyne, Jobcentre Plus Pathfinder with the other three projects due to commence in July. The Pathfinders, as their name suggests, were designed to test out the preparedness of the DWP and Councils, and especially the super-duper, real-time, IT system, that…

Direct Payment Trigger proposals revealed The DWP has just issued the latest of its Housing Benefit circulars A13/2013 titled “Universal Credit: Change of circumstances affecting Housing Benefit”. As I waded my way, slowly through its contents, I came across, on page 16 (one of the annexes) the following paragraph, addressing…