Welfare Reform Update John de la Rue East Midlands IRRV 15 th August 2013.
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Transcript of Welfare Reform Update John de la Rue East Midlands IRRV 15 th August 2013.
Welfare Reform Update
John de la Rue
East Midlands IRRV
15th August 2013
LAs and Welfare Reform
And the rest ...
Increased DHP funding
Benefits Cap
Universal Credit
April 2013
• CTRS
• Social Sector rent restrictions
• LHA limited to CPI
• Social Fund
• Crisis loans (£133.3m)
• Community Care Grants (£141m)
£m 2013/14 2014/15
LP conditionality (£220) (£300)
Size restrictions (£470) (£470)
LHA uprating (£40) (£240)
DLA (£350) (£1040)
Benefit cap (£220) (£260)
ESA time-limiting (£1130) (£1430)
ESA Youth Provisions
(£10) (£10)
Other (£60) (£110)
TOTAL (£2510) (£3870)
LAs and Welfare Reform
And the rest ...
Increased DHP funding
Benefits Cap
Universal Credit
April 2013
• CTRS
• Social Sector rent restrictions
• LHA limited to CPI
• Social Fund
• Crisis loans (£133.3m)
• Community Care Grants (£141m)
£m 2013/14 2014/15
LP conditionality (£220) (£300)
Size restrictions (£470) (£470)
LHA uprating (£40) (£240)
DLA (£350) (£1040)
Benefit cap (£220) (£260)
ESA time-limiting (£1130) (£1430)
ESA Youth Provisions
(£10) (£10)
Other (£60) (£110)
TOTAL (£2510) (£3870)
CTRS Yr1
CTS scheme options1 2 3
Leave as is and make up the difference
Arbitrary cap[protecting vulnerable groups]
Vary multiple parameters within existing CTB structure
Example 1
338k properties 77.5k CTB claims
30% reduction Protection for disabled, households with
children <5 and War Pensioners Abolition of 2AR
Band D: £1,312 30% = £7.60 pw
Example 2
32k properties 4k CTB claims
15% in-work taper on 100% of liability Abolish non-dep deductions £6k capital limit Band E restricted to Band D Nil entitlement for Bands F, G and H 80% of liability Protection for disabled and War Pensioners Child Benefit and Child Maintenance 13 week protection Nil entitlement for under 25sBand D: £1,467 20% = £5.64 pw
CTRS Yr1 and beyond
Approach to Yr1 82% (of 326 LAs) reduced entitlement
18% made no change
72% introduced a minimum payment 46% went for DCLG 8.5% 40% opted for 10 to 20% cut Remainder are at 20% +
34% introduced a discretionary fund
Questions for Yr2 Collection rates for CTRS debt
Option to change and align with CTax
Option to leave aligned to HB
Option to align with wider Welfare Reform agenda
The bedroom tax
“Trying to define ‘significantly adapted accommodation’ for exemption purposes ... would be difficult and expensive to deliver effectively, especially within Universal Credit. It would either be too broad brush or leave out many other, equally deserving cases. We therefore recommend increasing the DHP pot ... this approach would enable local authorities to make decisions at a local level about which cases should be prioritised for financial help to meet any shortfall caused by this measure. This approach may produce inconsistencies in the way individual cases are treated across different parts of the country.” DWP Sept 2011
Emerging issues
• Shortage of suitable social sector housing
• Increasing rent arrears
• Tenant behaviour • Non-engagers • Payers-and-stayers• Movers
• Increased and co-ordinated DHP activity
• Pressure on Social Housing providers
• Shifts in HB caseloads
April 2013
• 14% or 25% reduction in HB
• Only applies to working-age claims
• Exemptions for foster carers, and parents of disabled children and armed forces personnel
• Increased DHP funding available
The Benefits cap
The following incomes are included:
Bereavement Allowance Carer’s Allowance Child Benefit Child Tax Credit ESA (except support Comp) Guardians Allowance Housing Benefit Incapacity Benefit Income Support Jobseekers Allowance Maternity Allowance Severe Disablement Allowance Widowed Mother’s Allowance Widowed Parent’s Allowance Widows Pension
•
2 tranches: Working age Private and public sector tenancies Temporary homeless tenancies DWP’s decision implemented by LAs Limits amount of out of work benefits in
payment to £350/£500. HB reduced to apply the cap until Universal
Credit is introduced If applying the cap reduces HB to nil, leave
£0.50 in payment so that a DHP may be considered.
Certain exemptions including meeting the qualifying conditions for WTC
Grace period of 39 weeks
LGA ~ The Local Impacts of Welfare Reform (Aug 2013)
• 1.71 million households will be affected by HB cuts
• 1.18 million of these will be ones where no-one works
• Highest impact in London and coastal towns
• 31.5% of households in Blackpool
• Relatively few are looking for or finding work
• Estimated that 155,000 may find work
• Estimated that 115,000 may move home
• 270,000 may therefore mitigate the impact of cuts
• Heavily dependent on local jobs and housing market
•
• Households on benefit will be £31 pw worse off (£1 in £7 of household income)
• Reasonably even spread across LAs (except London)
• Likely to have the largest impact on areas with high levels of Benefits dependence
• NE, Lancashire, Central NW, Birmingham, the Black Country, parts of London and coastal towns
• 59% of cuts fall on working households
• Impact can be mitigated by moving or finding work (but this is dependent on jobs and houses)
LGA ~ impact of HB reforms
LHA changes
Restriction to 30th percentile April ’11
LHA cap April ’11
Shared Room Rate for <35s Jan ’12
Uprating limited to RPI (and thereafter to 1%)
Apr ’13
Saving £1.51 billion
Affecting 1.15 million
Average £25 pw
Benefits cap
Cap to £500/£250 By Sept ‘13
Affecting 50,000
Average £64 pw
Affects:• All couples with 4+ children and 4+ bedrooms • All single parents with 5+ children
Bedroom tax
14% or 25% for WA Apr ‘13
Saving £395 million
Affecting 540,000
Average £14 pw
Overall
Affecting 1.71 million
Average £23 pw
DWP Nov 2010
Local Support Services Framework (Feb 2013) Mental health issues Learning difficulties Drug or alcohol addiction Homelessness English language limitations Literacy difficulties Prisoners and detainees 16 and 17 year olds Non EEA including refugees Physical disabilities Working abroad Domestic violence victims Sensory disabilities Severely indebted Over 18 care leavers Gabling addiction MAPPA claimants Numeracy difficulties Troubled Families programme Rural isolation
Building on existing support Tailored and specialist support Home visits Verification Identifying cases for payment direct Tackling homelessness Urgent support
Support for new features of UC• Triage and reorientation • Online assistance• Money advice • Alternative payment arrangements • Work related support
The UC claimant journey and local support (Feb 2013)
Learn about UC Create a UC account Provide details for claim
See likely payment amount
Submit claim Prepare for interview
Attend initial interview
Prove ID and sign claimant commitment
Receive award notification
UC paid into bank account
Budget monthly and pay rent
Demonstrate actively seeking work
Start/increase work
Update details UC payment adjusts automatically
Universal Credit (Aug 2013)
October 2013 UC on track for 2017 6 additional JCPs to take new UC claims from single unemployed claimants 10 in-work conditionality pilots Improved access to digital services
Funding will be maintained to manage the full administration of HB in 2014 and 2015 Local Support Services Framework • “continue to develop certain items where production is underway” • Test aspects within the pathfinder and new UC areas • Develop new opportunities over the next 18 months • Another version in October 2013 and fully updated in October 2014
DWP Nov 2010
Welfare Reform & customers
Welfare
Reforms
• CTRS and bedroom tax from April ‘13 • Elements of Social Fund devolved to 1st tier authorities • Benefits cap from July onwards • CTRS YR 2 (without DCLG transitional grant)• Housing Credit element of UC paid direct to claimants monthly in arrears
Increased debt
• Increase in CTax arrears • Increase in rent arrears • Increase in DHPs, s13A applications and Social Fund claims
Customers need
• Social Housing of the appropriate size or a regulated private rented sector• Budgeting support and financial products (jam jar accounts) • A joined-up approach to recovery and discretionary awards • Supported self-service for digital-by-default services • New jobs or increased hours
Welfare Reform & LAs
Challenge
• No timetable• Increasing demand and discretionary activity• Local Support Services Framework • Shortage and uncertainty of funding• Inconsistent approaches and standards
Role
• Support for vulnerable customers• F2F, budgeting and finding work
• Increased discretion, managing demand and efficiencies• Locally tailored but consistent with a national framework• Customer segmentation for targeted provision
LAs need
• Varying states of readiness • 50% have caseloads <20,000
• Confirmation of UC timetable, delivery model, LA role and funding arrangements• Resilience to deal with diminishing caseloads and residual activity
Questions