Guidance

A5/2020: Housing Benefit Award Accuracy Initiative

Updated 10 February 2021

Who should read

Housing Benefit staff

Action

For information

Guidance Manual

The information in this circular does not affect the content of the HB Guidance Manual

Queries

For queries about the:

• general or technical content of this circular, contact:
  [email protected]
• distribution of this circular, contact:
  [email protected]

Introduction

1. The Housing Benefit (HB) Award Accuracy Indicator launch letter (see Annex A for copy of the letter with associated questions and answers) sent out to all local authorities (LAs) on 27 February 2020 details the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWPs) plans to continue focusing on improving LAs Housing Benefit (HB) award accuracy.

2. This circular sets out the details of the HB Award Accuracy Initiative and the funding LAs will receive to undertake mandated activities to identify unreported changes of circumstances. The funding is designed to support LAs undertaking specific, mandatory activities to proactively identify unreported changes and make sure that the right amount of benefit is paid to the right person, at the right time.

3. LAs do not need to opt-in to these activities because they are mandatory. The required activities take effect from 1 April 2020. However, if LAs have resourcing issues, they can commence any time up to the 1 June 2020.

4. Those LAs commencing the mandatory activities after 1 April will need to confirm their expected start date with DWP, stockpile the work and make sure they undertake all 12 months’ work over the remaining period of the year.

HB Award Accuracy Initiative funding

5. DWP is funding LAs to undertake the following activities:

• HB Full Case Reviews (FCRs)
• HB Matching Service (HBMS) referrals, including:

– self-employed Earnings Reviews (SERs)

• the correct recording of cases and the return of management information (MI) to DWP, including:

– the correct recording of case outcomes on LA IT systems to inform SHBE (Single Housing Benefit Extract) – the return of clerical MI to DWP for HBMS case outcomes

Key points

6. The key points to support HB Award Accuracy are:

• LAs are not required to opt-in as HB Award Accuracy activities are mandatory
• funding will be paid by April 2020 in one instalment as a grant to each LA.
• the requirement to undertake the mandatory activities takes effect from 1 April 2020 – however, there is flexibility to launch up-to and including 1 June 2020 if LAs need more time to prepare/recruit additional staff
• LAs need to inform HDD of their expected start date by 27 March 2020
• LAs need to ensure correct recording and prompt return of MI to DWP

Mandatory activities

FCR

Definition

7. An FCR requires the claimant to supply all their current details and evidence requirements to the LA again in order for HB to be re-determined.

8. We are not prescribing how LAs undertake these reviews. The key elements are the:

• claimant is required to supply all their details again
• LA to validate this information with appropriate evidence in accordance with their review processes, in order to identify any changes of circumstances and recalculate a claimant’s HB award accordingly

Targeted FCR

9. Each LA’s HB Award Accuracy Indicator score uses a risk model to estimate the expected value of HB reductions each LA should process based on their caseload composition. From 1 April 2020 it is mandatory for LAs to undertake FCRs on the top 400,000 HB cases identified nationally by risk score. LAs should review cases identified by the DWP risk score rather than any other risk indicators the LA may have used in the past. The number of high risk cases in your LA and how you can identify them is shown in subsequent parts of this circular.

10. The risk model predicts the probability of an HB case having a change of circumstances. In 2019 a pilot was undertaken with 16 LAs that conducted FCRs on high and medium risk cases.

11. The pilot demonstrated a significant volume and value of unreported changes identified when LAs conduct FCRs. 64% of high risk cases reviewed resulted in a change to HB entitlement compared to 22% for medium risk cases. This demonstrates that the risk model is a good predictor of the likelihood that a case has a change of circumstances and that LAs will get the greatest return on investment by reviewing the high risk cases.

12. Based on the successful results of the pilot DWP are providing additional funding to enable LAs to undertake FCRs to improve HB award accuracy.

Data description

13. In January 2020 the ‘Risk Based’ caseload data LAs historically received with their HBMS referrals was decommissioned, whilst a new methodology was developed and tested.

14. From March/April 2020, each LA will start to receive new monthly Caseload Risk Data providing a risk score, ranked from high to low for each HB claim in their live caseload, based on the latest Single Housing Benefit Extract (SHBE) return.

15. The top 400,000 cases attracting the highest risk scores will be separately identified at a national level, apportioned and then marked accordingly within each LAs monthly data.

16. This will be sent as a separate file and will be part of the HBMS package issued each month to LAs.

17. LAs are mandated to undertake an FCR for these high risk score cases. Where the LA has already undertaken a FCR within the previous 12 months for a high risk score case the LA will need to determine the value of undertaking a further review on a case by case basis. If LAs choose not to review the case again they should move onto the next highest risk score case.

18. Where volumes of separately identified high risk score cases are lower than expected (in other words, based on the resource funded to undertake FCR activity) then the LA should consider undertaking additional FCRs based on the next high risk score cases within the Caseload Risk Data.

19. The Caseload Risk Data will be refreshed monthly. LAs are likely to see fluctuations in those high risk cases as a result of changes within their caseload due to a number of factors, such as changes in HB claimant’s circumstances and seasonal factors built into the DWP Risk Model, which allocates the risk score.

20. Do note LAs are not expected to action all cases marked as a high risk score within the month the data is received. FCR case volumes should be scheduled to be conducted over the entire 12-month period. Refreshed data will see changes each month to the volumes communicated. LAs are expected to conduct a minimum number of FCRs based on a ‘mean average’ of cases over a 12-month period.

21. Here is an example of how a ‘mean average’ is calculated:

Example 1: An LA receiving the following case volumes of:

March 168, April 182, May 177, June 180, July 172, August 190, September 179, October, 183, November 182, December 162, January 178, February 181

would be expected to conduct:

(168+182+177+180+172+190+179+183+182+162+178+181) = 2,134 Cases

2,134 divided by 12 (number of data files) = Mean Average of 178 Cases.

Data delivery

22. LAs will recognise the Caseload Risk Data through the following file name AOBWR627_LAID_RISK.csv.

23. LAs will be expected to identify volumes of cases from the file each month and upload into their IT Systems to commence FCR intervention activity. IT Supplier Guidance will be provided to support LAs in the uploading of cases in a format acceptable to your IT System.

24. The first download of data in scope of the mandatory 2020-21 activities will be issued to LAs between week commencing 9 March 2020 to week commencing 30 March 2020 (weeks 1 to 4 of HBMS data sharing cycle).

25. The final download of data in scope of the 2020-21 mandatory activities will be issued to LAs between week commencing 8 February 2021 to week commencing 1 March 2021 (weeks 1 to 4 of HBMS data sharing cycle).

26. This will constitute 12 monthly downloads of data and will form the baseline referral volumes against which FCR mandatory activity will be monitored.

MI

27. LA activity associated with FCRs undertaken will be monitored by DWP via SHBE. Specifically, we will be extracting data from the Fraud and Error detection activities, Change and Error Records.

28. A list of the actual SHBE fields DWP will be monitoring is included below:

F&E detection activities record

Field	Activity
Field 171	Date Fraud activity initiated
Field 173	Code 1 = High risk score referral from HBMS
Field 174	‘Y’ Full review
Field 175	Date Fraud and Error detection activity completed
Field 176	Outcome

Change record

Field	Activity
Field 50	Weekly HB entitlement before change
Field 248	New weekly HB entitlement after the change
Field 251	Date LA first notified of change in claim details
Field 253	Date change of details are effective from
Field 254	How was the change identified (=8 LA review)
Field 255	Date supersession decision was made on the HB claim
Field 320	Unique T-record identifier

Error record

Field	Activity
Field 320	Unique T-record identifier
Field 337	Total value of payment error
Field 338	Weekly benefit discrepancy at start of payment error
Field 339	Start date of payment error period
Field 340	End date of payment error period
Field 341	What was the cause of the overpayment

29. It is imperative that LAs are compliant with their IT supplier guidance in recording information both fully and accurately on the front end IT Systems for activity relating to:

• fraud and error detection
• change
• error

30. These data fields will feed the SHBE fields against which DWP will extract MI as detailed above.

31. It is essential that LAs put processes in place to ensure compliance in the accurate recording of FCR information on front end IT Systems, which in turn is captured via SHBE to inform DWP MI reports. Failure to comply will impact both LA’s and DWP’s ability to effectively monitor performance and result in potentially unproductive engagement with your LA by DWPs Performance Development Team (PDT).

32. LAs should engage with their LA IT Supplier where you have any queries about your LA IT supplier guidance to make sure you are recording all required/mandatory MI correctly.

33. We will provide details on Pathway for accessing LA IT Supplier Guidance for Northgate, Capita and Civica as soon as the data is published.

34. Specifically, when setting up the initial fraud and error detection record it is important that LAs identify the case as ‘Code 1 = High risk score referral from HBMS’ and mark up as a full review not partial review.

35. LAs must not use ‘Code 1 = High risk score referral from HBMS’ to identify the setting up of any other fraud detection activity, not directly attributed with the new Caseload Risk Data. This is to avoid the corruption of data extracted by DWP from SHBE to monitor LA performance.

36. DWP will look to share the coding utilised to extract performance information from SHBE so that LAs can extract comparable data sets. LAs should note exact comparisons can only be made where LAs use the most recent returned SHBE file to DWP.

37. The 2020-21 SHBE timetable of returns is provided at Annex B.

HBMS referrals, including SERs

Data description

38. All HBMS referrals issued to LAs will become mandatory and LAs already receive HBMS referrals on a monthly basis. In addition to the Self-assessment income business rules there are 22 in total. A list of those rules can be found at Annex C. Additional information on the rules can be found by accessing the HBMS Rules Guide, which is available on Glasscubes.

HBMS SER

39. In 2019, following a successful pilot, HDD supported a review of self-employed cases where the HB claimants and/or partners declared earnings had remained unchanged for over 12 months. 365 LAs opted-in to review 72,000 self-employed cases.

40. The SER demonstrated a significant volume and value of unreported changes identified; 75% of the case reviews resulted in a change in HB entitlement.

Data description

41. The new self-employment data consists of four HBMS business rules, as follows:

• HBSA002: A separate business rule which identifies non declared self- employed earnings under £10,000

• HBSA003: highlighting potential discrepancies between earnings declared by the HB claimant/partner to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and LA IT Systems (potential underpayments). 2018-19 tax year information

• HBSA004: highlighting potential discrepancies between earnings declared by the HB claimant/partner to HMRC and LA IT Systems (potential overpayments)

• HBHB405 A rule that replicates the self-employment review data issued to LAs in 2018-19, identifying where no change has been made to self-employed earnings notified to the LA within the last 12 months. Launched week commencing 9 March 2020.

42. It should be noted that cases of non-declared earnings that exceed £10,000 are identified and submitted direct to DWP Fraud Investigations for considered action; LAs do not receive these referrals.

43. From April 2020 HBSA002, HBSA003 and HBSA004 will be updated to utilise 2018-19 tax year information.

Data delivery

44. Each LA will receive the HBMS referrals (including SER) as part of their monthly HBMS suite of rules.

45. The first download of data in scope of the 2020-21 mandatory activities will be issued to LAs between week commencing 9 March 2020 (Week 1 of HBMS data sharing cycle) to week commencing 30 March 2020 (Week 4 of HBMS data sharing cycle).

46. The final download of data in scope of the 2020-21 mandatory activities will be issued to LAs between week commencing 8 February 2021 (Week 1 of HBMS data sharing cycle) and week commencing 1 March 2021 (Week 4 of HBMS data sharing cycle).

47. This will constitute 12 monthly downloads of data and will form the baseline referral volumes against which HBMS mandatory activity will be monitored.

48. Do note the new HBHB405 no change in earnings rule will begin to be issued to LAs from week commencing 9 March, in line with LAs timetabled receipt of HBMS rules.

MI

49. MI on HBMS rules activity is gathered via LAs completing and returning the clerical HBMS MI return (Excel File) which is provided with each HBMS download. This is because SHBE at present cannot currently accurately capture the information by individual rule. (DWP is looking at the possibility of automating the MI collection via SHBE during 2020-21).

50. However, collecting the data clerically does not preclude LAs from recording HBMS rule activity both fully and accurately, for fraud and error detection and/or change on their front end IT Systems in line with IT Supplier Guidance.

51. It is imperative that HBMS rule activity is captured as ‘Code 2 – HBMS Data Match Referral’ to ensure there is no cross contamination with risk based FCR activity MI.

52. A key mandatory aspect of the initiative linked to receipt of funding is that LAs comply with the correct recording of cases and the return of MI to DWP.

53. LAs should refer to the HBMS Rules Guide available on Glasscubes, which has been revised to better support the accurate completion and submission of HBMS MI Spreadsheet returns.

54. At present many LAs are non-compliant with the completion and return of the clerical excel HBMS MI spreadsheet’s’ to DWP. It is essential that LAs put processes in place to complete and return the clerical excel HBMS MI spreadsheet to DWP. Failure to comply will impact both LA’s and DWP’s ability to effectively monitor performance and result in potentially unproductive engagement.

55. DWP has put in place procedures to identify those LAs who are non-compliant, to inform conversations between HDDs Performance Relationship Managers and the relevant LAs.

56. Annex D provides a copy of the monthly clerical HBMS MI return dates which are aligned with the SHBE timetable of returns. Returns should be submitted to
[email protected]

57. It should be noted that it is likely that LAs will have to submit more than one HBMS clerical MI return each month. This is because previous clerical HBMS MI spreadsheets submitted by the LA will need to be continually updated with the latest information, until all listed cases have reached an outcome position. However, LAs can submit the same clerical spreadsheet without removing previous entries as DWP systems can identify duplicates.

58. It is not acceptable for LAs to stockpile clerical HBMS MI returns until all cases have reached an outcome stage, prior to submitting the return to DWP, as such time lags will provide an inaccurate picture of activity undertaken by the LA.

59. LAs will need to put their own processes in place to clerically build an overview of their ‘in year’ performance utilising the clerical HBMS MI spreadsheets. The figures should be consistent with DWP’s data which is directly derived from the returned clerical HBMS MI spreadsheets.

HB Award Accuracy Initiative funding allocations methodology and estimated volumes

FCR allocation methodology

60. There will be 400,000 FCR conducted annually, nationwide. DWP has secured funding on this basis, using a unit cost of £21.43 per review. Each LA has been allocated funding based on the average number of their caseload that appears in the top 400,000 cases nationally in the period January-December 2019.

FCR volumes and funding

61. Funding was calculated for each LA separately and is based on an expected volume of FCRs. These can be scheduled throughout the financial year; however, it is expected that they should be as evenly spread as possible throughout the year.

FCR unit cost calculations

62. The unit cost of £21.43 is based on an FCR taking 57 minutes. This average was derived from the FCR pilot involving 16 LAs. LAs taking part reported an average duration of 24 minutes as the time taken to conduct a FCR. However, there was a lot of variation depending on the complexity of the case. We consulted with a number of LAs and agreed to increase the unit cost to £21.43 (57 minutes) to account for complex cases and the cost of HB debt collection, appeals and any supporting clerical administration.

63. The risk model used to calculate the risk associated with a housing benefit case has a seasonal element and as such there will be some months when you have a much higher or lower number of cases in the top 400,000. We encourage LAs to spread the full case review work over the course of the year and not allowing cases to build up towards the end of the year.

HBMS referrals allocation methodology

64. The total funding for mandating completion of all HBMS referrals (not including SER; see below for separate detail) was determined by calculating the cost of mandating all referrals issued in 2018-19 and adjusting this using forecasts for 2020-21.

65. The funding allocation for each LA has been determined by calculating the percentage of the national caseload their caseload accounts for (as at December 2019) and applying this percentage to the total funding pot.

66. It has been calculated on this basis so that those LAs who already manage the accuracy of their HB caseload are not losing out.

HBMS volumes and funding

67. Do note, there are a number of factors that impact the volume of HBMS referrals including reducing HB volumes and the introduction of new HBMS rules later in 2020/2021. It is assumed that the combination of these factors will result in the volume of HBMS referrals you will be required to process to remain roughly the same as 2019.

68. The funding allocation for individual LAs has been provided in the HB Award Accuracy Initiative letter issued to LAs on 12 March 2020.

HBMS unit cost calculations

69. The unit cost used to calculate the total funding allocation was £13.26. This is based on 35 minutes per referral. It is slightly more than the standard change of circumstances unit cost of £10.58, to reflect the additional time required to process complex HBMS referrals and any supporting clerical administration.

SER allocation methodology and funding

71. As opposed to the other HBMS referrals, the total funding for the Self-Employed Case Reviews (SER) was based on the forecasted self-employed caseload for April 2020, using a unit cost per review of £31.16.

72. The funding allocation for each LA has been determined by calculating the percentage of the national self-employed caseload for their self-employed caseload accounts for (as at December 2019) and applying this percentage to the total funding pot.

73. It has been calculated on this basis so that those LAs who are already proactive in reviewing their self-employed caseload are not losing out.

SER volumes

73. Funding allocations have been worked out separately for each LA and provided in the HB Award Accuracy Initiative letter issued to LAs on 12 March 2020.

74. However, the volume of self-employed cases is expected to reduce throughout 2020-21 as cases move to UC or have a change of circumstances.

75. If you feel that the volume of self-employed cases is not an accurate reflection of the volume of self-employed cases in your LA, you will need to ensure that all self-employed cases are accurately recorded on your HB IT system and ultimately SHBE, so that funding can be more accurately allocated in future years.

76. The total funding allocation is lower than that issued in 2019 as it is based on the forecasted self-employed caseload for 2020-21.

SER unit cost calculations

77. The unit cost of £31.16 is based on a review length of 82 minutes. This is the same amount as previously provided for the self-employed review in 2019 and includes an element for overpayment recovery action and accounts for the complexity of the work and any supporting clerical administration.

Other fraud and error activities

78. Other business as usual fraud and error activity should continue as normal.

Questions and answers

79. Annex E provides a number of questions and answers.

Annex A: Copy of HB Award Accuracy Indicator letter

My address: Clare Elliott, Head of Housing Delivery Division

Date: 27 February 2020

By email [Insert LA Inbox email address]

Please forward to your:

Revenues and Benefits Managers Chief Finance Officers

Dear colleagues

Introducing the Housing Benefit Award Accuracy Indicator

[Name of LA]

Introduction

Paying the right amount of Housing Benefit (HB), at the right time, to the right person, is already a high priority for local authorities (LAs). Moving forward in 2020 and beyond, Housing Delivery Division (HDD) will work with all LAs to further improve the accuracy of HB awards.

HDD has worked with a small number of LAs and, in consultation with the Local Authority Associations (LAAs), developed an HB Award Accuracy Indicator which enables the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to help assess LA performance.

This Indicator will help you to:

• benchmark your performance against other similar LAs
• identify where improved activities can be incorporated as good practice
• develop improvements plans and/or share good practice.

We will provide the new HB Award Accuracy Indicator to LAs each quarter as management information (MI) which will, along with the published Speed of Processing (SoP) data, form the key source of information to oversee the effective delivery of HB.

How HB Award Accuracy Indicator performance is calculated

The HB Award Accuracy Indicator is calculated by comparing the actual value of weekly reductions processed by each LA to the expected value of weekly reductions we believe LAs should be making, based on a range of claim characteristics which estimate the risk of the claim having a change of circumstances. Performance will differ across LAs based on their HB caseload composition and it takes account of variations in regional rent levels and claimants who move to Universal Credit (UC).

HB Award Accuracy - Key performance information

The Annexes provide HB Award Accuracy Indicator key performance information, as follows:

1. Historical HB Award Accuracy Indicator performance over the last two years comparing your LA with national and regional averages, top performing LAs and the average performance of LAs similar to your own

2. Historical HB Award Accuracy Indicator performance; Expected compared against Achieved

3. The distribution (in %) of your HB caseload, in terms of the case risk score i.e. the probability of the case incurring a change of circumstances. You can compare how your caseload is distributed by risk score and compare this to national and regional averages

4. Questions and answers

5. Latest HB Award Accuracy Indicator performance (Quarter 2 (Q2) 2019-20) for all LAs (anonymised).

HB Caseload Risk Data

The biggest driver which affects the HB Award Accuracy Indicator is the level of risk associated with your HB caseload and the activities undertaken to identify unreported changes of circumstances. It is important to note that Official Error in HB is very low compared to other DWP benefits. A low HB Award Accuracy Indicator score suggests the LA needs to find more HB changes and/or educate claimants to report more changes, in order to reduce estimated losses of £1.3 billion due to HB inaccuracies.

To enable you to target your activities we will also be sending you a list of your full HB caseload, ranked in order by the HB Award Accuracy risk score. Our work with a small selection of LAs demonstrated that using these risk scores to target Full Case Reviews (FCRs) provides a high hit rate and will help identify more unreported changes in order to improve your HB Award Accuracy.

We are hoping to secure funding for 2020-21 to provide LAs with additional resources to undertake FCRs from 6 April on these high risk cases. If funding is secured we will provide further details before the end of March. If funding is not secured LAs can still use this data to target FCRs to get the best return on investment and improve their HB Award Accuracy.

More information about the Caseload Risk Data will be issued prior to March 2020, when it will be made available to all LAs.

Engagement

HDD will use the HB Award Accuracy Indicator as management information (MI) only. For benchmarking purposes, we will share an anonymised list of all LAs’ HB Award Accuracy Indictor data (as per Annex 5), along with the individual data shown in graphs (Annexes 1-3). HB Award Accuracy scores will not be published.

HB Award Accuracy Indicator performance will form part of our ongoing performance engagement as set out in Circular HB A6/2019 (revised) Housing Benefit operational information, performance support and engagement 2019 to 2020.

HDD’s Performance Development Team (PDT) offers free consultancy support to LAs who want to take a more proactive approach to identify opportunities to improve HB Award Accuracy. PDT will share good practice and work with LAs to understand performance issues and help target the best activities to improve the effectiveness and accuracy of HB delivery.

Please contact: [email protected] if you would like to make enquiries regarding consultancy support or if you have a high Indicator score and you would like to share any good practice with PDT.

Next steps

Please review the content of this letter and consider what action you may need to take to improve your HB Award Accuracy performance and whether you should report this MI to council members (along with your SoP performance). Circular HB A6/2019 (revised) Housing Benefit operational information, performance support and engagement 2019 to 2020 provides more information.

We will provide your HB Award Accuracy Indicator data and supporting information quarterly and in the same format as the annexes in this letter so that you can monitor the effectiveness of any improvement plans you put in place.

If you have any general or technical queries about the information contained in this letter you can email: [email protected]

I thank you for your continued support in improving the accuracy of your HB awards.

Yours faithfully

Clare Elliott Head of Housing Delivery Division

Annex A (continued)

HB Award Accuracy Indicator questions and answers

Q1. What if an LA wants more information about how the HB Award Accuracy Indicator is calculated?

A1. LA can email: [email protected] with any question as to how the Indicator is calculated.

Q2. How does the model work? How do you calculate the expected value of weekly reductions for my authority? How is my score calculated? What is classed as high/medium risk?

A2. The HB Accuracy Award Indicator score is calculated by dividing the value of reductions to entitlement achieved (calculated directly from SHBE) by the value of reductions to entitlement expected (calculated using a model, based on SHBE caseload information).

HB Award Accuracy Score = HB reductions achieved divided by HB reductions expected

The value of reductions achieved is calculated by adding together the value of terminations (when a claimant ceases to receive HB) and decreases (when a claimant receives less HB than in the previous month). The value of the termination is the value of HB entitlement in the previous month. We identify decreases by comparing the HB entitlement in consecutive months. The value of the decrease is the difference in entitlement between the two months. This gives a value of reductions to entitlement achieved for each claimant in each month. The individual values are then summed across months to get national, regional and LA level figures for each quarter.

We also take into account cases that migrate to UC. If a claim does not appear on SHBE (Single Housing Benefit Extract) for at least two consecutive months we assume that the claim has been terminated. However, a claim would also stop appearing on SHBE if the claimant had undergone a change of circumstances that triggered a move to UC. A claimant who moves to UC may still be receiving Housing costs, so it would be misleading to assume that the LA had found a reduction of the full value of HB entitlement. However, it is difficult to see from a UC claim what the equivalent HB entitlement would have been. Therefore, we cannot reliably assign a value of reduction to a HB claim that moves to UC. Instead we identify claims that have undergone natural move to UC (by data matching with the UC caseload) and exclude them from both the achieved and expected values where they are claiming UC Housing costs and remain within the same LA. This allows us to draw meaningful comparisons between the HB Award Accuracy indicator scores of LAs with different UC rollout schedules.

The expected value of reductions is calculated in the same way as the actual values, in other words by adding together the value of terminations and decreases. The expected value of terminations is calculated by multiplying the probability of a termination by HB entitlement. The expected value of a decrease is calculated by multiplying the expected probability of a decrease by the expected value of a decrease. The probabilities and expected values of decreases are estimated using logistic and linear equations that use the following characteristics; claim type (for example, passported/standard), tenancy type, amount of HB entitlement, claimant’s age, gender, capital, total disregarded income, number of dependants, number of non-dependants, temporary/supported accommodation and partner status. Although HB entitlement is a predictor, it does not follow a linear relationship with the probabilities or expected value of decrease. Therefore, we group claims into those with HB entitlement greater than £120, and those without, and use different equations for each group.

This gives a value of reductions to entitlement expected for each claimant in each month. Monthly values are then summed to get national, regional and LA-level figures for each quarter. We observe seasonality in LAs’ activity. For example, certain tasks are more likely to be undertaken at year-end at the expense of other interventions. To ensure that our expected value of reductions reflects this we use slightly different equations for each quarter.

The value of HB reductions expected is calculated by DWP analysts using the following criteria:

Predictive characteristic
HB entitlement
Passported status
Tenancy type
Partner flag
Claimant’s age
Claimant’s gender
Claimant’s capital
Claimant’s total disregarded income
Number of dependants
Number of non-dependants
Temporary/supported accommodation

These characteristics are the ones that have been found to provide the most efficient model for predicting the expected amount of reductions to entitlement.

Q3. Why should I report on this to council members?

A3. HB Award Accuracy is a key driver for DWP. The HB Award Accuracy Indicator provides council members with meaningful information at LA level on award accuracy which enables LAs to monitor both delivery and accuracy. The volume of HB new claims has fallen significantly since the HB Working Age gateway closed in December 2019, therefore, this is a good time to consider, improve and report HB Award Accuracy. In addition, HB Award Accuracy could have a significant financial impact on the HB subsidy allocations for your LA. If the reporting accountant identifies HB award errors in case sampling (required for the audited final HB subsidy) this could result in subsidy being recovered and the cost would need to be borne by the council. On this basis alone we would expect that your council members would be interested to know what proactive steps to improve your HB Award Accuracy are in place.

Q4. Why introduce this now when HB is being phased out and my caseload is reducing? Is this more to do with cleansing the caseload ready for UC?

A4. The current spend on HB is £20.8 billion, second only to State Pension. The estimated cost of inaccuracy to the taxpayer is estimated to be £1.3 billion per annum. HB will continue to be administered by LAs for many years; moving Working Age claimants to UC will not be completed until Sept 2024 at the earliest. HB Pension Age customers will continue to receive HB well beyond 2024.

Q5. Why is the Indicator calculated using only reductions and not increases as well?

A5. The HB Award Accuracy Indicator is an estimate of how well each LA is managing its HB caseload. Unidentified reductions in HB entitlement are estimated to be far larger by both volume and value than increases in entitlement. However, activities LAs undertake to identify unreported changes are likely to identify both increases and reductions in entitlement and this is a key element of paying the right amount, to the right person, at the right time. Developing an accuracy indicator which incorporates both increases and reductions in entitlement is very complicated as unreported increases may offset unreported changes and make the indicator less meaningful. We believe it is sensible to focus on reductions in HB entitlement, to keep the measure as simple and meaningful as possible.

Q6. What is Caseload Risk Data?

A6. The Caseload Risk Data is where we take the entire HB caseload and score each case based on the probability of there being a change in entitlement. More detail regarding Caseload Risk Data, when it will commence and how it will be delivered to your LA will be communicated in due course.

Q7. Why is HB Award Accuracy information anonymised?

A7. As part of notifying an LA of their own Indicator score we are also providing the score of all other LAs so you can see how well other LAs are performing (see Annex 5). The HB Award Accuracy Indicator will not be published and DWP is not in a position to share the information of other LAs unless it is anonymised. If LAs want to share their performance between themselves and/or share good practice they are free to do so.

Annex B: SHBE LA timetable of returns 2020-21

Breaks

End of year: Week commencing 30/03/2020 and 06/04/2020
Christmas: Week commencing 21/12/2020 and 28/12/2020

Day of transfer	Relevant month	Earliest data extraction date	Data transfer date	Local Authority name	Local Authority number
Monday	Apr-20	07/04/2020	14/04/2020	Blackpool	12302
Monday	May-20	04/05/2020	11/05/2020	Bolton	20101
Monday	Jun-20	01/06/2020	08/06/2020	Bury	20102
Monday	Jul-20	29/06/2020	06/07/2020	Cheshire East UA	10609
Monday	Aug-20	27/07/2020	03/08/2020	Cheshire West & Chester UA	10610
Monday	Sep-20	25/08/2020	01/09/2020	Chorley	12304
Monday	Oct-20	21/09/2020	28/09/2020	Fylde	12305
Monday	Nov-20	19/10/2020	26/10/2020	Halton	10605
Monday	Dec-20	16/11/2020	23/11/2020	Hyndburn	12306
Monday	Jan-21	28/12/2020	04/01/2021	Knowsley	20201
Monday	Feb-21	25/01/2021	01/02/2021	Lancaster	12307
Monday	Mar-21	22/02/2021	01/03/2021	Liverpool	20202
Monday	Mar-21	22/02/2021	01/03/2021	Preston	12309
Tuesday	Apr-20	07/04/2020	14/04/2020	Allerdale	10901
Tuesday	May-20	05/05/2020	12/05/2020	Blackburn	12301
Tuesday	Jun-20	02/06/2020	09/06/2020	Carlisle	10903
Tuesday	Jul-20	30/06/2020	07/07/2020	Copeland	10904
Tuesday	Aug-20	28/07/2020	04/08/2020	Oldham	20104
Tuesday	Sep-20	25/08/2020	01/09/2020	Ribble Valley	12310
Tuesday	Oct-20	22/09/2020	29/09/2020	Rochdale	20105
Tuesday	Nov-20	20/10/2020	27/10/2020	Rossendale	12311
Tuesday	Dec-20	17/11/2020	24/11/2020	Salford	20106
Tuesday	Jan-21	29/12/2020	05/01/2021	Sefton	20204
Tuesday	Feb-21	26/01/2021	02/02/2021	South Ribble	12312
Tuesday	Mar-21	23/02/2021	02/03/2021	St Helens	20203
				Stockport	20107
				Tameside	20108
				Trafford	20109
				Warrington	10608
				West Lancashire	12313
				Wigan	20110
				Wyre	12314
Wednesday	Apr-20	08/04/2020	15/04/2020	Barking and Dagenham	50101
Wednesday	May-20	06/05/2020	13/05/2020	Barnet	50102
Wednesday	Jun-20	03/06/2020	10/06/2020	Bexley	50103
Wednesday	Jul-20	01/07/2020	08/07/2020	Brent	50104
Wednesday	Aug-20	29/07/2020	05/08/2020	Bromley	50105
Wednesday	Sep-20	26/08/2020	02/09/2020	Broxbourne	11901
Wednesday	Oct-20	23/09/2020	30/09/2020	Burnley	12303
Wednesday	Nov-20	21/10/2020	28/10/2020	Camden	40101
Wednesday	Dec-20	18/11/2020	25/11/2020	Charnwood	12402
Wednesday	Jan-21	30/12/2020	06/01/2021	Coventry	20502
Wednesday	Feb-21	27/01/2021	03/02/2021	Ealing 50107
Wednesday	Mar-21	24/02/2021	03/03/2021	Enfield	50108
				Hackney	40103
				Hammersmith and Fulham	40104
				Hart	11706
				Havant	11707
				Islington	40105
				Lambeth	40107
				Lewisham	40108
				London (City Of)	30101
				Mendip	13301
				Sheffield	20304
				South Oxfordshire	13103
				Southwark	40109
				Swindon	13904
				Vale of White Horse	13104
				Welwyn Hatfield	11910
				Westminster	40112
Thursday	Apr-20	09/04/2020	16/04/2020	Croydon	50106
Thursday	May-20	07/05/2020	14/05/2020	Greenwich	40102
Thursday	Jun-20	04/06/2020	11/06/2020	Haringey	50109
Thursday	Jul-20	02/07/2020	09/07/2020	Harrow	50110
Thursday	Aug-20	30/07/2020	06/08/2020	Hillingdon	50112
Thursday	Sep-20	27/08/2020	03/09/2020	Kensington and Chelsea	40106
Thursday	Oct-20	24/09/2020	01/10/2020	Kingston upon Thames	50114
Thursday	Nov-20	22/10/2020	29/10/2020	Manchester	20103
Thursday	Dec-20	19/11/2020	26/11/2020	Merton	50115
Thursday	Jan-21	31/12/2020	07/01/2021	Newham	50116
Thursday	Feb-21	28/01/2021	04/02/2021	Redbridge	50117
Thursday	Mar-21	25/02/2021	04/03/2021	Richmond upon Thames	50118
Thursday	Mar-21	25/02/2021	04/03/2021	Sandwell	20504
Thursday	Mar-21	25/02/2021	04/03/2021	Sutton	50119
Thursday	Mar-21	25/02/2021	04/03/2021	Tower Hamlets	40110
75
Monday	Apr-20	13/04/2020	20/04/2020	Barnsley	20301
Monday	May-20	11/05/2020	18/05/2020	Bradford	20601
Monday	Jun-20	08/06/2020	15/06/2020	Calderdale	20602
Monday	Jul-20	06/07/2020	13/07/2020	Doncaster	20302
Monday	Aug-20	03/08/2020	10/08/2020	East Riding of Yorkshire	17001
Monday	Sep-20	31/08/2020	07/09/2020	Eden	10905
Monday	Oct-20	28/09/2020	05/10/2020	Havering	50111
Monday	Nov-20	26/10/2020	02/11/2020	Kingston upon Hull	17002
Monday	Dec-20	23/11/2020	30/11/2020	Kirklees	20603
Monday	Jan-21	04/01/2021	11/01/2021	Plymouth	11105
Monday	Feb-21	01/02/2021	08/02/2021	Rotherham	20303
Monday	Mar-21	01/03/2021	08/03/2021	South Lakeland	10906
				South Tyneside	20404
				Sunderland	20405
Tuesday	Apr-20	14/04/2020	21/04/2020	Darlington	11302
Tuesday	May-20	12/05/2020	19/05/2020	Dudley	20503
Tuesday	Jun-20	09/06/2020	16/06/2020	Hambleton	17902
Tuesday	Jul-20	07/07/2020	14/07/2020	Harrogate	17903
Tuesday	Aug-20	04/08/2020	11/08/2020	Hartlepool	15701
Tuesday	Sep-20	01/09/2020	08/09/2020	Leeds	20604
Tuesday	Oct-20	29/09/2020	06/10/2020	Middlesbrough	15702
Tuesday	Nov-20	27/10/2020	03/11/2020	Newcastle-upon-Tyne	20402
Tuesday	Dec-20	24/11/2020	01/12/2020	North East Lincolnshire	17003
Tuesday	Jan-21	05/01/2021	12/01/2021	North Lincolnshire	17004
Tuesday	Feb-21	02/02/2021	09/02/2021	North Tyneside	20403
Tuesday	Mar-21	02/03/2021	09/03/2021	Northumberland UA	12807
				Ryedale	17905
				Scarborough	17906
				Selby	17907
				Stockton-on-Tees	15704
				Wakefield	20605
				York	17908
Wednesday	Apr-20	15/04/2020	22/04/2020	Aylesbury Vale	10401
Wednesday	May-20	13/05/2020	20/05/2020	Basingstoke and Deane	11701
Wednesday	Jun-20	10/06/2020	17/06/2020	Bedford	10203
Wednesday	Jul-20	08/07/2020	15/07/2020	Central Bedfordshire UA	10205
Wednesday	Aug-20	05/08/2020	12/08/2020	Cheltenham	11601
Wednesday	Sep-20	02/09/2020	09/09/2020	Cherwell	13101
Wednesday	Oct-20	30/09/2020	07/10/2020	Chiltern	10402
Wednesday	Nov-20	28/10/2020	04/11/2020	Colchester	11506
Wednesday	Dec-20	25/11/2020	02/12/2020	Cotswold	11602
Wednesday	Jan-21	06/01/2021	13/01/2021	Craven	17901
Wednesday	Feb-21	03/02/2021	10/02/2021	Dacorum	11902
Wednesday	Mar-21	03/03/2021	10/03/2021	Durham UA	11309
				Forest of Dean	11603
				Gateshead	20401
				Gloucester	11604
				Hertsmere	11904
				Luton	10201
				Milton Keynes	10403
				Oxford	13102
				Richmondshire	17904
				South Buckinghamshire	10404
				South Northamptonshire	12706
				St Albans	11906
				Stevenage	11907
				Stroud	11605
				Tewkesbury	11606
				Three Rivers	11908
				Watford	11909
				West Oxfordshire	13105
				Wiltshire UA	13906
				Wycombe	10405
Thursday	Apr-20	16/04/2020	23/04/2020	Barrow-in-Furness	10902
Thursday	May-20	14/05/2020	21/05/2020	East Hampshire	11702
Thursday	Jun-20	11/06/2020	18/06/2020	Eastleigh	11703
Thursday	Jul-20	09/07/2020	16/07/2020	Elmbridge	13601
Thursday	Aug-20	06/08/2020	13/08/2020	Epsom and Ewell	13602
Thursday	Sep-20	03/09/2020	10/09/2020	Fareham	11704
Thursday	Oct-20	01/10/2020	08/10/2020	Gosport	11705
Thursday	Nov-20	29/10/2020	05/11/2020	Guildford	13603
Thursday	Dec-20	26/11/2020	03/12/2020	Isle of Wight	12103
Thursday	Jan-21	07/01/2021	14/01/2021	Mole Valley	13604
Thursday	Feb-21	04/02/2021	11/02/2021	New Forest	11708
Thursday	Mar-21	04/03/2021	11/03/2021	Portsmouth	11709
				Reading	10303
				Redcar and Cleveland	15703
				Reigate and Banstead	13605
				Runnymede	13606
				Rushmoor	11710
				Solihull	20505
				Southampton	11711
				Spelthorne	13607
				Surrey Heath	13608
				Tandridge	13609
				Test Valley	11712
				Waltham Forest	50120
				Waverley	13610
				West Berkshire	10302
				Winchester	11713
				Windsor and Maidenhead	10305
				Woking	13611
				Wokingham	10306
93
Monday	Apr-20	20/04/2020	27/04/2020	Bournemouth	11201
Monday	May-20	19/05/2020	26/05/2020	Christchurch	11202
Monday	Jun-20	15/06/2020	22/06/2020	Cornwall UA	10807
Monday	Jul-20	13/07/2020	20/07/2020	East Devon	11101
Monday	Aug-20	10/08/2020	17/08/2020	East Dorset	11208
Monday	Sep-20	07/09/2020	14/09/2020	Exeter	11102
Monday	Oct-20	05/10/2020	12/10/2020	North Devon	11104
Monday	Nov-20	02/11/2020	09/11/2020	North Dorset	11203
Monday	Dec-20	30/11/2020	07/12/2020	Poole	11204
Monday	Jan-21	11/01/2021	18/01/2021	Purbeck	11205
Monday	Feb-21	08/02/2021	15/02/2021	Slough	10304
Monday	Mar-21	08/03/2021	15/03/2021
Tuesday	Apr-20	21/04/2020	28/04/2020	Bath and North East Somerset	15101
Tuesday	May-20	19/05/2020	26/05/2020	Bracknell Forest	10301
Tuesday	Jun-20	16/06/2020	23/06/2020	Dartford	16103
Tuesday	Jul-20	14/07/2020	21/07/2020	East Hertfordshire	11903
Tuesday	Aug-20	11/08/2020	18/08/2020	Herefordshire	18102
Tuesday	Sep-20	08/09/2020	15/09/2020	Sedgemoor	13302
Tuesday	Oct-20	06/10/2020	13/10/2020	Sevenoaks	16108
Tuesday	Nov-20	03/11/2020	10/11/2020	South Gloucestershire	15104
Tuesday	Dec-20	01/12/2020	08/12/2020	South Hams	11106
Tuesday	Jan-21	12/01/2021	19/01/2021	South Somerset	13305
Tuesday	Feb-21	09/02/2021	16/02/2021	Stafford	13406
Tuesday	Mar-21	09/03/2021	16/03/2021	Taunton Deane	13303
				Teignbridge	11107
				Thanet	16111
				Torbay	11108
				Torridge	11109
				Wandsworth	40111
				West Devon	11110
				West Dorset	11206
				West Somerset	13304
				Weymouth and Portland	11207
				Wirral	20205
Wednesday	Apr-20	22/04/2020	29/04/2020	Birmingham	20501
Wednesday	May-20	20/05/2020	27/05/2020	Bristol	15102
Wednesday	Jun-20	17/06/2020	24/06/2020	Dundee	101902
Wednesday	Jul-20	15/07/2020	22/07/2020	East Dunbartonshire	101802
Wednesday	Aug-20	12/08/2020	19/08/2020	Malvern Hills	18103
Wednesday	Sep-20	09/09/2020	16/09/2020	Mid Devon	11103
Wednesday	Oct-20	07/10/2020	14/10/2020	North Hertfordshire	11905
Wednesday	Nov-20	04/11/2020	11/11/2020	North Warwickshire	13701
Wednesday	Dec-20	02/12/2020	09/12/2020	Nuneaton and Bedworth	13702
Wednesday	Jan-21	13/01/2021	20/01/2021	Rugby	13703
Wednesday	Feb-21	10/02/2021	17/02/2021	Shropshire UA	13207
Wednesday	Mar-21	10/03/2021	17/03/2021	South Staffordshire	13405
				Stratford-upon-Avon	13704
				Telford and Wrekin	13206
				Walsall	20506
				Warwick	13705
				Wolverhampton	20507
				Worcester	18105
				Wychavon	18106
				Wyre Forest	18107
Thursday	Apr-20	23/04/2020	30/04/2020	Aberdeen	101501
Thursday	May-20	21/05/2020	28/05/2020	Aberdeenshire	101502
Thursday	Jun-20	18/06/2020	25/06/2020	Angus	101901
Thursday	Jul-20	16/07/2020	23/07/2020	Argyll and Bute	101801
Thursday	Aug-20	13/08/2020	20/08/2020	Bromsgrove	18101
Thursday	Sep-20	10/09/2020	17/09/2020	Clackmannanshire	101201
Thursday	Oct-20	08/10/2020	15/10/2020	Dumfries and Galloway	101301
Thursday	Nov-20	05/11/2020	12/11/2020	East Ayrshire	101806
Thursday	Dec-20	03/12/2020	10/12/2020	East Lothian	101702
Thursday	Jan-21	14/01/2021	21/01/2021	East Renfrewshire	101808
Thursday	Feb-21	11/02/2021	18/02/2021	Edinburgh	101701
Thursday	Mar-21	11/03/2021	18/03/2021	Falkirk	101202
				Fife	101401
				Glasgow	101809
				Highland	101601
				Hounslow	50113
				Inverclyde 101810
				Midlothian 101703
				Moray 101503
				North Ayrshire	101807
				North Lanarkshire	101805
				Orkney Islands	90101
				Pendle	12308
				Perth and Kinross	101903
				Redditch	18104
				Renfrewshire	101812
				Scottish Borders	101101
				Shetland Islands	90102
				South Ayrshire	101811
				South Lanarkshire	101804
				Stirling	101203
				West Dunbartonshire	101803
				West Lothian	101704
				Western Isles Comhairle nan Eilean Siar)	90103
87
Monday	Apr-20	27/04/2020	04/05/2020	Arun	13802
Monday	May-20	25/05/2020	01/06/2020	Ashford	16101
Monday	Jun-20	22/06/2020	29/06/2020	Blaenau Gwent	71401
Monday	Jul-20	20/07/2020	27/07/2020	Bridgend	71301
Monday	Aug-20	17/08/2020	24/08/2020	Brighton and Hove	14101
Monday	Sep-20	14/09/2020	21/09/2020	Caerphilly	71402
Monday	Oct-20	12/10/2020	19/10/2020	Canterbury	16102
Monday	Nov-20	09/11/2020	16/11/2020	Carmarthenshire	71202
Monday	Dec-20	07/12/2020	14/12/2020	Ceredigion	71201
Monday	Jan-21	18/01/2021	25/01/2021	Chichester	13803
Monday	Feb-21	15/02/2021	22/02/2021	Conwy	71101
Monday	Mar-21	15/03/2021	22/03/2021	Crawley	13804
				Denbighshire	71103
				Dover	6104
				Eastbourne	14102
				Flintshire	71104
				Gwynedd	71102
				Isle of Anglesey (Ynys Mon)	71106
				Lewes	14104
				Merthyr Tydfil	71404
				Monmouthshire	1405
				Neath Port Talbot	71302
				Newport	71406
				Oadby and Wigston	12408
				Pembrokeshire	71203
				Powys	71204
				Rhondda Cynon Taff	71303
				Swansea	71304
				Torfaen	71407
Tuesday	Apr-20	28/04/2020	05/05/2020	Adur	13801
Tuesday	May-20	26/05/2020	02/06/2020	Amber Valley	11001
Tuesday	Jun-20	23/06/2020	30/06/2020	Ashfield	13001
Tuesday	Jul-20	21/07/2020	28/07/2020	Bassetlaw	13002
Tuesday	Aug-20	18/08/2020	25/08/2020	Blaby	12401
Tuesday	Sep-20	15/09/2020	22/09/2020	Bolsover	11002
Tuesday	Oct-20	13/10/2020	20/10/2020	Broxtowe	13003
Tuesday	Nov-20	10/11/2020	17/11/2020	Cannock Chase	13401
Tuesday	Dec-20	08/12/2020	15/12/2020	Cardiff	71403
Tuesday	Jan-21	19/01/2021	26/01/2021	Chesterfield	11003
Tuesday	Feb-21	16/02/2021	23/02/2021	Corby	12701
Tuesday	Mar-21	16/03/2021	23/03/2021	Daventry	12702
				Derby	11004
				Derbyshire Dales	11009
				East Northamptonshire 12703
				East Staffordshire	13402
				Erewash	11005
				Folkestone and Hythe	16109
				Gravesham	16105
				Hastings	14103
				Horsham	13805
				Maidstone	16106
				Medway	16107
				Mid Sussex	13806
				North East Derbyshire	11007
				Rother	14105
				Swale	16110
				Tonbridge and Malling	16112
				Tunbridge Wells	16113
				Wealden	14106
				Worthing	13807
				Vale of Glamorgan	71305
Wednesday	Apr-20	29/04/2020	06/05/2020	Basildon	11501
Wednesday	May-20	27/05/2020	03/06/2020	Boston	12501
Wednesday	Jun-20	24/06/2020	01/07/2020	Brecklands	12601
Wednesday	Jul-20	22/07/2020	29/07/2020	Brentwood	11503
Wednesday	Aug-20	19/08/2020	26/08/2020	Broadland	12602
Wednesday	Sep-20	16/09/2020	23/09/2020	East Cambridgeshire	10502
Wednesday	Oct-20	14/10/2020	21/10/2020	Gedling	13004
Wednesday	Nov-20	11/11/2020	18/11/2020	Harborough	12403
Wednesday	Dec-20	09/12/2020	16/12/2020	High Peak	11006
Wednesday	Jan-21	20/01/2021	27/01/2021	Hinckley and Bosworth	12404
Wednesday	Feb-21	17/02/2021	24/02/2021	Kettering	12704
Wednesday	Mar-21	17/03/2021	24/03/2021	Leicester	12405
				Lichfield	13403
				Mansfield	13005
				Melton	12406
				Newark and Sherwood	13006
				Newcastle-under-Lyme	13404
				North West Leicester	12407
				Northampton	12705
				Nottingham	13007
				Rushcliffe	13008
				Rutland	12409
				South Derbyshire	11008
				Staffordshire Moorlands	13407
				Stoke-on-Trent	13408
				Tamworth	13409
				Thurrock	11513
				Wellingborough	12707
				West Suffolk (Prev: Forest Heath, St Edmundsbury)	13508
				Wrexham	71105
Thursday	Apr-20	30/04/2020	07/05/2020	Babergh	13501
Thursday	May-20	28/05/2020	04/06/2020	Braintree	11502
Thursday	Jun-20	25/06/2020	02/07/2020	Cambridge	10501
Thursday	Jul-20	23/07/2020	30/07/2020	Castle Point	11504
Thursday	Aug-20	20/08/2020	27/08/2020	Chelmsford	11505
Thursday	Sep-20	17/09/2020	24/09/2020	East Lindsey	12502
Thursday	Oct-20	15/10/2020	22/10/2020	Epping Forest	11507
Thursday	Nov-20	12/11/2020	19/11/2020	East Suffolk (Prev: Suffolk Coastal, Waveney)	13509
Thursday	Dec-20	10/12/2020	17/12/2020	Fenland	10503
Thursday	Jan-21	21/01/2021	28/01/2021	Great Yarmouth	12603
Thursday	Feb-21	18/02/2021	25/02/2021	Harlow	11508
Thursday	Mar-21	18/03/2021	25/03/2021	Huntingdonshire	10504
				Ipswich	13503
				Lincoln	12503
				Maldon	11509
				Mid Suffolk	13504
				North Kesteven	12504
				North Norfolk	12605
				North Somerset	15103
				Norwich	12606
				Peterborough	10505
				Rochford	11510
				South Cambridge	10506
				South Holland	12505
				South Kesteven	12506
				South Norfolk	12607
				Southend-on-Sea	11511
				Tendring	11512
				Uttlesford	11514
				West Lindsey	12507
				West Norfolk and Kings Lynn	12604

Annex C: HBMS rules

HBMS Self-assessment rules

Rule	Description
HBHB405	Thus rule is designed to identify Housing Benefit (HB) claims where the amount of self-assessed earning declared to HB for the HB Customer and/or Partner has not changed for a period of 12 months
HBSA002	This rule is designed to identify a Housing Benefit (HB) customer and/or partner with undeclared Self Assessed (SA) earnings which are less than £10,000 per annum.
HBSA003	This rule is designed to identify HB claimants and/or partners who have declared self-employed earnings which differs from Self-Assessed declarations and result in a potential overpayment of HB.
HBSA004	This rule is designed to identify HB claimants and/or partners who have declared self-employed earnings which differs from Self-Assessed declarations and result in a potential underpayment of HB.

HBMS rules

Rule	Description
HBDB101	This rule is designed to identify Housing Benefit (HB) Customers or Partners who have failed to declare that they are in receipt of Industrial Injuries Disability Benefit (IIDB).
HBES105	This rule is designed to identify Housing Benefit (HB) for customer or partners who have stated they are in receipt of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) Income Related (IR) but there is no match within the ESA system.
HBHB001	This rule is designed to identify concurrent claims to Housing Benefit (HB) by the same person within one Local Authority.
HBHB403	This rule is designed to identify HB/CTB cases with no change to Child Tax Credit or Working Tax Credit in the last 13 months
HBHB501	This rule is designed to identify Housing Benefit (HB) and Council Tax Benefit (CTB) claims showing a dependant aged 19 and over.
HBHB911	This rule is designed to identify concurrent claims to Housing Benefit (HB) by the same person as a customer at two different LAs.
HBIB112	This rule is to identify a discrepancy, of £8 or more, in the amount of Incapacity Benefit (IB) declared to Housing Benefit (HB).
HBIB005	This rule is designed to identify Housing Benefit (HB) customers who have failed to notify the Local Authority of a change of address (within the UK) using PSCS data
HBIC201	This rule is designed to identify Housing Benefit (HB) customers or partners who have failed to declare that they are in receipt of Carer’s Allowance (CA).
HBIS005	This rule is designed to identify Housing Benefit (HB) customers who have failed to notify the Local Authority of a change of address.
HBIS105	This rule is designed to identify claims to Housing Benefit (HB) made on the basis that Income Support (IS) is in payment, but no current entitlement to this benefit exists.
HBJS055	This rule is designed to identify Housing Benefit (HB) customers who have failed to notify the Local Authority of a change of address.
HBJS105	This rule is designed to identify claims to Housing Benefit (HB) made on the basis the Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) Income Based (IB) is in payment but no current entitlement to the benefit exists.
HBPC005	This rule is designed to identify a Housing Benefit (HB) for customer or partners (if applicable) falsely declaring that Pension Credit (PC) is in payment.
HBRM101	This rule is designed to identify Housing Benefit (HB) customers who have failed to declare a change of address
HBRP103	This rule is designed to identify customers or partners who fail to declare receipt of Retirement Pension (RP) to Housing Benefit (HB).
HBJS212	This rule is designed to identify fraudulent HB claims made on the basis that JSA [C] is in payment.
HBPD001	This rule is designed to identify customers in an English or Welsh prison who have been or are going to be in prison for 13 weeks or more.
HBSP001	This rule is designed to identify customers in a Scottish prison who have been or are going to be in prison for 13 weeks or more.
HBBB001	This rule is designed to identify Housing Benefit (HB) Customers who have failed to declare payment of a Bereavement Benefit (BB).
HBIN004	This rule is designed to identify failure to notify the Local Authority of the death of a customer.
HBUC007	This rule is designed to identify where Universal Credit Housing Costs and Housing Benefit are in payment at the same time

Annex D: Monthly clerical HBMS MI returns timetable 2020-21

Breaks

End of year: Week commencing 30/03/2020 and 06/04/2020 Christmas: Week commencing 21/12/2020 and 28/12/2020

Week number	Day of transfer	Relevant month	Data transfer date	Local Authority name	Local Authority number
Week 1	Monday	Apr-20	14/04/2020	Blackpool	12302
Week 1	Monday	May-20	11/05/2020	Bolton	20101
Week 1	Monday	Jun-20	08/06/2020	Bury	20102
Week 1	Monday	Jul-20	06/07/2020	Cheshire East UA	10609
Week 1	Monday	Aug-20	03/08/2020	Cheshire West and Chester UA	10610
Week 1	Monday	Sep-20	01/09/2020	Chorley	12304
Week 1	Monday	Oct-20	28/09/2020	Fylde	12305
Week 1	Monday	Nov-20	26/10/2020	Halton	10605
Week 1	Monday	Dec-20	23/11/2020	Hyndburn	12306
Week 1	Monday	Jan-21	04/01/2021	Knowsley	20201
Week 1	Monday	Feb-21	01/02/2021	Lancaster	12307
Week 1	Monday	Mar-21	01/03/2021	Liverpool	20202
Week 1	Monday	Mar-21	01/03/2021	Preston	12309
13
Week 1	Tuesday	Apr-20	14/04/2020	Allerdale	10901
Week 1	Tuesday	May-20	12/05/2020	Blackburn 12301
Week 1	Tuesday	Jun-20	09/06/2020	Carlisle 10903
Week 1	Tuesday	Jul-20	07/07/2020	Copeland 10904
Week 1	Tuesday	Aug-20	04/08/2020	Oldham 20104
Week 1	Tuesday	Sep-20	01/09/2020	Ribble Valley 12310
Week 1	Tuesday	Oct-20	29/09/2020	Rochdale 20105
Week 1	Tuesday	Nov-20	27/10/2020	Rossendale 12311
Week 1	Tuesday	Dec-20	24/11/2020	Salford 20106
Week 1	Tuesday	Jan-21	05/01/2021	Sefton 20204
Week 1	Tuesday	Feb-21	02/02/2021	South Ribble 12312
Week 1	Tuesday	Mar-21	02/03/2021	St Helens 20203
				Stockport	20107
				Tameside	20108
				Trafford	20109
				Warrington	10608
				West Lancashire	12313
				Wigan	20110
				Wyre	12314
19
Week 1	Wednesday	Apr-20	15/04/2020	Barking and Dagenham	50101
Week 1	Wednesday	May-20	13/05/2020	Barnet	50102
Week 1	Wednesday	Jun-20	10/06/2020	Bexley	50103
Week 1	Wednesday	Jul-20	08/07/2020	Brent	50104
Week 1	Wednesday	Aug-20	05/08/2020	Bromley	50105
Week 1	Wednesday	Sep-20	02/09/2020	Broxbourne	11901
Week 1	Wednesday	Oct-20	30/09/2020	Burnley	12303
Week 1	Wednesday	Nov-20	28/10/2020	Camden	40101
Week 1	Wednesday	Dec-20	25/11/2020	Charnwood	12402
Week 1	Wednesday	Jan-21	06/01/2021	Coventry	20502
Week 1	Wednesday	Feb-21	03/02/2021	Ealing	50107
Week 1	Wednesday	Mar-21	03/03/2021	Enfield	50108
				Hackney	40103
				Hammersmith and Fulham	40104
				Hart	11706
				Havant	11707
				Islington	40105
				Lambeth	40107
				Lewisham	40108
				London (City of)	30101
				Mendip	13301
				Sheffield	20304
				South Oxfordshire	13103
				Southwark	40109
				Swindon	13904
				Vale of White Horse	13104
				Welwyn Hatfield	11910
				Westminster	40112
28
Week 1	Thursday	Apr-20	16/04/2020	Croydon	50106
Week 1	Thursday	May-20	14/05/2020	Greenwich	40102
Week 1	Thursday	Jun-20	11/06/2020	Haringey	50109
Week 1	Thursday	Jul-20	09/07/2020	Harrow	50110
Week 1	Thursday	Aug-20	06/08/2020	Hillingdon	50112
Week 1	Thursday	Sep-20	03/09/2020	Kensington and Chelsea	40106
Week 1	Thursday	Oct-20	01/10/2020	Kingston upon Thames	50114
Week 1	Thursday	Nov-20	29/10/2020	Manchester	20103
Week 1	Thursday	Dec-20	26/11/2020	Merton	50115
Week 1	Thursday	Jan-21	07/01/2021	Newham	50116
Week 1	Thursday	Feb-21	04/02/2021	Redbridge	50117
Week 1	Thursday	Mar-21	04/03/2021	Richmond upon Thames	50118
			Sandwell	20504
			Sutton	50119
			Tower Hamlets	40110
15	75
Week 2	Monday	Apr-20	20/04/2020	Barnsley	20301
Week 2	Monday	May-20	18/05/2020	Bradford	20601
Week 2	Monday	Jun-20	15/06/2020	Calderdale	20602
Week 2	Monday	Jul-20	13/07/2020	Doncaster	20302
Week 2	Monday	Aug-20	10/08/2020	East Riding of Yorkshire	17001
Week 2	Monday	Sep-20	07/09/2020	Eden	10905
Week 2	Monday	Oct-20	05/10/2020	Havering	50111
Week 2	Monday	Nov-20	02/11/2020	Kingston upon Hull	17002
Week 2	Monday	Dec-20	30/11/2020	Kirklees	20603
Week 2	Monday	Jan-21	11/01/2021	Plymouth	11105
Week 2	Monday	Feb-21	08/02/2021	Rotherham	20303
Week 2	Monday	Mar-21	08/03/2021	South Lakeland	10906
				South Tyneside	20404
				Sunderland	20405
14
Week 2	Tuesday	Apr-20	21/04/2020	Darlington	11302
Week 2	Tuesday	May-20	19/05/2020	Dudley	20503
Week 2	Tuesday	Jun-20	16/06/2020	Hambleton	17902
Week 2	Tuesday	Jul-20	14/07/2020	Harrogate	17903
Week 2	Tuesday	Aug-20	11/08/2020	Hartlepool	15701
Week 2	Tuesday	Sep-20	08/09/2020	Leeds	20604
Week 2	Tuesday	Oct-20	06/10/2020	Middlesbrough	15702
Week 2	Tuesday	Nov-20	03/11/2020	Newcastle-upon-Tyne	20402
Week 2	Tuesday	Dec-20	01/12/2020	North East Lincolnshire	17003
Week 2	Tuesday	Jan-21	12/01/2021	North Lincolnshire	17004
Week 2	Tuesday	Feb-21	09/02/2021	North Tyneside	20403
Week 2	Tuesday	Mar-21	09/03/2021	Northumberland UA	12807
				Ryedale	17905
				Scarborough	17906
				Selby	17907
				Stockton-on-Tees	15704
				Wakefield	20605
				York	17908
18
Week 2	Wednesday	Apr-20	22/04/2020	Aylesbury Vale	10401
Week 2	Wednesday	May-20	20/05/2020	Basingstoke and Deane	11701
Week 2	Wednesday	Jun-20	17/06/2020	Bedford	10203
Week 2	Wednesday	Jul-20	15/07/2020	Central	Bedfordshire UA	10205
Week 2	Wednesday	Aug-20	12/08/2020	Cheltenham	11601
Week 2	Wednesday	Sep-20	09/09/2020	Cherwell	13101
Week 2	Wednesday	Oct-20	07/10/2020	Chiltern	10402
Week 2	Wednesday	Nov-20	04/11/2020	Colchester	11506
Week 2	Wednesday	Dec-20	02/12/2020	Cotswold	11602
Week 2	Wednesday	Jan-21	13/01/2021	Craven	17901
Week 2	Wednesday	Feb-21	10/02/2021	Dacorum	11902
Week 2	Wednesday	Mar-21	10/03/2021	Durham UA	11309
				Forest of Dean	11603
				Gateshead	20401
				Gloucester	11604
				Hertsmere	11904
				Luton	10201
				Milton Keynes	10403
				Oxford	13102
				Richmondshire	17904
				South Buckinghamshire	10404
				South Northamptonshire	12706
				St Albans	11906
				Stevenage	11907
				Stroud	11605
				Tewkesbury	11606
				Three Rivers	11908
				Watford	11909
				West Oxfordshire	13105
				Wiltshire UA	13906
				Wycombe	10405
31
Week 2	Thursday	Apr-20	23/04/2020	Barrow-in-Furness	10902
Week 2	Thursday	May-20	21/05/2020	East Hampshire	11702
Week 2	Thursday	Jun-20	18/06/2020	Eastleigh	11703
Week 2	Thursday	Jul-20	16/07/2020	Elmbridge	13601
Week 2	Thursday	Aug-20	13/08/2020	Epsom and Ewell	13602
Week 2	Thursday	Sep-20	10/09/2020	Fareham	11704
Week 2	Thursday	Oct-20	08/10/2020	Gosport	11705
Week 2	Thursday	Nov-20	05/11/2020	Guildford	13603
Week 2	Thursday	Dec-20	03/12/2020	Isle of Wight	12103
Week 2	Thursday	Jan-21	14/01/2021	Mole Valley	13604
Week 2	Thursday	Feb-21	11/02/2021	New Forest	11708
Week 2	Thursday	Mar-21	11/03/2021	Portsmouth	11709
				Reading	10303
				Redcar and Cleveland	15703
				Reigate and Banstead	13605
				Runnymede	13606
				Rushmoor	11710
				Solihull	20505
				Southampton	11711
				Spelthorne	13607
				Surrey Heath	13608
				Tandridge	13609
				Test Valley	11712
				Waltham Forest	50120
				Waverley	13610
				West Berkshire	10302
				Winchester	11713
				Windsor and Maidenhead	10305
				Woking	13611
				Wokingham	10306
30	93
Week 3	Monday	Apr-20	27/04/2020	Bournemouth	11201
Week 3	Monday	May-20	26/05/2020	Christchurch	11202
Week 3	Monday	Jun-20	22/06/2020	Cornwall UA	10807
Week 3	Monday	Jul-20	20/07/2020	East Devon	11101
Week 3	Monday	Aug-20	17/08/2020	East Dorset	11208
Week 3	Monday	Sep-20	14/09/2020	Exeter	11102
Week 3	Monday	Oct-20	12/10/2020	North Devon	11104
Week 3	Monday	Nov-20	09/11/2020	North Dorset	11203
Week 3	Monday	Dec-20	07/12/2020	Poole	11204
Week 3	Monday	Jan-21	18/01/2021	Purbeck	11205
Week 3	Monday	Feb-21	15/02/2021	Slough	10304
Week 3	Monday	Mar-21	15/03/2021
11
Week 3	Tuesday	Apr-20	28/04/2020	Bath and North East Somerset	15101
Week 3	Tuesday	May-20	26/05/2020	Bracknell Forest	10301
Week 3	Tuesday	Jun-20	23/06/2020	Dartford	16103
Week 3	Tuesday	Jul-20	21/07/2020	East Hertfordshire	11903
Week 3	Tuesday	Aug-20	18/08/2020	Herefordshire	18102
Week 3	Tuesday	Sep-20	15/09/2020	Sedgemoor	13302
Week 3	Tuesday	Oct-20	13/10/2020	Sevenoaks	16108
Week 3	Tuesday	Nov-20	10/11/2020	South Gloucestershire	15104
Week 3	Tuesday	Dec-20	08/12/2020	South Hams	11106
Week 3	Tuesday	Jan-21	19/01/2021	South Somerset	13305
Week 3	Tuesday	Feb-21	16/02/2021	Stafford	13406
Week 3	Tuesday	Mar-21	16/03/2021	Taunton Deane	13303
				Teignbridge	11107
				Thanet	16111
				Torbay	11108
				Torridge	11109
				Wandsworth	40111
				West Devon	11110
				West Dorset	11206
				West Somerset	13304
				Weymouth and Portland	11207
				Wirral	20205
22
Week 3	Wednesday	Apr-20	29/04/2020	Birmingham	20501
Week 3	Wednesday	May-20	27/05/2020	Bristol	15102
Week 3	Wednesday	Jun-20	24/06/2020	Dundee	101902
Week 3	Wednesday	Jul-20	22/07/2020	East Dunbartonshire	101802
Week 3	Wednesday	Aug-20	19/08/2020	Malvern Hills	18103
Week 3	Wednesday	Sep-20	16/09/2020	Mid Devon	11103
Week 3	Wednesday	Oct-20	14/10/2020	North Hertfordshire	11905
Week 3	Wednesday	Nov-20	11/11/2020	North Warwickshire	13701
Week 3	Wednesday	Dec-20	09/12/2020	Nuneaton and Bedworth	13702
Week 3	Wednesday	Jan-21	20/01/2021	Rugby	13703
Week 3	Wednesday	Feb-21	17/02/2021	Shropshire UA	13207
Week 3	Wednesday	Mar-21	17/03/2021	South Staffordshire	13405
				Stratford-upon-Avon	13704
				Telford and Wrekin	13206
				Walsall	20506
				Warwick	13705
				Wolverhampton	20507
				Worcester	18105
				Wychavon	18106
				Wyre Forest	18107
20
Week 3	Thursday	Apr-20	30/04/2020	Aberdeen	101501
Week 3	Thursday	May-20	28/05/2020	Aberdeenshire	101502
Week 3	Thursday	Jun-20	25/06/2020	Angus	101901
Week 3	Thursday	Jul-20	23/07/2020	Argyll and Bute	101801
Week 3	Thursday	Aug-20	20/08/2020	Bromsgrove	18101
Week 3	Thursday	Sep-20	17/09/2020	Clackmannanshire	101201
Week 3	Thursday	Oct-20	15/10/2020	Dumfries and Galloway	101301
Week 3	Thursday	Nov-20	12/11/2020	East Ayrshire	101806
Week 3	Thursday	Dec-20	10/12/2020	East Lothian	101702
Week 3	Thursday	Jan-21	21/01/2021	East Renfrewshire	101808
Week 3	Thursday	Feb-21	18/02/2021	Edinburgh	101701
Week 3	Thursday	Mar-21	18/03/2021	Falkirk	101202
				Fife	101401
				Glasgow	101809
				Highland	101601
				Hounslow	50113
				Inverclyde	101810
				Midlothian	101703
				Moray	101503
				North Ayrshire	101807
				North Lanarkshire	101805
				Orkney Islands	90101
				Pendle	12308
				Perth and Kinross	101903
				Redditch	18104
				Renfrewshire	101812
				Scottish Borders	101101
				Shetland Islands	90102
				South Ayrshire	101811
				South Lanarkshire	101804
				Stirling	101203
				West Dunbartonshire	101803
				West Lothian	101704
				Western Isles (Comhairle nan Eilean Siar)	90103
34	87
Week 4	Monday	Apr-20	04/05/2020	Arun	13802
Week 4	Monday	May-20	01/06/2020	Ashford	16101
Week 4	Monday	Jun-20	29/06/2020	Blaenau Gwent	71401
Week 4	Monday	Jul-20	27/07/2020	Bridgend	71301
Week 4	Monday	Aug-20	24/08/2020	Brighton and Hove	14101
Week 4	Monday	Sep-20	21/09/2020	Caerphilly	71402
Week 4	Monday	Oct-20	19/10/2020	Canterbury	16102
Week 4	Monday	Nov-20	16/11/2020	Carmarthenshire	71202
Week 4	Monday	Dec-20	14/12/2020	Ceredigion	71201
Week 4	Monday	Jan-21	25/01/2021	Chichester	13803
Week 4	Monday	Feb-21	22/02/2021	Conwy	71101
Week 4	Monday	Mar-21	22/03/2021	Crawley	13804
				Denbighshire	71103
				Dover	16104
				Eastbourne	14102
				Flintshire	71104
				Gwynedd	71102
				Isle of Anglesey (Ynys Mon)	71106
				Lewes	14104
				Merthyr Tydfil	71404
				Monmouthshire	71405
				Neath Port Talbot	71302
				Newport	71406
				Oadby and Wigston	12408
				Pembrokeshire	71203
				Powys	71204
				Rhondda Cynon Taff	71303
				Swansea	71304
				Torfaen	71407
29
Week 4	Tuesday	Apr-20	05/05/2020	Adur	13801
Week 4	Tuesday	May-20	02/06/2020	Amber Valley	11001
Week 4	Tuesday	Jun-20	30/06/2020	Ashfield	13001
Week 4	Tuesday	Jul-20	28/07/2020	Bassetlaw	13002
Week 4	Tuesday	Aug-20	25/08/2020	Blaby	12401
Week 4	Tuesday	Sep-20	22/09/2020	Bolsover	11002
Week 4	Tuesday	Oct-20	20/10/2020	Broxtowe	13003
Week 4	Tuesday	Nov-20	17/11/2020	Cannock Chase	13401
Week 4	Tuesday	Dec-20	15/12/2020	Cardiff	71403
Week 4	Tuesday	Jan-21	26/01/2021	Chesterfield	11003
Week 4	Tuesday	Feb-21	23/02/2021	Corby	12701
Week 4	Tuesday	Mar-21	23/03/2021	Daventry	12702
				Derby	11004
				Derbyshire Dales	11009
				East Northamptonshire	12703
				East Staffordshire	13402
				Erewash	11005
				Folkestone and Hythe	16109
				Gravesham	16105
				Hastings	14103
				Horsham	13805
				Maidstone	16106
				Medway	16107
				Mid Sussex	13806
				North East Derbyshire	11007
				Rother	14105
				Swale	16110
				Tonbridge and Malling	16112
				Tunbridge Wells	16113
				Wealden	14106
				Worthing	13807
				Vale of Glamorgan	71305
32
Week 4	Wednesday	Apr-20	06/05/2020	Basildon	11501
Week 4	Wednesday	May-20	03/06/2020	Boston	12501
Week 4	Wednesday	Jun-20	01/07/2020	Brecklands	12601
Week 4	Wednesday	Jul-20	29/07/2020	Brentwood	11503
Week 4	Wednesday	Aug-20	26/08/2020	Broadland	12602
Week 4	Wednesday	Sep-20	23/09/2020	East Cambridgeshire	10502
Week 4	Wednesday	Oct-20	21/10/2020	Gedling	13004
Week 4	Wednesday	Nov-20	18/11/2020	Harborough	12403
Week 4	Wednesday	Dec-20	16/12/2020	High Peak	11006
Week 4	Wednesday	Jan-21	27/01/2021	Hinckley and Bosworth	12404
Week 4	Wednesday	Feb-21	24/02/2021	Kettering	12704
Week 4	Wednesday	Mar-21	24/03/2021	Leicester	12405
				Lichfield	13403
				Mansfield	13005
				Melton	12406
				Newark and Sherwood	13006
				Newcastle-under-Lyme	13404
				North West Leicester	12407
				Northampton	12705
				Nottingham	13007
				Rushcliffe	13008
				Rutland	12409
				South Derbyshire	11008
				Staffordshire Moorlands	13407
				Stoke-on-Trent	13408
				Tamworth	13409
				Thurrock	11513
				Wellingborough	12707
				West Suffolk (Prev: Forest Heath, St Edmundsbury)	13508
				Wrexham	71105
30
Week 4	Thursday	Apr-20	07/05/2020	Babergh	13501
Week 4	Thursday	May-20	04/06/2020	Braintree	11502
Week 4	Thursday	Jun-20	02/07/2020	Cambridge	10501
Week 4	Thursday	Jul-20	30/07/2020	Castle Point	11504
Week 4	Thursday	Aug-20	27/08/2020	Chelmsford	11505
Week 4	Thursday	Sep-20	24/09/2020	East Lindsey	12502
Week 4	Thursday	Oct-20	22/10/2020	Epping Forest	11507
Week 4	Thursday	Nov-20	19/11/2020	East Suffolk (Prev: Suffolk Coastal, Waveney)	13509
Week 4	Thursday	Dec-20	17/12/2020	Fenland	10503
Week 4	Thursday	Jan-21	28/01/2021	Great Yarmouth	12603
Week 4	Thursday	Feb-21	25/02/2021	Harlow	11508
Week 4	Thursday	Mar-21	25/03/2021	Huntingdonshire	10504
				Ipswich	13503
				Lincoln	12503
				Maldon	11509
				Mid Suffolk	13504
				North Kesteven	12504
				North Norfolk	12605
				North Somerset	15103
				Norwich	12606
				Peterborough	10505
				Rochford	11510
				South Cambridge	10506
				South Holland	12505
				South Kesteven	12506
				South Norfolk	12607
				Southend-on-Sea	11511
				Tendring	11512
				Uttlesford	11514
				West Lindsey	12507
				West Norfolk and Kings Lynn	12604

Annex E: HB Award Accuracy mandatory activities – Questions and answers

Q1. What is the definition of an FCR?

A1. An FCR requires the claimant to supply all their current details and evidence requirements to the LA again in order for HB to be re-determined. These reviews are similar to the reviews LAs undertook when it was mandatory for HB claimants to reapply for benefit every 12 months. LAs can validate this information with appropriate evidence in accordance with their verification policies, including application of risk-based verification (RBV), (if the LA operates to an agreed RBV policy – see Circular S11/2011.

We are not prescribing how LAs undertake these reviews. In the pilot most LAs issued postal review forms, some used a combination of postal reviews and visits, and some contacted customers over the telephone. The key element is that the claimant is required to supply all their details again, and for the LA to validate this information with appropriate evidence in accordance with their review processes, in order to identify any changes of circumstances and recalculate HB award accordingly.

Q2. What activities are being mandated?

A2. DWP is providing additional funding to enable LAs to undertake the following mandatory activities:

• HB Full Case Reviews (FCRs)
• Housing Benefit Matching Service (HBMS) referrals, including:
• self-employed Earnings Reviews (SERs)
• the correct recording of cases and the return of Management Information (MI) to DWP, including:

– the correct recording of case outcomes on LA Information Technology (IT) systems to inform SHBE (Single Housing Benefit Extract) – the return of clerical management information (MI) to DWP for HBMS case outcomes.

Q3. What will happen if an LA fails to process mandatory activities?

A3. Housing Delivery Division’s Performance Development Team (PDT) will be closely monitoring MI and will be engaging with LAs, to offer support.

Q4. Will mandating these activities have an impact on Subsidy?

A4. No. There are no additional subsidy impacts from mandating these activities. The subsidy calculation for cases reviewed under these initiatives will be as normal.

Q5. How will PDT work with LAs to improve HB Award Accuracy?

A5. HDDs PDT will be closely monitoring MI on the mandatory activities at individual LA level that have commenced and completed, and the outcome from those, along with the quarterly HB Award Accuracy Indicator information. PDT will engage with LAs based on their performance, seek an understanding of what underlying reasons may be driving that performance and offer consultancy support.

Q6. What do I need to do to update FCR, SER, HBMS correctly?

A6. You should refer to paragraphs 29 to 37 for FCRs and paragraphs 49 to 59 for SER and HBMS in this circular.

Q7. What Management Information will I need to manage HB Award Accuracy Initiatives effectively?

A7. You can monitor your own performance for:

Full Case Reviews (FCR) – by extracting data locally from your SHBE. It is important to accurately record your activity on front end IT Systems, in line with your IT Supplier Guidance, to enable the accurate capture of MI via SHBE, otherwise the MI extracted will not accurately reflect the activity undertaken by your LA. Paragraphs 27 to 37 of this circular provide you with more information.

HBMS Referrals including SERs – by capturing all information on the HBMS MI Spreadsheets issued to LAs with each monthly set of HBMS data referrals. LAs will need to put their own processes in place locally to collate the information from the spreadsheets into a report to meet their own local requirements. Again the accuracy of completion of the spreadsheets is essential in ensuring it reflects the activity undertaken by the LA. Details on the completion of the HBMS MI Spreadsheets has been revised and is contained within the HBMS Rules Guide available via Glasscubes. Paragraphs 49 to 59 of this circular provide you with more information.

Q8. Will the HB Award Accuracy Indicator be published?

A8. HDD will provide each LA with their own HB Award Accuracy Indicator data on a quarterly basis via a separate communication. This will enable LAs to see how their performance has changed over time and how it compares to other areas. The decision not to publish the information more widely will allow LAs to receive it in a timelier manner.

Q9. Can the funding be used to cover costs of existing staff carrying out business as usual activities?

A9. The funding is to be utilised to drive activity under the three initiatives. It should not be used for funding IT or business as usual reviews.

To secure this funding DWP has had to assure HM Treasury that it will used to pay for additional staff or backfill for existing staff.

One of the requirements that comes with the funding is that funding is used to generate additional resources to undertake these activities. If LAs choose to use existing experienced HB staff the expectation is that these posts would be backfilled either through redeployment within the LA or by new staff recruitment to ensure the HB delivery activities, they were undertaking are maintained. The feedback we have already received is that many LAs are planning to retain staff they would otherwise have to release due to funding reductions. You can use overtime or outsource the work if necessary. However, if you use overtime your funding may not be sufficient to deliver the expected volumes and you will still be required to process all the mandatory activities.

You may be required, on request, to provide evidence that the funding provided to support the delivery of the Mandatory activities has resulted in additional HB staff resources.

Q10. What do I do if I can’t go live by 1 June 2020?

A10. We would expect this to happen only in exceptional circumstances and LAs would need to inform us and explain by email to: [email protected]

Q11. When will I get the funding?

A11. 2020-21 funding will be paid by April 2020 in one instalment as grant payment.

Q12. Is there any way DWP could counter the impact of LAs losing out financially in terms of more Fraud and Error resulting in more overpayments, loss of subsidy, the costs of recovery and resources needed?

A12. It is not possible to estimate the level of potential subsidy loss due to LAs finding increased F&E. LAs have a statutory obligation to ensure HB claims are correct and HB Award Accuracy is incentivising LAs to focus more effort in this area.

Overpayments relating to claimant error and fraud attract a 40% subsidy. LAs on average collect 67% of overpayments. If an LA improved its collection it could benefit from recovering the loss of subsidy and the amount of HB paid (equating to 140%). PDT is working to support LAs with recovery and has published the HB Overpayment Recovery Good Practice Guide on www.gov.uk

Q13. To mitigate the impact of overpayments created as a result of finding more reductions to weekly benefit entitlement, could LAs calculate the overpayment from the week in which the change is identified rather than the date of change?

A13. DWP guidance to LAs in the Calculation of Overpayments Guide (section 3.2) is to calculate the overpayment from the benefit week in which any change in HB should have been actioned up to the date entitlement actually reduced or ended. LAs should also adhere to the provisions of the HB Regulations 2006.

Q14. When will I receive the first set of data and who will this go to?

A14. LAs will receive their first set of data in scope for 2020-21 initiative in line with March 2020 HBMS data issue between week commencing 9 March and week commencing 30 March 2020. It will be delivered using the PGP e-mail. We are looking to improve data delivery in 2020 by using Transfer Your File (TYF). More detail about TYF will be provided to LAs in due course.

Q15. How do I select FCRs and manage these each month?

A15. Each LA has received funding to enable it to undertake an estimated volume of high priority FCRs during 2020-21 – the new risk data received as part of the monthly HBMS file will contain each LAs HB Caseload in ranked priority order, with those deemed as the highest priority flagged accordingly.

At present we have not been able to arrange for the new risk data file to be automatically uploaded into LAs IT Systems, so it will be necessary for each LA to decide on the volume of FCRs it plans to undertake each month, (profiled on the estimated yearly volumes funded), and arrange for a proportion of cases flagged as highest priority to be manually uploaded from the risk data file into their LA IT Systems.

Guidance issued by IT Suppliers should enable LAs to manually manipulate the new risk data into a suitable format for it to be uploaded and accepted into their IT System. LAs will need to ensure that existing functionality and/or other processes can identify appropriate cases that have already been uploaded and review activity commenced/completed, in order to avoid duplication.

Note: the risk data file will always provide a risk score for a live HB claim each month, it will not at this time remove the record where the LA has previously undertaken an FCR.