Guidance

S1/2021: 2020 to 2021 Housing Benefit administration subsidy additional £20.175 million funding for English, Scottish and Welsh local authorities

Updated 17 June 2022

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Who should read

All Housing Benefit (HB) managers and staff in England, Scotland and Wales. Officers preparing subsidy claims and estimates.

Action

For information

Subject

2020-21 Housing Benefit administration subsidy additional £20.175 million funding for English, Scottish and Welsh local authorities.

Guidance Manual

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

Queries

If you

Introduction

1. This circular contains details of an additional £20.175 million Housing Benefit (HB) administration subsidy funding for 2020-21. This funding is in addition to the HB administration subsidy funding announced in HB Circular S1/2020.

2. Provision for the 2020 to 2021 HB administration subsidy additional funding will be made by an Amendment Order to the Income-related Benefits (Subsidy to Authorities) Order 1998, which will be subject to consultation with the Local Authority Associations (LAAs) prior to being laid in Parliament.

3. LAAs and local authority (LA) representatives have been consulted regarding the distribution methodology.

Background

4. This additional HB administration subsidy is a one off funding payment to reflect additional work LAs have undertaken in maintaining their HB services during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to 2021. It also acknowledges the impact the pandemic has had on the cost of HB service delivery throughout this period.

5. The additional 2020 to 2021 HB administration subsidy funding allocation by country is:

  • English LAs - £17.355 million
  • Scottish LAs - £1.807 million
  • Welsh LAs - £1.013 million

Distribution methodology

6. To allocate this additional funding to LAs, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) developed an allocation methodology to reflect the varying COVID-19 related impacts and costs across LAs.

7. The allocation methodology takes into account the:

  • Working Age HB caseload in February 2020, pre-pandemic, weighting for the relative size of an LA’s HB caseload
  • relative uptake in Universal Credit housing element between August 2019 and August 2020, a proxy indicator for how the local labour market has been affected by the pandemic, accounting for changing levels in unemployment
  • indices of Multiple Deprivation, correlating with how an area has been adversely affected during the COVID-19 pandemic by providing a proxy indication of poverty, by area, in the UK. This takes into account income, employment, education, health, crime, barriers to housing services and living environment

8. This additional, one off funding, will not form part of future baselines.

9. Allocations are rounded to the nearest pound.

Funding and payment details

10. LAs will receive their allocation as a single one-off payment. The expected date of payment is week commencing 15 March 2021. The additional funding available to support HB administration is cash-limited and so there is no provision for any adjustments to be made to individual LA allocations.

11. A breakdown of each LA’s funding is detailed in Annex A (England), Annex B (Scotland) and Annex C (Wales).

Annex A: LA allocations – England

LA Additional 2020 to 2021 DWP HB administration subsidy allocation (£)
Adur 14,390
Allerdale 11,800
Amber Valley 21,312
Arun 33,451
Ashfield 46,143
Ashford 23,567
Babergh 9,138
Barking and Dagenham 147,260
Barnet 157,511
Barnsley 60,407
Barrow-in-Furness 25,354
Basildon 41,273
Basingstoke and Deane 19,445
Bassetlaw 19,765
Bath and North East Somerset 13,433
Bedford 26,795
Bexley 64,596
Birmingham 686,995
Blaby 6,964
Blackburn with Darwen 44,936
Blackpool 117,354
Bolsover 18,704
Bolton 112,762
Boston 23,148
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 81,343
Bracknell Forest 12,900
Bradford 197,668
Braintree 18,442
Breckland 23,460
Brent 354,452
Brentwood 4,863
Brighton and Hove 122,412
Bristol 236,495
Broadland 13,805
Bromley 71,376
Bromsgrove 8,160
Broxbourne 19,723
Broxtowe 16,316
Buckinghamshire 59,006
Burnley 28,067
Bury 41,407
Calderdale 38,672
Cambridge 35,035
Camden 176,833
Cannock Chase 27,393
Canterbury 32,187
Carlisle 23,909
Castle Point 13,434
Central Bedfordshire 38,821
Charnwood 21,133
Chelmsford 33,096
Cheltenham 17,391
Cherwell 16,212
Cheshire East 35,750
Cheshire West and Chester 45,820
Chesterfield 29,787
Chichester 17,605
Chorley 16,975
City of London 2,019
Colchester 45,583
Copeland 11,483
Corby 13,251
Cornwall 158,243
Cotswold 5,583
Durham 135,384
Coventry 144,852
Craven 2,563
Crawley 36,946
Croydon 99,352
Dacorum 31,555
Darlington 29,672
Dartford 21,028
Daventry 4,349
Derby 101,628
Derbyshire Dales 7,623
Doncaster 79,249
Dorset 45,232
Dover 18,707
Dudley 54,508
Ealing 190,025
East Cambridgeshire 10,149
East Devon 20,306
East Hampshire 10,880
East Hertfordshire 14,498
East Lindsey 40,174
East Northamptonshire 9,498
East Riding of Yorkshire 39,823
East Staffordshire 27,631
East Suffolk 33,406
Eastbourne 29,252
Eastleigh 7,721
Eden 6,011
Elmbridge 16,681
Enfield 233,693
Epping Forest 27,959
Epsom and Ewell 8,834
Erewash 15,635
Exeter 40,054
Fareham 10,091
Fenland 29,269
Folkestone and Hythe 32,581
Forest of Dean 9,968
Fylde 13,686
Gateshead 52,739
Gedling 23,642
Gloucester 35,875
Gosport 27,817
Gravesham 25,489
Great Yarmouth 20,881
Greenwich 190,451
Guildford 19,219
Hackney 457,744
Halton 28,272
Hambleton 4,270
Hammersmith and Fulham 67,097
Harborough 3,147
Haringey 358,530
Harlow 23,478
Harrogate 7,280
Harrow 81,917
Hart 4,627
Hartlepool 25,139
Hastings 34,749
Havant 28,125
Havering 60,460
Herefordshire 33,183
Hertsmere 20,056
High Peak 18,545
Hillingdon 111,534
Hinckley and Bosworth 6,650
Horsham 12,124
Hounslow 55,143
Huntingdonshire 23,225
Hyndburn 23,050
Ipswich 51,495
Isle of Wight 45,317
Isles of Scilly 693
Islington 211,859
Kensington and Chelsea 87,939
Kettering 22,129
King’s Lynn and West Norfolk 40,950
Kingston upon Hull 234,321
Kingston upon Thames 30,802
Kirklees 89,924
Knowsley 84,967
Lambeth 205,219
Lancaster 17,021
Leeds 343,837
Leicester 174,821
Lewes 22,043
Lewisham 217,431
Lichfield 8,322
Lincoln 37,150
Liverpool 388,361
Luton 138,000
Maidstone 37,952
Maldon 9,948
Malvern Hills 11,721
Manchester 350,368
Mansfield 45,139
Medway 80,385
Melton 2,616
Mendip 10,314
Merton 40,201
Mid Devon 12,507
Mid Suffolk 7,418
Mid Sussex 10,901
Middlesbrough 108,373
Milton Keynes 104,360
Mole Valley 10,584
New Forest 20,060
Newark and Sherwood 20,927
Newcastle upon Tyne 79,722
Newcastle-under-Lyme 31,732
Newham 389,699
North Devon 22,678
North East Derbyshire 15,559
North East Lincolnshire 43,650
North Hertfordshire 19,072
North Kesteven 10,472
North Lincolnshire 24,302
North Norfolk 26,796
North Somerset 28,039
North Tyneside 46,429
North Warwickshire 7,867
North West Leicestershire 9,801
Northampton 93,642
Northumberland 81,907
Norwich 89,127
Nottingham 254,323
Nuneaton and Bedworth 23,768
Oadby and Wigston 5,827
Oldham 57,171
Oxford 32,785
Pendle 30,801
Peterborough 63,222
Plymouth 85,523
Portsmouth 125,855
Preston 45,396
Reading 39,161
Redbridge 131,912
Redcar and Cleveland 63,782
Redditch 14,083
Reigate and Banstead 20,232
Ribble Valley 3,252
Richmond upon Thames 21,156
Richmondshire 1,966
Rochdale 83,708
Rochford 6,319
Rossendale 16,888
Rother 11,173
Rotherham 85,029
Rugby 5,749
Runnymede 13,722
Rushcliffe 8,057
Rushmoor 22,771
Rutland 1,464
Ryedale 2,939
Salford 148,831
Sandwell 170,650
Scarborough 33,170
Sedgemoor 11,017
Sefton 66,833
Selby 6,874
Sevenoaks 15,649
Sheffield 279,306
Shropshire 41,699
Slough 58,238
Solihull 27,283
Somerset West and Taunton 16,431
South Cambridgeshire 13,020
South Derbyshire 15,077
South Gloucestershire 35,743
South Hams 11,747
South Holland 13,891
South Kesteven 13,401
South Lakeland 11,209
South Norfolk 16,897
South Northamptonshire 5,860
South Oxfordshire 7,472
South Ribble 11,287
South Somerset 17,425
South Staffordshire 9,180
South Tyneside 65,902
Southampton 70,980
Southend-on-Sea 48,401
Southwark 120,203
Spelthorne 20,119
St Albans 9,515
St. Helens 58,674
Stafford 18,558
Staffordshire Moorlands 10,235
Stevenage 26,989
Stockport 62,246
Stockton-on-Tees 56,645
Stoke-on-Trent 121,108
Stratford-on-Avon 8,336
Stroud 9,365
Sunderland 113,709
Surrey Heath 8,581
Sutton 20,508
Swale 35,443
Swindon 26,562
Tameside 69,544
Tamworth 11,866
Tandridge 8,115
Teignbridge 24,830
Telford and Wrekin 78,449
Tendring 50,159
Test Valley 11,009
Tewkesbury 6,958
Thanet 41,991
Three Rivers 7,876
Thurrock 29,593
Tonbridge and Malling 19,915
Torbay 66,420
Torridge 14,256
Tower Hamlets 260,046
Trafford 26,188
Tunbridge Wells 20,168
Uttlesford 4,801
Vale of White Horse 7,721
Wakefield 152,209
Walsall 113,461
Waltham Forest 208,117
Wandsworth 138,294
Warrington 23,956
Warwick 18,555
Watford 21,064
Waverley 10,584
Wealden 13,686
Wellingborough 24,953
Welwyn Hatfield 16,104
West Berkshire 11,486
West Devon 9,295
West Lancashire 13,754
West Lindsey 16,910
West Oxfordshire 6,090
West Suffolk 23,436
Westminster 187,033
Wigan 68,441
Wiltshire 41,994
Winchester 9,836
Windsor and Maidenhead 12,578
Wirral 93,986
Woking 15,962
Wokingham 5,027
Wolverhampton 97,170
Worcester 30,587
Worthing 26,760
Wychavon 20,114
Wyre 26,673
Wyre Forest 27,069
York 17,357
England 17,355,162

Annex B: LA allocations – Scotland

LA Additional 2020 to 2021 DWP HB administration subsidy allocation (£)
Aberdeen 66,115
Aberdeenshire 25,626
Angus 16,117
Argyll and Bute 20,217
Clackmannanshire 11,877
Dumfries and Galloway 31,328
Dundee 58,017
East Ayrshire 30,995
East Dunbartonshire 7,834
East Lothian 10,470
East Renfrewshire 9,279
Edinburgh 220,375
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar 5,782
Falkirk 32,425
Fife 77,802
Glasgow 604,600
Highland 30,510
Inverclyde 20,986
Midlothian 14,575
Moray 13,249
North Ayrshire 44,931
North Lanarkshire 111,386
Orkney 2,868
Perth and Kinross 21,184
Renfrewshire 73,879
Scottish Borders 20,620
Shetland 3,031
South Ayrshire 26,703
South Lanarkshire 67,856
Stirling 12,257
West Dunbartonshire 64,388
West Lothian 49,931
Scotland 1,807,213

Annex C: LA allocations – Wales

LA Additional 2020 to 2021 DWP HB administration subsidy allocation (£)
Blaenau Gwent 37,625
Bridgend 47,554
Caerphilly 74,019
Cardiff 142,880
Carmarthenshire 66,036
Ceredigion 21,901
Conwy 30,867
Denbighshire 29,721
Flintshire 19,906
Gwynedd 34,972
Isle of Anglesey 23,840
Merthyr Tydfil 27,439
Monmouthshire 14,188
Neath Port Talbot 48,285
Newport 49,905
Pembrokeshire 36,784
Powys 26,971
Rhondda Cynon Taf 120,019
Swansea 67,952
Torfaen 24,591
Vale of Glamorgan 37,723
Wrexham 29,447
Wales 1,012,625
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