Guidance

LA Welfare Direct 2/2021

Updated 20 December 2021

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If you have queries about the:

• technical content of this bulletin then contact details are given at the end of each article
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Who should read

All Housing Benefit staff

Action

For information

Editorial

And there goes January 2021! “Where did that month go?” I ask myself. That said, the days are getting a little bit longer and spring will soon be upon us. Something for everyone to look forward to, despite the continuing difficult world we live in at the moment.

I am extremely conscious that everyone will be very busy and pressed for time so I shall keep this editorial short and sweet by focusing on three areas.

Firstly, talking of spring, please consider our update on Debt Management and Payment Deduction Programme queries. The plan is for the Department for Work and Pensions to be able to build internal capacity over the next couple of months so that from April 2021, Debt Management will be able to start taking queries from authorities. Thanks for your continued patience with this important aspect of delivery. Secondly, I’d like to flag the publication of the Discretionary Housing Payment guidance manual which includes a good practice section. It would be great if you could have a look at this updated guidance in case there is anything more to be done to better serve those people who rely on these payments.

Thirdly, remember my Performance Development Team continues to stand by to support local authorities (LAs). We are receiving requests from LAs for our virtual consultancy service so whether it is speed of processing, debt recovery, Housing Benefit Award Accuracy or anything else, you can contact the team on [email protected]

All the very best and as ever please continue to stay safe.

Jonathan Bottomer
Head of Performance Development Team

Debt Management and Payment Deduction Programme queries

1. In LAWD11/2019 we asked local authorities (LAs) to refrain from calling Debt Management with Payment Deduction Programme (PDP) queries. This was due to the volume of calls being received and resourcing pressures that Debt Management were experiencing. The pandemic added to these issues as Debt Management staff were re-deployed to manage other frontline activity.

2. Debt Management expect to deploy approximately 450 new recruits over the next few months to bolster call centres and enable resourcing for business as usual activity.

3. It is anticipated that the extra staff means that LAs will be able to raise queries, including PDP, from April 2021. However, this will need to be in a controlled manner initially to avoid overwhelming call centre capacity. We’d like to thank all LAs for their continued patience in this area.

4. As a reminder Debt Management cannot advise on when debt recovery will start, how much it will be and when is it ending for individual cases. This is due to the fluctuating nature of Universal Credit (UC) and is determined by the circumstances of each case. LA staff should refer to circular HB A6/2016 (paragraph 22) for further clarification on this. Further information will be provided as soon as it is available.

5. The Service Level Agreement with Debt Management is currently being refreshed and consulted on and further updates will be provided in due course.

Updated LA guidance for the Housing Benefit Matching Service - management information spreadsheet

6. The Housing Benefit Matching Service (HBMS) Guidance V.3 is now available (see Annex A) and contains additional information regarding the:

• submission of blank spreadsheets where there are no results to report

• return of HBMS management information results spreadsheets where referrals are more than 12 months outstanding

7. The latest version including all the appendixes can be found on Glasscubes.

8. If you have any questions regarding the article you can email: [email protected]

Updated Discretionary Housing Payment guidance manual

9. The Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) guidance manual, which provides guidance and advice on good practices when payment of a DHP is being considered, has been updated on our HB pages on GOV.UK

Taxi and Private Hire Driver Support Fund (Scotland only)

10. On 19 January 2021, the Scottish Minister for Business, Fair Work and Skills announced that benefit recipients who are taxi or private hire drivers may also be eligible for a £1,500 grant, if they have been licensed for the period 9 October 2020 to at least 31 January 2021 and have been affected by the pandemic. Full details regarding the update to the taxi grant criteria can be found on www.gov.scot.

11. Scottish LAs will directly approach an estimated 38,000 private hire and taxi drivers inviting them to claim the grant, which is intended to assist with fixed costs and expenses, including licence plate fees, rental fees and insurance payments for taxis not on the road.

Impact on HB

12. Payments received should be treated as a business asset and disregarded for HB purposes, in line with the previously notified treatment of payments from the Small Business Rate Relief Grant and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund.

Housing Association and Assured Shorthold Tenancy service charges (Wales only)

13. Welsh Government recently published a written statement regarding unintended consequences of the Renting Homes (Fees etc.) (Wales) Act 2019 which come into force in September 2019 and set out restrictions on service charges for Assured Shorthold Tenancies in Wales.

14. The effect of the Act is that social landlords and some supported accommodation providers have issued assured shorthold agreements which include service charges which are prohibited by the Renting Homes (Fees etc.) (Wales) Act 2019.

15. Though these service charges are prohibited and non-binding, tenants who have received the benefit of services remain liable to pay for them.

16. DWP has considered any implications arising from this situation for those tenants who are in receipt of HB and can confirm that such prohibited service charges, if eligible for HB, may continue to be paid as they are not void in law.

17. HB teams should only reassess cases if there is a change to the terms of any tenancy agreement where such charges are removed by the landlord.

18. Welsh Government has engaged directly with local authority enforcement leads to ensure they are briefed on the situation, emphasising their desire that enforcement action should not be taken in regard to these matters.

19. Welsh Government has confirmed that they intend to make a legislative change which will be retrospective in effect, so that all of the charges which have been raised and paid since the 2019 Act came into force would be regularised.

Updated LA Support Pack

20. The latest version of the LA Support Pack (v25) has been published in the UC folder in Glasscubes and the previous version has been archived.

21. All new HB claims which include the Severe Disability Premium (SDP) must be signposted to UC from 27 January 2021. Therefore, all parts referring to SDP have been removed from the latest version of the pack.

Update: Local Housing Allowance

22. On 25 November 2020 the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions announced that the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) will be maintained in cash terms in 2021-22.

23. The LHA rates for 2021-22 were published, in line with normal procedures, on the last working day of January and will be applicable from April 2021.

Further DWP led Engagement Events for LAs

24. In Autumn 2020 the Local Authority Partnership, Engagement and Delivery (LA-PED) division held a series of virtual DWP engagement events with LAs and DWP Partnership Managers. These events were used to communicate what was happening in relation to HB and the UC Programme.

25. In 2021, we will continue delivering a rolling programme of ‘bite size’ one to two hour sessions. These will begin in Spring 2021 and will be delivered by audio conference or Microsoft Teams.

26. A timetable of the 2021 sessions along with joining instructions will be issued to LAs via their single inbox nearer the time. DWP Partnership Managers will also be invited to join any sessions they have an interest in.

27. We are in the process of developing the topics for each event but we are committed to getting your thoughts on what to include at each one.

28. So, we’d be grateful if you could send your suggestions to [email protected] and use ‘LA-PED Engagement Events 2021 – Topics’ in your email subject header.

Change of email address for housing policy enquiries

29. The current group mailbox for enquiries ([email protected]) to DWPs’ Housing Policy Division regarding HB regulations and guidance is being closed on 5 February 2021.

30. Any enquiries should now be directed to the new group mailbox: [email protected]

31. This mailbox is intended for enquiries from LA HB services regarding recently issued DWP communications. Members of the public enquiring about the administration of HB or the Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme should continue to contact their LA.

32. Do note, the former mailbox will be monitored until its closure.

Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Space)

33. The Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Space) will give someone in problem debt the right to legal protections from creditor action.

34. DWP are working with the Insolvency Service and an LA working group on developing processes to support Breathing Space.

35. The Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Space) can be found on GOV.UK

HB decisions by the Upper Tribunal

36. Decision Making and Appeals (DMA) Leeds is not aware of any HB cases that have been decided by the Upper Tribunal (UT) since the last entry in January’s LAWD.

37. A selection of decisions of the UT are published on their website. Do be aware that there is an undefined time lapse between decisions being issued and their appearance on the website.

38. If you have any queries about cases before the UT Judges or courts, please contact us by email at: [email protected]

New Legislation

39. The following Statutory Instruments (SIs) have been laid:

• Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) (Claimants previously entitled to a severe disability premium) Amendment Regulations 2021

• Mesothelioma Lump Sum Payments (Conditions and Amounts) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 laid on 14 January 2021, subject to debate in both Houses

• Pneumoconiosis etc. (Workers’ Compensation) (Payment of Claims) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 laid on 14 January, subject to debate in both Houses

• Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order 2021 laid on 18 January 2021, subject to debate in both Houses

• Guaranteed Minimum Pensions Increase Order 2021 laid on 18 January 2021, subject to debate in both Houses

• Automatic Enrolment (Earnings Trigger and Qualifying Earnings Band) Order 2021 laid on 20 January 2021, subject to debate in both Houses

• Social Fund Funeral Expenses Payment (Amendment) Regulations 2021 laid on 21 January, coming into force 15 February 2021

• The Pension Protection Fund and Occupational Pension Schemes (Levy Ceiling) Order 2021 laid on 1 February 2021

40. Copies of SIs can now be downloaded from legislation.gov.uk

What’s new on our HB pages on www.gov.uk

41. The following items can be found on the HB pages on GOV.UK:

Document type	Subject	Links
LAWD01/2021	Update: Pension Strategy Computer System uprating HB Award Accuracy Initiative: Performance information HBAA Initiative: Advice for LAs on completing FCRs and provision of FCR MI Urgent reminder: Memorandum of Understanding for 2020 to 2021 Decisions by the Upper Tribunal New Legislation What’s new on our HB pages on www.gov.uk HBAA FCRs: Common issues identified	LAWD1/2021
Circular HB A1/2021	Revised Housing Benefit Annual Uprating: 2021 to 2022	Circular HB A1/2021
Discretionary Housing Payment guidance	Updated Discretionary Housing Payment guidance manual	Discretionary Housing Payment guidance

Annex A: Local authority guidance for the Housing Benefit Matching Service - management information spreadsheet (v3)

Introduction

This guidance supports local authorities (LAs) on how to provide management information (MI) to the Department for Work and Pension (DWP) on their Housing Benefit Matching Service (HBMS) referrals.

LAs are sent an HBMS file through a Transfer Your Files upload each month. It contains several documents to support LAs with processing their HBMS referrals.

One of the documents is a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet containing a list of all that LAs HBMS referrals.

The spreadsheet contains blank columns that requires the LA to input their results and email a return each month to DWP at: [email protected]

Note: Previous guidance may have referred to the spreadsheet as a clerical return spreadsheet. All previous guidance should now be destroyed and the spreadsheet is now known as the HBMS MI spreadsheet.

DWP recognises that the HBMS MI spreadsheet needs upgrading and started developing the automation of this management information (MI) collection via SHBE (Single Housing Benefit Extract) and will update LAs about this shortly.

The process

The latest HBMS MI spreadsheet received must be returned every month in line with the LA’s HBMS MI timetable (see Appendix A), which, for consistency, has been aligned with the same dates as LAs currently submit their SHBE returns.

Each referral on the HBMS MI spreadsheet(s) should be continually updated. Therefore, it is likely that LAs will be updating several HBMS MI spreadsheets at any one time and continually submitting the spreadsheets to DWP each month until such time that all referrals on the MI spreadsheet/s (old and latest) have reached an ‘outcome’ position and been notified. However, LAs must return their latest spreadsheet in line with the HBMS MI timetable as stated above.

To clarify, DWP’s IT system (that uploads the HBMS MI spreadsheets), is designed to ignore previously submitted results. Therefore, an LA can keep updating and re-submitting the same HBMS MI spreadsheet to DWP, without deleting any previously submitted results. This can happen until all the actions on every referral is completed.

However, this practise should only be used if the referrals are not more than 12 months outstanding. If an investigation/correction has taken over 12 months, the result of this should be added to the latest spreadsheet that is due to be returned. Do not return blank HBMS MI spreadsheets if there are no results to report as these spreadsheets are not processed into DWP systems and will not be taken into account when evaluating HBMS compliance.

It is imperative that HBMS MI spreadsheets are not stockpiled until all referrals have reached an outcome position, as any such delays will provide an inaccurate picture of the LAs current activity and may affect Housing Benefit Award Accuracy (HBAA) Initiative funding.

Note: A mandatory activity for those LAs participating in the HBAA Initiative is:

• 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

HBMS MI spreadsheets that are incorrectly completed will not be uploaded into the DWP system and may result in the HBMS MI spreadsheet being returned to the LA for corrective action.

If an LA automatically loads the HBMS MI spreadsheet into its internal IT systems, they can continue to do so.

Further guidance on ‘How to complete the HBMS MI spreadsheet’ and the ‘Results codes’ can be found within Appendix B and C, respectively.

LAs can also find examples of completed HBMS MI spreadsheets within Appendix D.

Retention of HBMS referrals

On completion of the HBMS referrals The Data Protection Act and General Data Protection Regulation requires that personal data is not kept longer than is necessary in accordance with the LA’s retention policy.

DWP policy is that data is retained only if a business need exists and should be kept for no longer than 14 months.

Further guidance and support

If you require any further guidance or support you can email: [email protected]

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