Guidance

LA Welfare Direct 5/2021

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

Welcome to the May edition of LA Welfare Direct, it may be spring but it feels like winter as I type this (there is a hailstorm raging outside at present!).

Our payments team have been very busy getting the financial year ending (FYE) 2022 funding allocations out to you for the New Burdens, Verify Earnings and Pensions (VEP), Housing Benefit Admin Subsidy and Housing Benefit Award Accuracy (HBAA). More details can be found in HB S circulars 5,6,7 and 8!

Hopefully those payments continue to support you in planning, resourcing and maintaining service levels for the year to come. Looking back at service levels in the last year I wanted to congratulate you in particular on the excellent performance on VEP, with 84% of alerts cleared nationally in FYE 2021. This is an amazing effort (and not far off the FYE 2020 position) especially in light of the challenges you have faced dealing with the impacts of the pandemic. Over the coming months you should all hopefully be in a position to go live with the 2a improvements to the VEP service which will support your future performance.

We also have an article this month on the Speed of Processing statistics for quarter 3 FYE March 2021 which were published on 28 April 2021. Again these numbers are really positive in that they remain fairly steady and have done throughout the last year.

This month you’ll also see an invitation to the next Data sharing and IT consultation and engagement forum. I know these are always well attended and urge anyone who has an interest in this area to join the call to hear the latest developments, ask questions and share issues.

Darren Baker
Head of Change and Communications, Fraud, Error and Debt Team.

Urgent reminder: Circulation of Breathing Space creditor template

1. Further to the article in LAWD4/2021 regarding Breathing Space and Appendix A: Creditor template and in the LAWD4/2021 lite, can we ask for both to be urgently circulated to staff within your local authority (LA) who will be using the process, for example, Council Tax and Rent arrears teams where applicable.

2. If you have any queries about the content of the articles you can contact [email protected]

Change to improve the Housing Benefit Matching Service rule HBIC201

3. The rule HBIC201 generates referrals when a Housing Benefit (HB) claimant or partner has failed to declare that they are in receipt of Carer’s Allowance (CA).

4. Following feedback from a number of LAs on the quality of referrals issued the rule has now been updated.

5. Analysis showed that in many supported, sheltered or temporary accommodation cases where the claimant or partner is in receipt of CA and is receiving Universal Credit (UC) and Carers Element referrals were also generated. As UC is a passported benefit an LA is not required to show the breakdown of the award within their IT system. Therefore, CA and/or Carers Element cannot be identified from the HB claim to prevent a match.

6. As no action is required from the LA against these types of referrals, the rule has now been changed to remove all cases where the HB claimant or partner is in receipt of Carers Element and these referrals will no longer be generated from week commencing 3 May 2021.

7. If you have any questions regarding the content of this article you can contact [email protected]

Clarification: Required Baseline Personal Security Standards checks for staff and external auditors with indirect access to DWP data

1. Following the all-LA call on 31 March 2021, LA-PED received a number of queries from LAs seeking further clarification on what constitutes indirect access to the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) data:

• some LA staff will not have an Employee Authentication Service account, as they do not have end user access to DWP systems such as Searchlight. However, some LA users will have access to DWP data (as derived from DWP) via LA internal systems such as electronic filing systems or benefit processing systems. These staff are classed as having indirect access and must be Baseline Personal Security Standard (BPSS) checked

• IT colleagues/suppliers and internal auditors who have indirect access to DWP data, as outlined above, must also be BPSS checked

• external auditor firms that have worked with DWP have confirmed that auditors have been checked to at least BPSS standards for all their access requirements. However, if LAs have any concerns regarding external auditors you can contact [email protected]

9. note: LAs must keep clerical BPSS records for staff who have indirect access

Requirement to retain data for assurance purposes

10. Module1 of the Housing Benefit Assurance Process (HBAP) provides guidance in respect of LAs responsibilities relating to the provision of audit trails to support the assurance process. Para 2.3 refers:

• the Section 151 Officer of the LA will make available to the Reporting Accountant (RA) all records, correspondence, information and explanations (including for partnerships or outsourcing of services exist for the administration, delivery and payment of HB) that the RA considers necessary to enable the performance of the specific test requirements detailed in the HBAP. The LA will provide the RA with such information, explanations and documentation that the RA considers necessary to carry out their responsibilities

11. Data that supports the accuracy, entitlement and validity of a claim (for example, original or copies of initial claim forms, tenancy agreements, supporting evidence etc.) should not be destroyed or deleted under individual LA Data Retention Policies (DRPs). The data could be required by the RA to perform the Specific Test Requirements of HBAP. The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations) Principle E (Storage Limitation Principle) Article 5(1)(e) provides guidance on the period of data retention stating:

• personal data shall be kept in a form which permits identification of data subjects for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the personal data are processed

12. Keeping data for an audit is considered to be a legitimate reason for processing. Therefore, changing the retention periods to meet this purpose is also acceptable.

13. LAs are advised to review their internal DRPs to take account of the requirement to retain data for assurance purposes, such as:

• live HB claim – retain all data relating to the claim regardless of LA DRP requirement

• closed HB claim – retain all data relating to the claim for a minimum of three years plus the current year or in accordance with their own DRPs, whichever is the greater

14. RAs facilitating the HBAP are instructed by DWP to highlight cases where the LA has failed to provide sufficient audit trails to enable the Specific Test Requirements of HBAP.

15. Where LAs have deleted or destroyed evidence that supports the accuracy, entitlement and validity of a live HB claim, the RA will detail these incidences and consider them in line with the error classifications contained within the HBAP guidance.

Extension: Deadline for the submission of HB final tested claims and assurance reports/audit certificates

16. Final tested claims for HB subsidy and subsequent HBAP reports (in England) and audit certificates (in Scotland and Wales) are normally provided to the DWP by 30 November following the end of each assurance period.

17. In respect of the FYE March 2020 assurance period, DWP extended the standard submission deadline from 30 November 2020 to the 31 January 2021 to take account of the resourcing pressures arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

18. Stakeholder engagement feedback from both LAs and audit firms facilitating HBAP have highlighted that due to ongoing pandemic related resource pressures and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s decision to adopt an extension to the deadline for the Local Authority Final Accounts work as recommended by the Redmond Review (from 31 July to 30 September 2021), that a high percentage of assured HB subsidy claims in respect of the FYE March 2021 assurance period will not be completed by the expected deadline of 30 November 2021.

19. DWP understands that these pressures may continue to affect the FYE March 2021 and to a lesser extent the FYE March 2022 assurance periods. So, to provide certainty to LAs and the audit firms facilitating HBAP over these 2-year assurance periods, DWP is extending the deadline to 31 January for both.

20. The standard submission deadline of 30 November will be re-introduced for the production of the final HB assured subsidy claims for the FYE March 2023 assurance period.

21. HB subsidy forms a significant part of DWPs Annual Reports and Accounts and carries the expectation that provision of actual HB subsidy spend can be incorporated into each accounting period on a timely basis. HB subsidy claims submitted post November in any accounting period impacts that expectation and raises a risk to the accurate provision of the department’s Annual Reports and Accounts.

22. Therefore, DWP encourages LAs to work with reporting accountants and auditors to finalise work on the HB subsidy claim for both years to the usual November timescale, where practical to do so.

HB subsidy withholdings

23. HB subsidy withholdings will be applied to all outstanding claims not meeting the extended deadlines. The withholdings will be applied at 5%, increasing to a maximum of 35% in line with normal practice.

24. Extension requests and the setting aside of any subsidy withholding decisions can be considered in exceptional circumstance, on a case-by-case basis.

25. Where LAs believe claims and HBAP reports or audit certificates will not be submitted to DWP by 31 January 2022, they should contact the LA Payments Team at [email protected] providing detailed reasons for not being able to do so.

Reminder: Use of specified and temporary accommodation markers

26. DWP introduced several specified accommodation and temporary accommodation markers to the LA HB IT systems, which enabled LAs to identify these cases on DWP’s SHBE (Single Housing Benefit Extract) with the intention of building up the SHBE dataset.

27. To minimise the impact on LA capacity, we asked LAs to update their HB systems as and when they process new claims or when existing claims are reviewed

28. Following a recent review, we estimate that between a third and a half of HB specified and temporary HB cases do not have a marker set. To improve the accuracy of SHBE data and enable DWP to gather accurate management information for specified and temporary cases, we are reminding LAs to check indicators are correctly set.

29. We are specifically asking that, when LAs conduct an HB Award Accuracy review, they include reviewing the accuracy of any indicators as part of that process.

30. There is tailored guidance on setting specified and temporary accommodation markers for the 3 main IT systems which can be found on Glasscubes.

31. If you have any queries about the content of this article you can email [email protected]

HBAA Indicator: Frequently asked questions

32. LA-PED provides HBAA Indicator data on a quarterly basis to allow LAs to benchmark performance against similar LAs, identify where improved activities can be incorporated and monitor the effectiveness of any improvement plans you put in place.

33. We have also produced a set of the most frequently asked questions (FAQS) from LAs about the Indicator. These FAQs were compiled by LA-PED with support from LA representatives for use by the wider LA community.

34. You will find the FAQs attached as Appendix A and they can also be found on Glasscubes from 6 May 2021. They will be updated as more questions are asked by LAs.

Invitation to the next Data Sharing and IT consultation and engagement forum

35. The next quarterly forum will be held on Tuesday 22 June from 11am to 12 noon.

36. The dial-in details are:

• dial 033 0551 0214
• enter the participant code 1552323#
• aim to dial in 2 or 3 minutes before the start time, as we aim to start the call promptly
• you will then be kept in a holding area (with background music) until the call starts at 11am
• your line will be on mute by default but instructions will be given during the call if you want to ask a question

Forum agenda

• a 15-minute introduction from LA-PED, covering projects recently delivered, projects currently in delivery, insight into future planned projects, as well as the most recent common issues that have been reported to us
• 15 to 20 minutes of questions from LAs on the call about the projects and matters covered in the introduction
• 15 minutes of questions from LAs about any other data sharing issues or IT issues they face
• 10 to 15 minutes focused on suggestions from LAs about future data sharing, data matching or automation projects that the DWP could consider funding and delivering

37. High level minutes will be produced (focusing on the questions and answers session) and published on Glasscubes.

38. The forum is open to all LAs and it would be beneficial for every LA to have at least one representative dial into the forum to help us maximise feedback.

Each LA representative should:

• seek input and feedback from as many of their colleagues as possible prior to dialling in, for example, questions they might want answering
• have knowledge, at least at a high level, about data sharing, data matching and current IT topic areas
• feedback to their colleagues about how the conference call went, including the answers to the questions we asked

39. We look forward to your participation on the call. However, if you have any questions in the meantime, you can contact the LA Welfare Central Support Team at [email protected]

Publication of HB Speed of Processing statistics Quarter 3 FYE March 2021 (October to December 2020)

Background

40. The department published HB Speed of Processing (SoP) statistics and associated data on Wednesday 28 April 2021.

Key points:

• during quarter 3 (Q3) FYE March 2021 there were 88,000 new HB claims and 1.3 million change of circumstances to existing HB claims processed in GB
• for new HB claims, there has been a decrease of 3,100 (3%) since last quarter and a decrease of 3,000 (3%) since Q3 2019 to 2020
• for change of circumstances to existing HB claims, there has been an increase of 82,000 (7%) since last quarter and a decrease of 130,000 (9%) since Q3 2019 to 2020

New claims

• the average time taken to process a new HB claim during Q3 FYE March 2021 was 17 calendar days
• this is one day higher than Q3 of FYE March 2020

Change of circumstances

• the average number of days taken to process a change of circumstance to an existing HB claim during Q3 FYE March 2021 was 6 calendar days
• this is the same as Q3 of FYE March 2020

To note

41. HB datasets do not include figures for Hackney LA from October 2020, as a result of a cyber-attack suffered by the LA impacting data provision. Therefore, SoP figures for Hackney are omitted, in line with our standard approach for handling missing data. Analysis for Hackney using historical data shows that this is likely to affect volumes of HB claims by 1% at GB level and around 5% at regional (London) level. SoP figures are not impacted by the omission.

HB decisions by the Upper Tribunal

42. Decision Making and Appeals (DMA) Leeds is aware of the following HB cases that have been decided by the Upper Tribunal (UT):

• CH/305/19: Fear of violence. Switched between hotels. Only ever one liable for hotel staying at.

• CH/2402/17: No error of law in finding claimant overpaid HB - claimant ceased to satisfy one of the core entitlement conditions for Housing Benefit (section 130(1) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992).

• CH/4634/14: Removal of Spare Room Subsidy (RSRS). Claimant appeal upheld. Supreme Court decision in MA followed.

• CH/1066/15: RSRS. Tribunal decision confirmed. Supreme Court decision in MA followed.

• CH/1069/15: RSRS. Tribunal decision confirmed. Supreme Court decision in MA followed.

• CH/1318/15: RSRS. Remit. Carmichael followed.

• CH/3791/14: RSRS. Remit. Carmichael followed.

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

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

New Legislation

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

• 13 April 2021 - The Social Security (Claims and Payments) (Amendment) Regulations 2021
• 20 April 2021 - The Social Security (Coronavirus) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2021

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

What’s new on our HB pages on GOV.UK

47. The following items can be found on the website link shown:

Document type	Subject	Links
LAWD4/2021	Editorial Extension of the supported housing oversight pilots for Birmingham, Blackburn, Blackpool and Hull Payment Deduction Programme Files Debt Management and Payment Deduction Programme queries Enhanced automated capture and reporting of management information Land Registry data - awareness and good practise The Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Space) Changes to Discretionary Housing Payments for England and Wales to reduce the administrative burden on LAs Subsidy guidance Northamptonshire LA reorganisation Restarting face-to-face services in Jobcentre Plus offices Further DWP led Engagement Events for LAs Cases (or Decisions) with the Upper Tribunal New Legislation What’s new on our HB pages on GOV.UK Tranche details for Debt Management and Payment Deduction Programme queries Annex A Creditor template attached as a separate Appendix A	LAWD4/2021
Circular HB S5/2021	Additional New Burdens funding to meet the costs of delivering Welfare Reform changes in 2021 to 2022 Introduction Funding and payment details Key points Allocation of additional funding Annex A	Circular HB S5/2021
Circular HB S6/2021	Payments for the VEP service 2021 to 2022 Introduction Funding detail Monitoring Payment details Details of the VEP Alerts service 2021-22 payments Annex A	Circular HB S6/2021
Circular HB S7/2021	2021 to 2022 Housing Benefit administration subsidy arrangements for English, Scottish and Welsh local authorities Introduction Background UC rollout Distribution methodology 2021 to 2022 national funding Payment of HBAS 2021 to 2022 LA allocations – England Annex A 2021 to 2022 LA allocations – Scotland Annex B 2021 to 2022 LA allocations – Wales Annex C	Circular HB S7/2021
Circular HB S8/2021	Introduction Funding details Payment details HBAA table of funding Annex A	Circular HB S8/2021
LAWD lite 4/21	Clarification: Breathing Space (applicable in England and Wales only) Reminder: Discretionary Housing Payment final claim form 2020 to 2021	LAWD lite 4/2021
Housing Benefit subsidy guidance manual 2020 to 2021	The guidance is for local authorities. It explains the subsidies DWP pays them for certain costs of the Housing Benefit scheme.	Housing Benefit subsidy guidance manual 2020 to 2021

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