Guidance

LA Welfare Direct lite 3/2022

Updated 12 December 2022

Contact

If you have queries about the:

• technical content of this bulletin then contact details are given at the end of each article
• general content and distribution of this bulletin, contact [email protected]

Who should read

All Housing Benefit staff

Action

For information

Council Tax rebate schemes

1. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities recently released The council tax rebate 2022-23 – billing authority guidance for English local authorities (LAs) in relation to the £150 Council Tax rebate and related discretionary fund.

2. Devolved governments have introduced similar schemes as below.

3. This article provides LAs with further information on data sharing and the Housing Benefit (HB) and Universal Credit (UC) disregard to enable LAs to administer the rebate.

England

4. In England, funding is being given to LAs to give all households whose primary residence is valued in council tax bands A to D, as a one-off Council Tax energy rebate payment of £150.

5. The government will also provide funding for billing authorities to operate a discretionary fund for households in need who would not otherwise be eligible. This could include for example individuals on low incomes who live in properties valued in bands E to H.

Scotland

6. In Scotland, LAs will provide a £150 credit to households who meet the eligibility criteria to support households with rising energy prices. There will also be a small discretionary scheme to pay grants to households exempt from Council Tax.

7. Eligible households will be those:

• in receipt of Council Tax Reduction on a particular date
• in a Band A to D property
• certain households exempt from Council Tax

Wales

8. In Wales, a £150 cost of living payment will be provided to all households in properties in council tax bands A to D and to all households who receive help to pay their Council Tax from the Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme. There is also a discretionary scheme which will provide additional funds for households who are struggling.

Effect of payments on HB

9. All 3 schemes meet the definition of ‘local welfare provision’ in the Housing Benefit regulations and can be disregarded.

Effect of payments on UC

10. The government has legislated to ensure that payments made under the Energy Rebate scheme announced on 3 February 2022 and equivalent schemes in the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales, do not affect entitlement to UC.

11. From 1 April 2022, these regulations will ensure that people on UC will not experience a reduction or withdrawal of that benefit simply because they receive a payment under the Energy Rebate scheme. This disregard also applies to payments made under a comparable scheme announced by the Scottish and Welsh governments.

Sharing of the Department for Work and Pensions’ data to support LA administration

12. The Council Tax rebate will be classed as local welfare provision. This permits LAs to utilise Searchlight for verification purposes in order to administer discretionary funds.

13. For Scottish LAs, there is a small discretionary fund for households exempt from Council Tax and, therefore, no access to the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP’s) data is needed or permitted.

14. Given the short-term nature of this funding, DWP is not creating a bespoke user role on Searchlight for this work. Existing user roles available on DWP’s Employee Authentication Service - Replacement (EAS-R) can be used.

15. If LAs wish to add additional users to EAS-R to help administer the rebate, do be aware all 4 Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks, as mandated by the Cabinet Office, must be completed. As LAs will be aware this takes time, therefore, it is DWP’s expectation that LAs will primarily seek to utilise existing staff access to Searchlight rather than adding new users.

16. If you have any questions surrounding the content of this article email [email protected]

Changes to the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme

17. LAs will be aware that there have been changes to the Test and Trace Support Payment (TTSP) scheme, predominately in England and Wales.

18. As a result, many LAs have asked for clarity on access to Searchlight in order to administer the scheme. The changes will impact as follows:

England

19. The TTSP scheme ended in England on 24 February 2022 and all applications must be processed by 30 April 2022.

20. LAs in England can continue to access Searchlight until 30 April 2022, after which permission to use the service for the scheme will be revoked.

21. From 1 May 2022, the Searchlight user role ‘SG_Get_Income_Information_Addon’ will be automatically removed from users and the data will no longer be available.

Wales

22. The Self-isolation Support Scheme in Wales will continue until the end of June 2022. It is anticipated there will be a requirement for LAs in Wales to continue processing applications beyond this date.

23. More details on when the Searchlight user role will be removed for Welsh LAs will be communicated nearer the time.

Scotland

24. Support for people self-isolating will continue in Scotland, this includes the Self-Isolation Support Grant.

25. Scottish LAs can continue to access Searchlight until further notice.

26. Note, returns to HM Revenue and Customs required under their data-gathering powers and Schedule 23 notices must still be provided as per the existing monthly schedule. This is to ensure any necessary tax adjustments are made for those individuals who received these payments.

27. If you have any questions surrounding the content of this article email [email protected]