Guidance

LA Welfare Direct 3/2023

Updated 12 December 2023

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

Editorial

Welcome to this bumper edition of LA Welfare Direct. Appreciating that this is a really busy time of year, please do take some time to read the articles and, as always, feel free to provide any feedback.

What I am most pleased with looking through this bulletin, is the evidence of great joint working between local authorities (LAs) and the Department for Work and Pensions, for example, on extending the Universal Credit data share for the Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme. When I first started in what was Housing Delivery Division, we didn’t have all LA calls or engagement workshops to supplement our consultation with the LA Welfare Steering Group and Practitioners’ Operational Group. We don’t always get everything right but we do try and getting LA input and feedback is critical to our aim of continuous improvement.

I am always interested in what our published statistics tell us about what is going on too. We continue to see small reductions in performance on speed of processing which are totally understandable given the pressures Revenues and Benefits Teams have been under with the pandemic and cost of living crisis. It is harder to interpret the debt statistics given the falling caseload. What do you think? Why not discuss with our Performance and Relationship Managers – let them know how the world feels to you now.

I will just finish by thanking you all, as ever, for doing such a great job in supporting our Housing Benefit claimants.

Clare Elliott

Head of Local Authority Partnership, Engagement and Delivery division

State Pension underpayments

1. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is currently identifying people who have been underpaid State Pension.

More information about the increases which can be made, The basic State Pension: Increasing or inheriting State Pension from your spouse or civil partner

2. Where underpayments are identified, DWP will contact the individual to inform them of the changes to their State Pension amount and of any arrears payment they will receive. Any arrears due will be backdated to the date they became entitled to an increased State Pension amount.

Effect on Housing Benefit

3. There are no changes to Housing Benefit (HB) regulations to disregard the arrears payments of State Pension and these payments are capital. Entitlement to HB will be affected if the claimant already has capital between £10,000 and £16,000 where the arrears payment takes them above £16,000.

4. Claimants who are receiving the guarantee credit element of Pension Credit will not be affected by the arrears payments if, once Pension Credit has been reassessed following the receipt of that payment, they remain entitled to Pension Credit.

Cryptoassets and HB

5. Cryptoassets or, as they are also known, cryptocurrencies, are a type of digital currency which are generally held as investments by people who expect their value to rise. More information about cryptoassets can be found in a fact sheet published by HM Revenue and Customs

Effect on HB

6. For HB purposes, cryptoassets should be treated as capital in the same way as other types of investments, such, as ISAs (individual savings accounts), personal pension schemes, premium bonds or stocks and shares.

7. The value of cryptoassets can only be obtained from the claimant who must provide a screenshot of their cryptoassets wallet, which will show the value and break-down of each asset held. Local authorities (LAs) should deduct 10 percent ‘expense of sale’ from the total shares value for each cryptoasset.

Update: Increase in benefit cap levels and the impact on LAs

8. As advised in LAWD1/2023 lite, benefit cap levels are increasing from April 2023.

Impact on Universal Credit

9. LAs have asked for clarification on when the new levels will be applied to Universal Credit (UC).

10. Regulation changes will allow UC to apply the new levels to assessment periods that start on or after the 10 April 2023.

11. LAs may find this information helpful if they have awarded a UC claimant a Discretionary Housing Payment because of the benefit cap.

Updated MGP1 LA form

12. The only purpose of the MGP1 LA form is to respond to an HB Stop notice and is used to:

• confirm the closure of an HB claim

• notify UC that a claimant is living in specified or temporary accommodation

13. Note: It must not be used to update a claimant’s change in circumstance.

14. The MGP1 LA has been updated and can now be found on Glasscubes. It has also been shared with LA IT software suppliers. LAs should ensure this new version is used with immediate effect.

LA Support pack

15. The revised form will not be reflected in the LA Support pack. However, as the pack was last updated in January 2021, the Local Authority Partnership, Engagement and Delivery (LA-PED) division is considering options to update it; including reflecting the current Move to UC plans. Further details will follow in due course.

Extension to statutory deadline for final tested claims (for the financial year ending 2023)

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

17. As advised in bulletins LAWD5/2021, LAWD2/2022 and following stakeholder engagement feedback, DWP extended the standard submission deadlines for the financial year ending (FYE) March 2021 and FYE March 2022 assurance periods.

18. DWP has considered recent representations from LAs and audit firms facilitating HBAP that due to continued resource pressures and advice that a high percentage of assured HB subsidy claims in respect of the FYE March 2023 assurance period will not be completed by the statutory deadline of 30 November.

19. DWP understands these pressures and, to provide some reassurance to LAs and the audit firms facilitating HBAP, is extending the deadline for assured HB subsidy claims in respect of the FYE March 2023 assurance period to 31 January 2024.

20. HB subsidy forms a significant part of DWP’s 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. Therefore, DWP encourages LAs to work with reporting accountants and auditors to finalise work on the HB subsidy claim for any years that remain outstanding and to work towards the usual statutory November timescale, where practical to do so.

21. Any questions can be sent to [email protected]

Additional Deductions reasons and amounts to be added to Local Council Tax Reduction data feed

22. The Local Government Data Sharing Transformation (LGDST) team is working with UC to add up to nine additional Deduction reasons and amounts to the Local Council Tax Reduction (LTCR) data feed.

23. We have established with LA IT software suppliers that changes to software will not be required. However, we will be sharing test files to enable acceptance testing for the additional reasons and amounts to ensure the additional reason types don’t adversely affect the current service in any way.

24. The Deductions reasons to be added are:

• Mortgage interest
• Owner-occupier service charges
• Rent or service charges
• Gas arrears
• Electricity arrears
• Council Tax
• Fines
• Water arrears
• Child maintenance

25. We are aiming to deliver the changes in late March/early April 2023 but the precise timing will depend on a number of factors.

26. This additional information is among the top items requested by LAs; including those authorities on our LA/UC Data Sharing Working Group.

27. The working group has been helping us identify a wide range of additional UC data items that are needed for the LCTR data feed and we are currently considering around 80 enhancements. It has also been helping to identify requirements for additional UC claimant data in Searchlight.

28. The LGDST team will continue to provide progress updates on LCTR and Searchlight enhancements with UC claim information in future LAWD bulletins. In the meantime, if you would like to express an interest in joining the working group, do get in touch by writing to the team at [email protected]

Reminder of help needed: LA monitoring of Searchlight activity to help support the case for more UC claimant data

29. As explained in February’s LAWD2/2023 Bulletin, LA-PED’s LGDST Team has been working to increase the UC claimant data available through Searchlight for the following LA services:

• HB
• Council Tax Support
• Discretionary Housing Payments
• Local Welfare Provision/Assistance
• Adult Social Care Financial Assessments

30. Initial assessment suggests there would be significant financial benefits for LAs if we can deliver the changes authorities have been requesting since UC went live but need more statistical information to prove this.

31. To this end, we asked LAs to consider getting in touch to help us get solid evidence so we can state the case for change on your behalf.

32. Many thanks to those who have already made contact. Some authorities have explained that they are unable to do any monitoring for the next month or 2 and, whilst we would benefit from having returns completed as soon as possible, that is fine.

33. We do appreciate it’s an extremely busy time for LAs right now. However, do note that at this stage, we are only asking LAs to express an interest in providing data from a short period of monitoring activity.

34. Therefore, this is a reminder to consider expressing an interest in monitoring for any of the 5 LA services listed above but particularly Local Welfare Provision/Assistance and Adult Social Care Financial Assessments (LAs may refer to some of these under other names) as we currently have a shortfall in returns for these services.

35/. We look forward to hearing from you at [email protected] at which point we will provide more information about what we need from you. You will then be given time to consider the detail and you won’t be obliged to undertake any monitoring until you are happy to commit. Please respond to the email address above by Friday 24 March 2023 at the latest if you can get involved.

Supported housing and temporary accommodation caseload review and all-LA online meeting

36. The recently published circular A3/2023, advises LAs on the actions they need to undertake to improve the quality of supported housing and temporary accommodation SHBE (Single Housing Benefit Extract) management information:

• between now and 31 March 2024, LAs must carry out a desk-based review of their whole HB caseload to determine if the claimant is living in supported housing (specified accommodation), temporary accommodation or neither, recording as such on their systems.

• inconsistencies in supported housing or temporary accommodation markers should be actioned via the exception reports introduced as part of April 2022 IT changes.

• keep all information up-to-date for all in receipt of HB to maintain the accuracy.

All LA online meeting reminder

37. As advised directly to LAs on 27 February 2023, we will be holding an all LA online meeting via Teams on 8 March 2023 at 2pm to 3pm to create an opportunity for LAs to ask questions regarding the content of circular HB A3/2023.

38. The MS Teams link to this meeting has also been shared in the version of the LAWD3/2023 that was sent directly to each LA’s single inbox.

39. If you have any questions about the content of this article or the circular email [email protected]

Advice for LAs telephoning Debt Management to discuss a claimant’s HB debt

40. In response to feedback received from LAs about difficulties in getting through to Debt Management’s Debt Centre LAs are advised of the following which we hope you find helpful:

• When telephoning Debt Management (0800 916 0647 - lines are open 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday) the less busy days are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

• Ensure you have all the relevant information ready including a claimant’s National Insurance number.

• After the pre-recorded statements

• Choose Option 2 (for all other enquiries)

• Choose Option 4 (all other enquiries)

• When you first talk to the Debt Management advisor only give information when asked to ensure that you pass security. For example, if you are asked “are you calling about yourself today”, let them know that you are an LA calling about a claimant. However, do not divulge any further information until asked as you could be offering information that might be one

HB Accuracy Award Initiative (Year 4) launch and all LA conference call

41. As detailed in the launch letter, sent to Revenues and Benefits managers on 23 February 2023, the HB Accuracy Award (HBAA) Initiative for the financial year ending (FYE) March 2024 (Year 4) officially starts from 3 April 2023.

42. This is to remind LAs that the next HBAA Initiative All LA conference call will take place on Tuesday 14 March 2023 from 11am to 12:30pm. During the call we will look to prepare LAs for Year 4; providing an overview of the expectations as well as an opportunity for questions. Therefore, all LAs are encouraged to attend.

43. The MS Teams link to this meeting has been shared in the version of the LAWD3/2023 that was sent directly to each LA’s single inbox.

44. Please note: It is more difficult to ask questions using the dial in method, therefore, if you anticipate having questions, the MS Teams link is recommended.

45. If you have any queries regarding the Initiative, or wish to discuss the extenuating circumstances why your LA may not be able to participate in the initiative, you can email [email protected]

New Verify Earnings and Pensions User Interface survey

46. LA-PED’s Fraud and Error Team has created a short survey to evaluate the implementation of the new Verify Earnings and Pensions User Interface, launched in October 2022.

47. The survey will be available on Glasscubes the week commencing 13 March 2023 and should only take a few minutes for LAs to complete. Your feedback will be gratefully received and will influence the way we implement future initiatives.

HB Overpayments Guide for LAs

48. The fully refreshed Housing Benefit Overpayments Guide for local authorities can now be found on www.gov.uk.

49. LAs can email [email protected] if they have any queries relating to the HB overpayments policy.

50. LA-PED’s Performance Development Team will also be refreshing the HB Overpayment Good Practice Guide in the Spring/Summer of 2023 and would welcome any good practice LAs could share to [email protected]

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

51. The next forum will be held on Wednesday 5 April 2023 from 11am to 12 noon.

Joining instructions

52. The joining instructions are:

• The MS Teams link to this meeting has been shared in the version of the LAWD3/2023 that was sent directly to each LA’s single inbox.

• note: It is more difficult to ask questions through dial-in so, if you anticipate having questions, we recommend joining through MS Teams where possible.

• aim to join the event 2 or 3 minutes before the start time, as we intend to start promptly.

• speakers will be muted by default but instructions will be given during the event if you want to ask a question.

Forum agenda

• A 15-minute introduction from DWP, 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.

• 30 to 45 minutes of questions from LAs on the call about the projects and matters covered in the introduction and any other IT and data sharing questions and issues LAs may have.

• If time allows, 15 minutes focused on suggestions from LAs about future data sharing, data matching or automation projects that DWP could consider funding and delivering.

53. The call will be recorded, and the recording will be published on Glasscubes.

54. The forum is open to all LAs and it would be beneficial for every LA to have at least 1 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.

55. We look forward to your participation on the call. However, if you have any questions in the meantime, please contact [email protected]

HB Debt Recovery statistics

56. The HB Debt Recovery (HBDR) statistics were published on 1 March 2023. The headlines were:

• LAs identified £206 million overpaid HB – £2 million less than during the first 2 quarters of FYE 2022

• LAs recovered £198 million overpaid HB – £18 million less than during the first 2 quarters of FYE 2022

• LAs wrote off £32 million overpaid HB – £5 million more than during the first 2 quarters of FYE 2022

• The total amount of outstanding debt has fallen. At the start of Q2 of FYE 2023, total outstanding debt stood at £1.73 billion. This was £107 million (6%) less than at the start of Q2 of FYE 2022

57. LAs may want to consider benchmarking their LA performance against those of their neighbours or comparable LAs. Invariably the current economic climate and declining HB caseload will be impacting LA HBDR figures and this is a way to consider if the impacts are similar. If not, LAs may want to liaise with other LAs to learn and share good practice.

Publication of HB speed of processing statistics for July to September 2022

58. The department published HB speed of processing statistics and associated data for quarter 2 (Q2) on Wednesday 25 January 2023.

Some key points

59. During Q2 of financial year ending (FYE) March 2023 there were 93,000 new HB claims and 1.1 million changes of circumstances to existing HB claims processed in Great Britain (GB).

60. For new HB claims, this is an increase of 3,200 (4%) since last quarter, and an increase of 6,900 (8%) when compared to the same quarter a year earlier.

61. For change of circumstances to existing HB claims, this is a decrease of 380,000 (27%) since the last quarter and a decrease of 74,000 (7%) when compared to the same quarter a year earlier.

New claims

62. The average time taken to process a new HB claim during the latest quarter was 21 calendar days. This is 1 day lower than the previous quarter and 1 day higher than the same quarter a year earlier. Change of circumstances

63. The average number of days taken to process a change of circumstance to an existing HB claim during the latest quarter was 9 calendar days. This is 1 day higher than Q1 of FYE March 2023 and 1 day higher than Q2 of FYE 2022.

To note

64. Please note, sometimes we need to omit certain LA data due to concerns over the quality of the data and details of the LAs not included are listed below. It should be noted however that that the omission of LA data outlined below does not change the story in the release but can sometimes have a slight impact on regional level figures:

• Malvern Hills, Worcester and Wychavon are part of a shared service and are in the process of moving onto a single IT platform. Due to IT disruption and system issues affecting their speed of processing statistics, all data for these LAs has been omitted this quarter

• HB speed of processing statistics do not include figures for Gloucester LA from December 2021 because of a cyber-attack suffered by the LA impacting data provision. Therefore, speed of processing figures for Gloucester will be omitted in line with our standard approach for handling missing data or data with quality concerns. Analysis for Gloucester using historical data shows this is likely to affect volumes of HB claims by less than 1% at GB level and around 4% at regional (South-West) level. The GB level speed of processing figures are not impacted by the omission of Gloucester data and the regional (South-West) level speed of processing figures are impacted by around 2%.

• As we shared in the previous submission dated 25 January 2022, HB speed of processing statistics do not include figures for Hackney. This LA also suffered a cyber-attack and we are omitting their figures until we are happy with their data quality.

Update: Move to UC

65. On the 10 January 2023, DWP published the Completing the move to Universal Credit; Learning from the Discovery Phase document.

66. As part of ongoing Discovery work Move to UC has expanded into the wider Cornwall District:

• On 13 February 2023, we began to issue Migration Notices to Tax Credit only claimants in St. Austell and Newquay

• On 20 February 2023, we began issuing Migration Notices to Tax Credit only claimants in Camborne, Redruth and Hayle, North Cornwall, South East Cornwall and St. Ives and the Isle of Scilly.

Practitioners’ Operational Group and LA Welfare Steering Group

67. The last Practitioners’ Operational Group meeting took place on 22 February 2023. Agenda items included LA Welfare issues Highlight Report, Private Rented Sector housing costs verification, update on Move to UC, update on LA Funding Group and the Memorandum of Understanding compliance pilot.

68. Both groups’ meetings are held bi-monthly (and alternately), so the next LA Welfare Steering Group meeting is scheduled to take place on 23 March 2023.

69. If you have any questions regarding topics raised at these consultation groups, you can email [email protected]

Secondment opportunities in the LA-PED division

70. Working with LAs, as one of our major stakeholders in Welfare Reform, continues to feature heavily and for this reason we value the expertise and knowledge that LA HB experts can bring to the team. These secondment opportunities provide an opportunity to gain an insight and experience of policy development and workings of central government.

71. The LA-PED division has had a programme of bringing HB experts from LAs in to work alongside data sharing, subsidy, change and performance teams on secondment. We are now looking to register your interest for further secondment opportunities over the coming months.

72. LA-PED comprises of approximately 120 staff. The division is responsible for overseeing the performance of LAs in their delivery of HB. It monitors a range of performance data including how quickly and accurately HB is paid and the prevention and detection of fraud and error. LA-PED offers support and challenge to those LAs not meeting performance expectations.

73. It supports a large programme of data sharing activity that is paramount in helping LAs pay the correct amount of HB and is heavily involved in managing change activity supporting the Welfare Reform agenda.

74. It’s also responsible for paying HB Administration Subsidy, Discretionary Housing Payments, New Burdens and additional grant funding.

75. This is an exciting opportunity to play a leading role in maintaining and improving stakeholder relationships between DWP and LAs and in designing innovative opportunities for closer working during this busy and complex period of Welfare Reform.

Personal requirements

76. Candidates should possess the following:

• good understanding of HB procedures and regulations

• good drafting and communication skills

• ability to build and maintain effective working relationships with LAs and other stakeholders

• ability to work with people at different levels in the organisation and to work as part of a team to achieve results

• ability to deliver work at pace and with successful, quantifiable outcomes

Further information

77. Secondment posts would be offered for either 12 months or 24 months dependant on the role offered across the division. The posts would usually be full time and based across the country, although no moves at public expense would be considered. These opportunities will be determined by business need so your CV will be kept on file, and you will be contacted once a suitable opportunity arises.

78. If you are keen to register your interest and are at S01/S02/SO3 and Pay Band level 4 or equivalent, (roughly equates to civil service HEO/SEO/G7 grades) please:

• check with your LA that you could be released

• and then send your CV by email to [email protected]

HB decisions by the Upper Tribunal

79. Decision Making and Appeals (DMA) Leeds is aware of the following HB case that has been decided by the Upper Tribunal (UT):

• UA-2020-000476-HB: Transitional provisions. Claimant no longer entitled to HB because she had claimed UC. Regulation 8 of the TP Regulations applied.

80. 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.

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

New Legislation

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

• Pension Protection Fund and Occupational Pension Schemes (Levy Ceiling) (No. 2) Order 2023. SI 2023/117, laid on 6 February 2023

• Pension Protection Fund and Occupational Pension Schemes (Levy Ceiling) Order 2023. SI 2023/116, laid on 6 February 2023.

• Social Security Benefits (Claims and Payments) (Amendment) Regulations 2023. SI 2023/232, laid on 1 March 2023.

• Loans for Mortgage Interest (Amendment) Regulations 2023. SI 2023/226 laid on 1 March 2023. Coming into force 3 April 2023.

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

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

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

Document Type	Subject	Link
LAWD2/2023	Immediate action: Minimum software needed for Housing Benefit subsidy claim forms and estimates Help needed: Monitoring of Searchlight to prove the case for more Universal Credit claimant data Update: Transformation of the Single Housing Benefit Extract returns to DWP using a real time Application Programme Interface Update: Housing Benefit Matching Service Update: Care Home Information Service Practitioners’ Operational Group and LA Welfare Steering Group HB Decisions with the Upper Tribunal New Legislation What’s new on our HB pages on www.gov.uk	LAWD2/2023
LAWDLite2/2023	Update: Increase in benefit cap levels and the impact on local authorities Housing Benefit Award Accuracy Initiative: Capturing Year 3 end of year performance HB Debt recovered by the DWP’s Debt Management: Updated Service Level Agreement and enhanced query process Bereavement benefits extended to unmarried cohabiting parents Reminder: Request for a single point of contact for the Payment Deduction Programme Full Reconciliation exercise Frequently asked questions: Capturing Year 3 HBAA Initiative end of year performance	LAWDLite2/2023
Circular HB S1/2023	Discretionary Housing Payment government contribution for English and Welsh local authorities for financial years ending March 2024 and March 2025 (England and Wales).	Circular HB S1/2023
Circular HB A2/2023	War Pensions uprating for the financial year ending March 2024	Circular HB A2/2023
Circular HB A3/2023	Supported housing and temporary accommodation Single Housing Benefit Extract management information for caseload review	Circular HB A3/2023
Circular HB S2/2023	Housing Benefit administration subsidy arrangements for English, Scottish and Welsh local authorities for the financial year ending March 2024.	Circular HB S2/2023