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Consultations

Long Term Conditions Strategy

The Department of Health (DH) is leading on the development of a cross-government long term conditions strategy.

The DH know that long term conditions can affect many aspects of people’s lives, not just their health. So we want the strategy to set out a vision for how services such as health, social care, education, housing and others can work together to improve life chances and outcomes for people living with long term conditions.

This vision will cover helping to prevent or delay the onset of conditions, preventing deterioration of conditions and helping to develop joined up services to support people living with long term conditions. The strategy won’t cover specific detail of how services are delivered.

The DH are asking people to comment until 15 June on what should be in the strategy. They are not holding a formal consultation.

We aim to publish the strategy by the end of 2012 and it will apply to England only.

Please click here to find out more.

Welfare Reform Bill – Summary

Progress on the rest of the Welfare Reform Bill

The Welfare Reform Bill, introduced in the Commons stages on 15 June 2011, completed its Committee Stages in the Lords on 28 November 2011. Report stage was scheduled to start on 12 December 2011.

Besides introducing the PIP another major reform will be the” Universal Credit”, which replaces a range of existing means-tested benefits and tax credits for people of working age, the Bill makes other significant changes to the benefits system.

Key areas include:

Restricting Housing Benefit entitlement for social housing tenants whose accommodation is larger than they need.
Up-rating Local Housing Allowance rates by the Consumer Price Index.
Amending the forthcoming statutory child maintenance scheme.
Limiting the payment of contributory Employment and Support Allowance to a 12 month period. This time limit will not apply to people with no, or limited, means of supporting themselves, and those most severely affected by their medical conditions. Any time spent in the Support Group will not count towards the 12 months. Those who are affected by the 12 month time limit may be able to receive income related ESA.
Caps the total amount of benefit that can be claimed.

If you require more information on the above subjects, you can contact us, and ask to have the information sent in hard copy format.

Please Note: This information is as accurate as it can be at time of updating, but the Welfare Reform Bill, is being amended regularly and will be subject to changes.

Universal Credit

Digital by Default

Universal Credit will be ‘digital by default’ – being designed from the outset to be delivered by online self service.

Claimants will:

Have an online account bringing together employment and benefit information;
Be able to make a claim, do a ‘what if’ calculation, search for jobs, change circumstances and check the progress of their benefit claim online; and
Still receive face to face support in helping them get back to work, the online services will support and improve this service

There will continue to be other ways of claiming Universal Credit for claimants who are unable to use the online services.

Monthly Payments

Universal Credit will be paid monthly, reflecting the fact that 75 per cent of people are paid earnings monthly in arrears (BACS – Family Finance Survey 2011)

Where the Department considers exceptional circumstances exist, a payment exceptions service will be made available to provide more frequent payments to households.

Why has DWP settled on a monthly payment period?

There are strong advantages to moving to a monthly payment period as the Department will receive information monthly about people’s earnings

A key aspect of Universal Credit is that it should mimic work and receipt of salary
Encouraging out of work households to budget on a monthly rather than fortnightly basis will better prepare people for the reality of work.

Universal Credit Delivery

What support will DWP give to claimants who are used to fortnightly payment?

The Department understands that many people on low incomes are used to budgeting on a fortnightly basis and may be concerned about moving to monthly payment. Work is underway to develop plans about how the Department can best support households to manage monthly payment.
The Department will also agree how payment dates during the month will be allocated.
The Department is examining a range of options to support claimants as part of the move to Universal Credit and is carefully considering the welfare implications involved. Proposals are likely to include a mix of financial advice and interi m and bridging loans.
The Government wants families to be able to manage their affairs in a manner that best reflects the demands of modern life whether in or out of work.

Will Universal Credit be delivered on time?

Universal Credit will be delivered using methods of change successfully seen within other large businesses. Despite the challenges Universal Credit will be delivered on time.

The timetable for delivery is:

October 2013 to April 2014 – all new claims for out of work support will be treated as claims to Universal Credit. Claimants moving back to work will receive Universal Credit if they are eligible. If a claimant has a change in circumstances they may move over to Universal Credit;
April 2014 – no new claims will be made to Tax Credits;
April 2014 – October 2017 – existing claimants will move over to Universal Credit.

The Department has already completed an initial round of claimant testing with existing working age claimants. Feedback to date has been largely positive and is being fed into the next stage of development

A full range of Universal Credit Briefing Notes can be found on the DWP Website

Universal Credit briefing notes – DWP

Fraud and Error

The Bill introduces measures which support the Government’s proposals to stamp out fraud in the benefits and Tax Credit system. The measures include tougher sanctions for people who commit fraud including:

A minimum penalty of £350 for benefit fraud, as an alternative to prosecution, or 50 per cent of the amount overpaid whichever is the greater, up to a maximum of £2,000. This will be in addition to the current loss of benefit sanction for a four week period and the requirement to repay any overpayment;
Increasing the period people convicted of fraud will lose their benefit, alongside the punishment that is handed out by the courts. There will be an immediate three years loss of benefit for a serious offence of organised benefit fraud; and
A £50 civil penalty for people who fail to take reasonable care of their claim and knowingly let a change in circumstance run on and incur an overpayment.

The Bill also takes powers to enable the creation of a new single, integrated fraud investigation service. This will bring together fraud investigators from across her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, the Department for Work and Pensions and local authorities.

Housing Benefit Changes

The Bill gives powers to restrict the increase in Local Housing Allowance rates to the Consumer Prices Index. This will enable greater control over the growth of Housing Benefit in the private rented sector and ensure future support for claimants will be kept at a more reasonable and realistic level.

The Bill also introduces measures to ensure Housing Benefit, for working-age tenants in the social rented sector, takes account of whether the property is a reasonable size for its occupants.

Update on Proposals to time limit Employment Support Allowance (ESA)

It was decided that from 19 September for four weeks, Jobcentre Plus (JCP) would be sending letters to all customers currently receiving contribution –based ESA in the Work Related Activity Group to forewarn them of the proposals to time limit ESA. Around 115,000 letters were issued to help prepare people for the proposed changes. JCP have received fewer enquiries following this mailshot than anticipated and call volumes remain low. Activity is still ongoing to answer any claimant queries resulting from this notification. Although the early notification has now ended, JCP continue to advise any claimants making a new claim.

This proposed time limit is part of the Welfare Reform Bill currently progressing through Parliament. If it becomes law, the time limit will not apply to people with no, or limited, means of supporting themselves, and those most severely affected by their medical conditions. Any time spent in the Support Group will not count towards the 12 months. Those who are affected by the 12 month time limit may be able to receive income related ESA. Claimants living abroad and receiving contribution based ESA will also be affected by this proposed change. However, unlike people who live in the UK, they will not be able to claim income related ESA if their contribution based ESA end.

The Work Programme

Work Programme Providers within Wessex Region have started delivering the Work Programme and are continuing to receive referrals from Jobcentres across the District. DWP are currently working with the providers on the production of management information and expects this information will start to be made available in the Spring via the DWP website.

Recent changes in referral to the Work Programme include:

Changing the ESA – 6 month unemployed group is now mandation point for the Work Programme.

The Minister has taken the decision to bring forward the change for ESA simplification. This means the mandatory referral point to the Work Programme for ESA Work Related Activity Group (WRAG) claimants with a 6 month group wil be aligned with that for the 3 month group. This is a welcome change because it simplifies the complex eligibility rules for ESA claimants.

ESA Volunteers

Information Sessions delivered by Work Programme providers have started. The sessions will enable ESA claimants who could volunteer for the Work Programme to make an informed choice about the support they opt for – ie; the Jobcentre Plus Offer or the Work Programme. It is aimed at encouraging additional numbers of ESA volunteers for the Work Programme.

Access to Work Preferred Bidders announced

DWP has announced Preferred Bidders for a new Access to Work Jobcentre Plus assessment model replacing the current Ergonomic, Technical and Sensory contracts. The new assessment will explore the breadth of disability issues experienced by our customers and their impact in the workplace and provide a range of solutions to address these. The new contracts also introduce progression planning to the assessment, detailing what steps are required to maximise customer independence. Coverage includes all disabilities with the exception of health conditions as there will be a separate Access to Work contract dealing specifically with this customer group in employment.

Update on DWP Appointee Review

From 3 October 2011 DWP have changed the way they look after their customers who have an ‘appointee’.

Many DWP customers, unable to manage their own financial affairs, have a DWP ‘appointee’ – a person appointed to do this for them. Currently there is no way for DWP to ensure that appointees are meeting the responsibility they committed to when they were appointed. From 3 October, the new process was introduced that allows us both to review appointees’ suitability and confirm whether the customer or claimant does still need appointee help.

Following the evaluation of a business test it has been decided that all new appointees will be reviewed at a set future date. At the review date, the appointee will be sent a letter asking about their ability to continue to fulfil the requirements of the role.

Existing appointees have either been identified for review from 3 October as a result of normal business events such as renewals, or as part of an exercise that started later in 2011 and running to the beginning of 2012. Appointees looking after customers or claimants receiving a benefit delivered by the Pension, Disability and Carers Service or Jobcentre Plus will be included in the new review.

Corporate Appointees, deputies, those holding Power of Attorney and Agents are excluded from this review.

Brief Updates

Bereavement Benefits Public Consultation: review of bereavement benefits

A public consultation was launched on 12 December 2011 until 5 March 2012, to seek views on proposals to simplify the payment system and contribution conditions. This may prompt questions from claimants, customers and the public. The Consultation paper will also be published on the consultation page the DWP website.

Introducing Benefit Integrity Centres

DWP has set up a number of Benefit Integrity Centres (BIC) with the specific aim of ensuring claimants are receiving the correct amount of money.

This is part of a wider programme to review almost one million cases each year, in response to the priority the Government is placing on getting and keeping benefit claims right.

BIC sites are contacting claimants by telephone and post to carry out full cases reviews on claims for Income Support, JSA, ESA and Incapacity Benefit. They are also contacting them by text to remind them of the need to return forms and to notify changes of circumstances within laid down timescale.