Guidance

LA Welfare Direct 10/2023

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: lawelfare.correspondence@dwp.gov.uk

Who should read

All Housing Benefit staff

Action

For information

Editorial

Welcome to October’s edition of the LA Welfare Direct. As ever, this edition is packed full of information about various matters of interest.

I do, however, want to draw your attention to the article about the project to replace the SHBE (Single Housing Benefit Extract) with an automated real time data share. Long time readers will know that we’ve been talking about this for quite some time now. But I’m delighted to say that, over the next three months, we’ll be going live with the new data share for all LAs.

This will revolutionise the timeliness of the Housing Benefit (HB) data the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will hold centrally; creating a number of positive spinoffs. For example, the Move to Universal Credit process is anticipated to use the data to support that process. The real time data will, in time, also allow us to reduce the number of nugatory cases we send out in our HB Matching Service data matching rules.

Internally in DWP, the real time data also helps us improve some of our operational processes. For example, did you know that the DWP operational staff administering Funeral Expense Payments currently contact LAs directly to confirm HB status. In the future, there will be no need to as they’ll be able to use the new live data received from authorities. We anticipate a number of other positives too.

As the article points out, there will be dual running of the old SHBE process for a while as we ensure the accuracy of the data being received. Also, DWP will be switching over a number of products that use the old SHBE data to the new SHBE feed, which takes time.

As ever, this project demonstrates our ongoing commitment to improving and modernising all of our data shares between DWP and LAs. There is always more to do, but we hope that you’ve felt the improvements this last eight years.

Paul Selby
LA-PED Deputy Divisional Manager

Income Support Legal Entitlements and Administration Practices exercise

1. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has identified that, since 31 January 2011, some claimants have made new claims for Income Support on the grounds of incapacity when they should have made new claims to Employment and Support Allowance (Income Related) (ESA(IR). As a result, some of these claimants may have been under or overpaid because there are differences in the amounts of ESA(IR) and Income Support paid.

Eligibility

2. Claimants eligible for the Legal Entitlements and Administration Practices (more commonly referred to as LEAP) exercise will need to have:

• made a claim to Income Support on the grounds of incapacity since 31 January 2011; and
• not been in receipt of Incapacity Benefit or Severe Disablement Allowance when they made that Income Support claim.

Impact on Housing Benefit

3. There is no impact on claims for Housing Benefit (HB) as people eligible for a payment will be still in receipt of Income Support or receiving ESA(IR) or have moved onto Universal Credit (UC).

4. More information about this exercise can be found on www.gov.uk. However, if you need any further information or have any questions about this exercise, please contact: housing.policyenquiries@dwp.gov.uk

Student uprating for the academic year 2023 to 2024 disregards for travel, books and equipment

5. The rates for the travel grant disregard and the books and equipment disregard have been frozen since 2010 and are again this year.

6. For the academic year 2023 to 2024 the disregard rates will remain at £303 in respect of travel and £390 in respect of books and equipment.

Loans, grants and tuition fees

7. Details about the financial support available to new and existing students can be found at the following links:

• England – Student finance for undergraduates: New full-time students and Student finance for undergraduates: Continuing full-time students on www.gov.uk.
• Scotland – Funding Your Studies – Student Information Scotland
• Wales – Student finance: higher education, GOV.WALES

8. If you need further information on student uprating please contact: housing.policyenquiries@dwp.gov.uk

Update: Transformation of the SHBE returns using a real time Application Programme Interface

SHBE Application Programme Interface pilot

9. Since the last update in September’s LAWD9/2023 bulletin, the early adopter pilot of the SHBE (Single Housing Benefit Extract) Application Programme Interface (API) final solution has continued; with DWP and local authority (LA) IT software suppliers making improvements ahead of national rollout.

10. We have considered feedback received from the early adopter LAs and IT software suppliers and, as a result, decided to make a change to DWP’s internal solution. This change will increase the solution’s performance by enabling it to handle the large amounts of payment data incoming following national rollout and reduce the impact on LAs.

11. As this change will need piloting by the early adopter LAs, we are extending the pilot to the beginning of November 2023 to ensure the change meets our expectations. This will result in national rollout starting from early November 2023.

12. Whilst we wait for the new solution to be piloted, we are working with the early adopter LAs to finalise national rollout guidance and the frequently asked questions guide.

National rollout and next steps

13. DWP is aiming to start national rollout of SHBE API in the first few weeks of November. This will still take place using a staggered approach to accommodate LA IT software suppliers’ release schedules.

14. Our next steps are to support LAs in readiness is to:

• issue national rollout guidance (specific to LA IT software suppliers) alongside a frequently asked questions guide
• arrange IT software supplier group all-LA calls (in partnership with IT software suppliers), where we will provide an overview of SHBE API and answer any questions LAs might have.

15. These activities will take place throughout October and November 2023 with invites to the calls and guidance made available through Glasscubes.

16. We advise your LA Revenues and Benefits teams to:

• review and complete the activities advised in LAWD9/2023 (paragraph 21)
• ensure your software release is tested and installed into live promptly when available
• utilise any products or tools made available by your IT software supplier.

17. We are aware that some LAs that have not been part of the early adopter pilot are concerned about the impact of the new solution. However, given the positive feedback from the early adopters, we believe it is even more important that LAs onboard as soon as possible, so they are able to fix any perceived problems quickly. After a period of dual running to ensure the consistency of the data from both feeds, we’ll then move to end the old SHBE process.

18. If you need any further information, email: lawelfare.ladsdeliveryteam@dwp.gov.uk

HB recovered by DWP’s Debt management

19. Get your State Pension (GySP) is a new service that enables customers to apply online for their State Pension through www.gov.uk.

20. This service, including how it interacts with other functions within DWP, has been in a ‘test and learn’ phase with limited functionality so far.

21. Overpayment recovery was not included in the initial system design, so deductions for debt recovery from GySP has been in the ongoing design process; including functionality to enable deductions for DWP overpayments and HB debt.

22. Previously, we have asked LAs not to refer any HB debt for recovery where the only award of benefit/pension in place is through GySP. However, the initial test and learn phase has now ended and Debt Management has completed the upskilling of all Debt Agents in how to set deductions within the GySP system. Therefore, from Monday 2 October 2023 LAs can now refer these types of cases for recovery to Debt Management.

Discretionary Housing Payments mid-year estimate form for financial year ending March 2024 (England and Wales only)

23. The Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) mid-year estimate form was issued directly to LAs’ single inbox addresses on 2 October 2023.

24. The DHP mid-year estimate form will ask for:

• the actual DHP expenditure paid by LA between 1 April 2023 and 30 September 2023
• your LA’s estimated DHP expenditure for financial year ending March 2024 between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024
• additional monitoring information to help monitor demand and trends.

25. The form will include updated completion guidance on the information that is being requested.

26. LAs must return the completed DHP mid-year estimate to dhp.returns@dwp.gov.uk by no later than 31 October 2023.

27. The monitoring information continues to improve the DWP’s understanding of how DHPs are being used to support people affected by Welfare Reforms.

28. If you have any questions you can contact us on the email address given above.

LAs accessing DWP, HM Revenue & Customs and Home Office derived data outside of the United Kingdom

29. As stated within the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between DWP and LAs:

• LAs should be aware that access to DWP, HM Revenue & Customs and/or Home Office derived data, covered within the MOU, will only take place from within the United Kingdom (UK) – no solution allowing individuals or Contracted Service Providers access from outside of the UK will be permitted.

30. To clarify, data made available by DWP can only be created, stored, transmitted or otherwise processed by ICT (Information and communication technology) and/or information systems which are located within the UK.

31. We ask that this information is brought to the attention of all those necessary within your LA.

32. Any LA that is not meeting this standard must email: lawelfare.lasecurity@dwp.gov.uk detailing your LA’s position.

LA HB subsidy workshops in early 2024

33. During the first quarter of 2023 (January to March), the LA Funding Team who sit within Local Authority Partnership, Engagement and Delivery (LA-PED) division held a number of HB subsidy workshops with those LA staff who are responsible for completing HB subsidy claim forms. The feedback from attendees was extremely positive.

34. In order to help improve authorities’ customer journey the LA Funding Team is proposing to hold a further series of HB subsidy workshops which will be scheduled throughout January and February 2024. The LA Funding Team plan to deliver these interactive workshops via MS Teams.

35. As in previous years, we intend to hold separate workshops for LA staff both new to the role and those more experienced in completing subsidy claims.

New to subsidy workshops

36. These workshops will provide an introduction to HB subsidy, with a particular focus on the arrangements for claiming and payment of subsidy as well as:

• applicable timelines LAs need to adhere to each financial year
• how estimates determine monthly subsidy payments
• growth factors, exceptions, and settlement of claims
• questions and answer session

37. Anyone wishing to attend one of these workshops should email an expression of interest to: lawelfare.lapaymentsandsubsidy@dwp.gov.uk using ‘New to HB subsidy workshops 2024’ as the subject heading.

Workshops for LA staff experienced in subsidy

38. It is intended that these workshops will follow last year’s format by:

• focusing on areas of concern raised by LA staff throughout the assurance year and issues highlighted in last year’s workshop evaluation returns.

39. To ensure that all pertinent issues are identified and considered for inclusion in this year’s workshops DWP will be engaging with LA key stakeholder groups to identify additional areas of interest.

40. Once the content of the workshop has been agreed, LA staff members expressing an interest in attending the experienced subsidy workshop will receive content confirmation, verifying the issues to be included.

41. Anyone wishing to attend the experienced workshops should email an expression of interest to: lawelfare.lapaymentsandsubsidy@dwp.gov.uk using ‘Experienced in HB subsidy workshops 2024’ as the subject heading.

42. If possible, expressions of interest for both types of workshop should be emailed to us by 3 November 2023 at the latest.

43. Additionally, it would be helpful if interested attendees could indicate on the expression of interest response any subsidy issues or areas of learning they would like to discuss in either workshop.

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

44. The next forum will be held on Tuesday 21 November 2023 from 3pm to 4pm.

Joining instructions

45. The joining instructions are:

• the MS Teams link to this meeting has been shared in the version of the LAWD10/2023 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 two or three 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

46. A 15-minute introduction from the 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.

47. 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.

48. 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.

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

50. The forum is open to all LAs and we 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.

51. We look forward to your participation on the call. However, if you have any questions in the meantime, please contact: paul.selby@dwp.gov.uk

HB Debt Recovery statistics for April 2022 to March 2023

52. The Housing Benefit Debt Recovery (HBDR) statistics were published on 6 September 2023.

53. Here are the headline statistics:

• LAs identified £431 million overpaid HB. This is £20 million more than the financial year ending (FYE) March 2022.
• LAs recovered £407 million overpaid HB. This is £16 million less than FYE March 2022.
• LAs wrote off £72 million overpaid HB. This is £8.8 million more than FYE March 2022.
• The total amount of outstanding debt has fallen. At the start of quarter (Q) 4 (January to March) of FYE 2023, total outstanding debt stood at £1.7 billion. This was £76 million (4%) less than at the start of Q4 of FYE March 2022.

54. LAs may want to consider benchmarking their LA’s performance against those of neighbouring or comparable LAs. Invariably the current economic climate and declining HB caseload will be impacting your HBDR figures and this is a way to consider if the impacts are similar.

55. As a reminder we will be hosting a series of HB overpayment/debt related workshops for LAs during the winter as outlined in September’s LAWD9/2023 bulletin.

Latest update: Move to UC

56. From September 2023, Move to UC activity extended into:

• Cumbria and Lancashire
• Essex
• Dorset
• Wiltshire and Hampshire
• Isle of Wight
• South-West Wales
• East Scotland
• Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland.

57. As we move forward, we will expand to South-East Wales and Central Scotland in October before bringing South-West Scotland onboard in November 2023.

58. We started our small-scale discovery in September 2023 to test more benefit combinations (apart from Employment and Support Allowance (Income Related) (ESA(IR) only, and ESA(IR) with Housing Benefit) to continue to learn how we move all households safely onto UC. As part of this discovery activity, we will be contacting a small number of households within Greater Manchester, Harrow, and Northumberland.

59. The Move to UC communications campaign that commenced in August 2023 continues and aims to raise awareness that Tax Credits are ending as well preparing Tax Credit claimants for a move to UC before receiving their migration notice. The campaign messaging has been designed to cover various media types and channels. This has been further supported by a leaflet issued to Tax Credit claimants, that started to land on doormats from 16 September 2023.

Practitioners’ Operational Group and LA Welfare Steering Group

60. The last LA Welfare Steering Group meeting took place on 21 September 2023. Agenda items included the LA Welfare issues Highlight Report, Move to UC, Cost of living, and LA funding.

61. Both groups’ meetings are held bi-monthly (and alternately), so the next Practitioners’ Operational Group is scheduled to take place on 19 October 2023.

62. If you have any questions regarding topics raised at these consultation groups, you can email: lawelfare.correspondence@dwp.gov.uk

DWP’s Performance Measurement is recruiting HB Review Officers

63. Performance Measurement is recruiting four HB Review Officers. The closing date to apply is Tuesday 10 October 2023.

64. They currently offer hybrid working, which is where an employee works part of the week in their DWP office and part of the week from home. The position is classed as ‘National’ which means the successful candidate can be based in any DWP location within daily travel to their home.

65. The advert is publicised on Civil Service Jobs website and is open to everyone. You will need to create an account on the Civil Service Jobs Web site to access further details and apply for the position.

Secondment opportunities in LA-PED division

66. 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.

67. 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.

68. 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.

69. 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.

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

71. 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

72. 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

73. 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.

74. 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: laped.businesssupportteam@dwp.gov.uk

HB decisions with the Upper Tribunal

75. Decision Making and Appeals Leeds have not been made aware of any new HB decisions by the Upper Tribunal since September’s edition of this bulletin.

76. 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.

77. If you have any queries about cases before the UT Judges or courts, please contact us by email at: quarryhouse.dmaleedscustomersupportservices@dwp.gov.uk

New Legislation

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

• 2023, No. 1040 Income Related Benefits (Subsidy to Authorities) Amendment Order 2023, made on 25 September 2023.
• 2023, No. 1017 Social Security Additional Payments (Second Qualifying Day) Regulations 2023, made on 20 September 2023.
• 1. Pensions Act 2004 and the Equality Act 2010 (Amendment) (Equal Treatment by Occupational Pension Schemes) Regulations 2023, made on 18 September 2023.
• 2023, Pensions Act 2004 (Amendment) (Pension Protection Fund Compensation) Regulations 2023, made on 18 September 2023.
• 2023, No. 1012 Registered Pension Schemes (Authorised Member Payments) Regulations 2023, made on 18 September 2023.
• 2023 National Minimum Wage (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2023, made on 13 September 2023.

79. The following Statutory Rule (SR) of Northern Ireland has been laid:

• 2023, Pensions (Protection Fund Compensation) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2023, made on 18 September 2023.

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

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

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

Document Type	Subject	Link
LAWD 9/2023	Editorial – Low value Housing Benefit debt recovered by DWPs debt Management – Transformation of the SHBE returns using a real time application interface – New email solution for Disability Living Allowance – Working Age form DBD68LA (for unitary authorities and county councils – Reminder: Home Office schemes to relocate and resettle individuals from Afghanistan – New Performance Measurement work programme – HB overpayment/debt workshops for LAs – HB Award Accuracy Initiative performance information provided by LAs – Latest Update: Move to UC – Cases (or Decisions with the Upper Tribunal – New Legislation – What’s new on our HB pages on www.gov.uk – Performance Measurement: HB work programme for November 2023 to October 2024 (for May 2025 publication) attached as a separate Appendix A	LAWD 9/2023