DWP update February 2017
Index
Universal Credit:-
· Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit: Exceptions to the 2-Child Limit
· Universal Credit Live Service and Full Service
· Universal Credit and Discretionary Housing Payments
Money Manager – on line budgeting tool
Families to Benefit from £50 Million Boost to Childcare Schemes
Funeral Payment Claim Form
Independent Living Fund: Post-Closure Review
Warm Home Discount Scheme (WHDS)
Attendance Allowance - Localisation of Attendance Allowance Funding
Post Office Card Account
Universal Credit
Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit: Exceptions to the 2-Child Limit
The child element in Universal Credit and the individual element in Child Tax Credit will
be payable to a maximum of 2 children from April 2017 (Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016).
The consultation seeking evidence and views to inform the detailed design of the 4 exceptions has now concluded, and the government has published its response to the consultation
Universal Credit Live Service and Full Service :- the guidance has been published showing the difference between and can be found here.
Universal Credit and Discretionary Housing Payments
The Department has received a number of enquiries recently over the use of Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) to support claimants with housing costs on Universal Credit. New information updates our position on the subject following the original publication of the guidance in Bulletin HB G12/2016 on 22 December 2016,
We have reissued the HB Bulletin G12/2016 (3 February) updating the guidance and Q&A, and have made local authorities aware of this.
Back to Index
Money Manager – on line budgeting tool
Money Manager the on line budgeting support tool has been developed as part of the Personal Budgeting Support (PBS) Strategy; the PBS Alternative Payment Arrangement (APA) process remains unchanged. The aim of PBS is to help claimants through the transition to Universal Credit and enable them to cope with the move to a single monthly payment and paying their own rent. To view the on line budgeting tool click here
Back to Index
Families to Benefit from £50 Million Boost to Childcare Schemes
The Education Secretary Justine Greening has announced a £50 million grant scheme to provide thousands of new childcare places.
The government has confirmed a list of successful projects benefitting from grants worth £50 million, which will help to deliver the government’s landmark 30 hours free childcare offer.
The confirmed projects will create almost 9,000 free places for eligible 3 and 4 year-olds, saving parents around £5,000 per year when it is rolled out from next September.
Back to Index
Funeral Payment Claim Form
Revised versions of forms SF200 and SF200W and guidance have been published on GOV.UK.
Claims for funeral payments can also be made over the phone.
Back to Index
Independent Living Fund: Post- Closure Review
In June 2015 the Independent Living Fund (ILF) was closed in England and responsibility for supporting ILF users was passed to local authorities. This research investigates experiences of the closure as perceived by its former recipients and local authority (LA) staff within adult social care departments.
The report provides a qualitative assessment of the experiences of the closure of the Independent Living Fund in England.
Back to Index
Warm Home Discount Scheme (WHDS)
The WHDS (Core Group) provides a £140 rebate on electricity bills to customers who were in receipt of the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit and with a participating energy supplier on 10 July 2016 (the qualification date).
Energy suppliers will have paid most rebates automatically by the end of January 2017. For any payment queries, the relevant energy supplier should be contacted directly.
Customers who have been written to and advised to contact the WHDS Helpline to claim the rebate should call by the end of February 2017.
More information about the Warm Home Discount Scheme
Back to Index
Attendance Allowance:- Localisation of Attendance Allowance Funding
In 2016, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) launched a consultation about whether more responsibility for older people with care needs should be localised to local authorities (LAs) in England and to Wales, including for new Attendance Allowance claimants.
The consultation closed in September 2016 and, on 19 January, DCLG confirmed that AA funding will not be localised as part of the business rate reforms and will continue to be administered by DWP. This means that there are currently no plans to change AA provision in England and Wales.
The Government has confirmed that the localisation of Attendance Allowance (AA) funding is no longer being considered as part of the business rates retention reforms in England or to Wales.
Back to Index
Letters to Post Office Card Account Users
DWP, on behalf of Her Majesties Government started writing to customers in September 2015 to encourage them to change their Method of Payment from a Post Office card account to a mainstream bank account.
The first exercise is almost complete and from January 2017, DWP will be writing to working age customers who did not initially respond to the first mailing asking them to provide bank account details
Back to Index