Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Circular
Department for Work and Pensions
The Adelphi, 1 - 11 John Adam Street, London WC2N 6HT
HB/CTB A10/2005
ADJUDICATION AND OPERATIONS CIRCULAR
ACTION / For information
SUBJECT / 1 2005 HB/CTB Performance Standards - clarifications
2 Issue of the 2005 HB/CTB MIS guide
Guidance Manual
The information in this circular does not affect the content of the HB/CTB Guidance Manual. The information in this circular does affect the content of the 2005 HB/CTB Performance Standards. Please annotate this circular number against paragraph 3.10 and 3.17
Queries
If you
· want extra copies of this circular/copies of previous circulars, they can be found on the website at www.dwp.gov.uk/hbctb
· have any queries about the
- technical content of this circular, contact Kish Nathwani
Tel: 020 7962 8586
Email:
- distribution of this circular, contact Corporate Document Services Ltd Orderline
Tel: 0113 399 4040
Fax: 0113 399 4205
Email:
Crown Copyright 2005
Recipients may freely reproduce this circular.
HB/CTB Circular A10/2005
Contents
para
2005 HB/CTB Performance Standards - clarifications
9 day Standard for the average speed of processing
changes of circumstances 1
Advance notifications of changes in circumstance and
claims made in advance 9
Changes of address to new properties not valued and
banded for Council Tax 13
Claims suspended in part 16
Defective claims and effective claims decided
without full information 17
New claims received at designated offices 20
2005/06 HB/CTB MIS Guide 23
Appendix A Examples
Appendix B Change of circumstances Performance Indicator - questions and answers
Adjudication and Operations circular
April 2005
HB/CTB Circular A10/2005
2005 HB/CTB Performance Standards
9 day Standard for the average speed of processing changes of circumstances
1 The 2005 HB/CTB Performance Standards have now been issued to Local Authorities (LAs). The publication makes clear the Standard for the average speed of processing changes of circumstance, ie performance measure 5, is subject to review. At recent workshops on the 2005 HB/CTB Performance Standards we undertook to clarify the position for April 2005.
2 The Department has been keeping the 9 day Standard for the average speed of processing changes of circumstance under review since HB/CTB benefit periods were abolished last year. This was in response to concerns raised by the Local Authority Associations (LAAs) and LAs that the requirement from April 2004 to treat changes of address within the LA area and movement from non-standard to standard HB/CTB as a change of circumstance would lengthen processing times.
3 However, the quarterly Stats 124 returns from LAs have not yet shown any increase in average processing times for changes of circumstance. From the feedback from LAs in the recent workshops, this may be because some LAs have introduced new HB/CTB forms for changes of circumstance and new ways of working to streamline their processes and maintain their performance. But mostly it appears that software up-dates allowing accurate reporting on change of circumstance processing times have only been released recently.
4 Anecdotal evidence from some LAs who have trained staff on the new procedures and made changes to software suggests that the average processing time has increased to around 18 days.
5 Despite this anecdotal evidence, it is too soon given the lack of clear data to make a decision on a change to the Standard for the average speed of processing changes of circumstance. We are concerned that a speculative change would discourage good performance and the development of good practice.
6 However, we do not want the performance of LAs who have made the required changes to their procedures and benefit systems and who have seen their performance deteriorate significantly against the 9 day Standard as a consequence, to be judged as less than good before a better national picture of processing times for changes of circumstance emerges.
Adjudication and Operations circular
April 2005
HB/CTB Circular A10/2005
7 As an interim measure we are making a small adjustment to the 2005 HB/CTB Performance Standards scoring methodology so a performance between 20 and 9 days (instead of the current 16 to 9 days) for processing changes of circumstance attracts a score of 3. The boundaries for changes of circumstances will be
Standard / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4PM 5: Performance Indicator for average speed of processing change of circumstances / 9 days / >28 / 28-21 / 20-9 / <9
Note: The 2005 HB/CTB Performance Standards will be amended to reflect this change.
8 We will be maintaining contact with the main software suppliers on this issue so we have information about the timing of releases of software that would enable LAs to deal with changes of circumstance in accordance with legislation and to record processing times accurately. The 9 day Standard will be kept under review until our analysts are satisfied with the consistency of the data being received from LAs.
Advance notifications of changes in circumstance and claims made in advance
9 HB/CTB Bulletin U1/2005 introduced an easement for the last quarter of 2004/05 allowing LAs to exclude bulk advance notifications of rent increases and other changes which would not take effect before April 2005 from the change of circumstances Performance Indicator. This was to allow LAs to process those changes at the same time as their up-rating re-calculations without affecting their change of circumstance processing times.
10 From April 2005, LAs should continue to include processing times for all advance notifications of changes of circumstance in the Performance Indicator but the processing time for the change will be one day providing a change is dealt with by the date it takes effect. This applies not only to bulk notifications from landlords but also individual notifications of future changes. When a change has already occurred but takes effect in the future, for example HB(G)R 18 (disregard of changes to tax, contributions etc) or HB(G)R 68(9) (non-dependant changes) apply, treat the notification of the change as an advance notification and start the clock from the date the change takes effect.
11 If a decision is not made on the change of circumstance by the date the change comes into effect, the clock continues from that date until the date a decision is made.
12 For consistency, on advance claims made under HB(G) Regs 72(11) and 72(11A) and CTB(G) Regs 62(12) and (12A) the clock starts for the new claims Performance Indicator on the date the claim is Treated As Made by the LA under those regulations. See examples in Appendix A.
Changes of address to new properties not valued and banded for Council Tax
13 We have had numerous queries about how to record processing times for claims from customers living in new properties which have not yet been valued and banded for Council Tax. The amount of new house building means that delays in valuations are commonplace.
14 On a change of address to a property not yet valued and banded for Council Tax the decision to end entitlement to CTB at the old address will stop the clock for the purposes of the change of circumstances Performance Indicator.
15 When a new claim is made in advance of a valuation taking place the clock starts as soon as the amount of Council Tax payable is notified to the benefits section. See examples at Appendix A.
Claims suspended in part
16 We have had some queries about claims which have been suspended in part. Clarification has been requested as to when the change of circumstances clock stops if the customer fails to supply the information by the date specified by the LA. In cases when the LA has suspended in part, if the customer fails to supply the information by the specified date the LA cannot make a decision to terminate the claim. However for the purposes of the change of circumstances Performance Indicator the clock stops on the date it would have stopped if the LA had decided to suspend the claim in full.
Defective claims and effective claims decided without full information
17 HB/CTB Bulletin U9/2004 clarified that decisions must be made when the time limit has elapsed and a customer has failed to
· remedy a defective claim within the given time limit, see HB/CTB Bulletin U9/2004, paragraphs 24-27
· provide the required additional information on an effective claim, see HB/CTB Bulletin U9/2004, paragraphs 11-15 and 28
18 The bulletin further advised that once decided, these claims should be included in Stats 124 Items (01 or 02 new claims), see HB/CTB Bulletin U9/2004, paragraph 35.
19 LAs have raised concerns that these claims will impact on their performance against item 03 of Stats 124 (New claims decided within 14 days of receipt of all necessary information) even though decisions may have been made at the earliest opportunity, ie when the time given has elapsed. We intend to make changes to the Stats 124 from October 2005 so these claims are identified separately and do not affect LAs’ performance against item 03.
New claims received at designated offices
20 It has come to our attention that some LAs may be miscalculating the new claims processing time for HB/CTB claims by using the date the claim was received at Jobcentre Plus as the date the clock starts for the new claims Performance Indicator.
21 Normally the clock starts when an LA designated office receives either the CMS Input document, more commonly known as the LA Input Document, or the HB/CTB claim, so the time taken by Jobcentre Plus to produce the LA Input document or forward the claim does not affect the LA’s new claims processing times. The exceptions to this rule are
· when the customer makes a HB/CTB claim direct to the LA instead of, or in addition to, making a claim to Jobcentre Plus. In this case the clock starts from the earlier of the date the LA designated office receive the
- claim form
- LA Input Document
· when the Jobcentre Plus office is the LA designated office. In these cases the number of days taken to process a new HB/CTB claim starts on the day the customer statement is received at Jobcentre Plus
Note: Designated office is defined at HB(G) R 2(1) and CTB(G) R 2(1) and further guidance is included in the Stats 124 guidance notes in the MIS guide.
22 Please make sure you are not over-counting your new claims processing times.
2005/06 HB/CTB MIS Guide
23 The 2005/06 MIS Guide is being up-dated with the new performance measures included in the 2005 HB/CTB Performance Standards. This includes the definitions contained in HB/CTB Circular A6/2005. We have made some small changes to the definition in the light of comments received in the recent Performance Standards workshops
· an instrument of payment is posted
· the LA authorises benefit to be paid into a BACS account
· of a cash payment to the claimant
PM18 and PM19 - Definition of date of receipt of a late appeal / The date a late appeal is received is either the date the LA
· receives confirmation from a legally qualified panel member that
- the appeal has reasonable prospects of success
- it is in the interests of justice for the application to be granted
· decides it is in the interests of justice for the application to be granted
24 We have also considered a change to exclude from performance measures 18 and 19 any appeals linked to an appeal against a decision in a DWP administered benefit. At the moment there are no formal arrangements for identifying such appeals or agreed procedures for their handling. This issue is, however, being considered as part of the process for updating the model Service Level Agreement (SLA) between the Appeals Service and LAs. We will consider changes to the performance measures in the light of the agreed SLA.
25 The MIS Guide has also been amended to
· reflect the guidance in HB/CTB Bulletin U9/2004
· expand the guidance on the change of circumstances Performance Indicator and accuracy checks, see also Appendix B to this circular for some frequently asked questions and answers
· correct some minor errors to the advance copy of the MIS Guide issued in October 2004
26 The HB/CTB MIS Guide will be available on the DWP Housing Benefit Data Service website at the end of April 2005, see www.knowledgenetwork.gov.uk/dwp/kimshbds.nsf/.Docs/misguide2005_06
27 A further version of the HB/CTB MIS Guide, effective from October 2005, which includes the changes to collect additional information on defective claims and claims decided without full information, will also be available on the website.
Adjudication and Operations circular
April 2005
HB/CTB Circular A10/2005
Appendix A
Examples
Advance notifications of changes of circumstance and advance claims
A1 On 24 March 2005 a customer notifies a weekly RSL rent increase from 1 April 2006. The change takes effect from 3 April 2006. The LA makes a decision on the change of circumstances on 6 April 2006. Time taken to process the change of circumstances for the purposes of the Performance Indicator is four days.