Does anybody know what the processing targets are for Social Fund? I.e. Crisis Loans in X days & CCG's in Y.

I've looked in the usual places but they are strangely absent....

States here within 2 weeks for a CCG decision
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/advisers/sb16/community.asp

Crisis Loans - see 4063 - decision should be made, whethever possible, on the day the need arises

http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/index/ssa/information_for_advisors/ssani_adviser_technical_guides/social_fund_guide/social_fund_guide_pt3/social_fund_guide_pt3_crisis_loans.htm
(sorry about long link, don't know how to do this any other way)

When we ask, we get conflicting answers - find out which BDC processes your claims, and send a FOI request for the data you want to see for - say - the past two months. They will have this info, as they have to report to regional mangagement. They are supposed to reply to you within 20 days.

Ta very much.

A punter of mine was told yesterday it would be three weeks for a Crisis Loan. Ah the things Jobcentre minions say.

At present what they are doing done this neck of the woods is moving SF officers from CCG's to crisis loans and back again depending on demand - they are also using the call centre to collect the information required for a crisis loan, then sending it through to the DM's - the theory is that the DM can spend more time looking at cases, less time answering telephones ....

They have said that they recognise they have a problem - and this is only a short term fix. They are saying that the situation has been brought about by a 25 to 30% increase in Crisis loan applications, which they hadn't planned for, and clearly hadn't budgeted for.

What really concerns a lot of us now is the back log of CCG's which are essential to those wanting to move into independent living from a institutional setting, or lodgings etc. Thye are having to sign a lease for properties which is totally devoid of furniture and fittings - so they cannot move in, cannot therefore get HB/CTB - therefore start to accumalate arrears from day one.

It therefore follows that someone somewhere needs to extract more than a digit or two and get the SF sorted out for the medium to long term, because the vulnerable clients aren't going to go away....and and JCP problems of budget, staffing etc are the result of their own policies over the past two to three years - it didn't just happen overnight...