I made a Freedom of Information request to Universal Credit in Northern Ireland through the Department for Communities back on 6th May regarding the need for ‘Additional Bedroom(s)’ within the context of the Universal Credit Housing Element.
“I herein request the following information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000: -
Background
Schedule 4, Part 3 of The Universal Credit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 make provision for the award of an additional bedroom in the case of a disabled person who requires an overnight Carer. A typical example would be a single person living alone in a two-bedroom property who is in receipt of PIP Daily Living and Mobility who is initially awarded a one-bedroom rate within the Universal Credit Housing Element. If that person requires a Carer to stay overnight for 2-3, or more nights in the week, a two-bedroom rate can be awarded, thus increasing their entitlement to the Housing Element. I ask the following question within the context that the applicant may not always be aware that they may be entitled to an ‘additional bedroom’ rate, and may not provide, during the course of their Online Application, or thereafter, sufficient information that essentially flags up the issue, albeit the Case Manager/Decision Maker would know, from the outset, if the person was in receipt of PIP, or became entitled to PIP Daily Living at a later date.
1. Given that the Universal Credit Online Application does not contain a specific question asking for the type of information needed to decide that an additional bedroom, based on disability, is required, how does the Case Manager/Decision Maker, obtain this information?
I look forward to your response in due course”.
After going back and forth seeking clarification, I have attached the outcome. To make sense of the sequence of events you need to read the documents in the following order: -
1. FOI Response.
2. Internal Review.
3. UC Additional Bedrooms Clarification.
Some observations if I may. It is very clear, when a customer applies for Universal Credit, that there are no specific questions designed to capture the type of information required to make a decision regarding the ‘Additional Bedroom(s)’ and it is virtually left to chance/good luck, particularly if the customer is unaware that they might be entitled to an ‘Additional Bedroom(s)’. You will note the reference to “The claimant is under 35 yrs old” as one of the conditions. This is rather confusing. Generally speaking, a customer under 35 of age gets a ‘Shared Room Rate’, although there are exceptions, but for Universal Credit, if that person is in receipt of PIP Daily Living, they receive a one-bedroom rate. Therefore, as I understand it, that person does not get an ‘Additional Bedroom’ Rate but is effectively upgraded from a ‘Shared Room’ Rate to a ‘One Bedroom’ Rate.
In recent months Universal Credit came in for very strong criticism for not having a specific question regarding backdating when a customer is making a fresh claim. This is another example of Universal Credit not being able to make an informed and proper decision regarding entitlement simply because they do not ask the right questions, particularly if someone is unaware that they could receive a higher amount of the Housing Element with the ‘Additional Bedroom(s)’. One final point. The attached documents have been redacted to comply with the General Data Protection Regulations.
Please feel free to circulate as appropriate.
