Welfare rights news

9 November, 2021

Disregard of payments made under Redress for Survivors Scheme for the purposes of council tax reduction in Scotland

New statutory instrument

9 November, 2021

Bill to introduce more ‘practicable’ means to secure support for mortgage interest loans on all properties in Northern Ireland receives first reading

Support for Mortgage Interest etc (Security for Loans) Bill will ensure Department for Communities can recover loans when they become repayable in all cases where there is available equity

8 November, 2021

DWP ‘intends to try’ to introduce reduced 55 per cent universal credit taper rate and £500 increase in work allowances from 24 November 2021

Announcing the changes in Budget 2021, Chancellor had said that, while they'd normally take effect at the start of the new tax year in April, 'we want to help people right now'

8 November, 2021

Reform of universal credit taper rate and work allowances announced in Autumn Budget 2021 will benefit more than 2 million families in 2022/2023

However, Resolution Foundation says that, when compared to the position without the Budget measures and with a retained £20 uplift, 73 per cent of families will be worse off

5 November, 2021

New DWP guidance on making payments of benefit arrears by instalments confirms that a claimant must agree to the arrangement before a decision maker can proceed

Memos to decision makers also advise that a specialist Advanced Customer Support Team will consider whether it is in the best interests of the claimant to stagger arrears payments 'having regard to their individual circumstances'

5 November, 2021

Government confirms that local housing allowance rates for 2022/2023 are to be maintained at their ‘elevated’ 2020/2021 levels

Parliamentary written answer says that 'forecast default' will be confirmed at the benefit uprating review

5 November, 2021

DWP confirms it is continuing to prioritise work capability assessments for contributory ESA claims ‘that have exhausted or are at risk of exhausting’

Minister highlights that resumption of face-to-face assessments, together with enhanced telephony assessment processes, 'now allow us to assess all cases'

5 November, 2021

More than a third of attendance allowance calls to the DWP go unanswered, according to new government figures

Parliamentary written answers also highlight that more than a quarter of PIP enquiry calls go unanswered, while successful callers are often waiting for lengthy periods to get through

5 November, 2021

More than half a million universal credit claimants had the maximum of 25 per cent of their standard allowance deducted from their entitlement to repay advances or government debts in May 2021

New DWP figures also show that the average deduction per claim was £50 in respect of repaying advances and £61 for government debts

5 November, 2021

Scope of advocacy services available to Social Security Scotland claimants extended to include ‘non-instructed’ advocacy

Change made by new statutory instrument 'will reduce any potential for confusion, and avoid potentially inconsistent outcomes' says Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance

4 November, 2021

Peers seek early statutory review of benefit cap levels, citing mounting evidence of the impact on child poverty, food insecurity, homelessness, mental health and on survivors of domestic abuse

However, while Minister agrees to take points back to the Department, she says she cannot commit to an early review of the cap or give a commitment to scrap it

4 November, 2021

Further limitation of exception to the universal credit basic condition ‘not to be receiving education’ for those in receipt of a disability benefit

New statutory instrument

4 November, 2021

Northern Ireland Executive says it does not have sufficient resources to fund DfC’s bid for £55 million to mitigate £20 universal credit cut

Finance Minister says there would also need to be a commitment to funding the uplift in future years to avoid creating another cliff-edge at the end of March

4 November, 2021

Social Security Scotland received 230 complaints during 2020/2021 of which almost a fifth progressed to a full ‘stage two’ investigation

However, 92 per cent of claimant survey respondents rated their experience as 'good' or 'very good' and 94 per cent felt they were treated with kindness

3 November, 2021

Family of Philippa Day secures ‘substantial financial settlement’ from Capita by way of compensation for contractor’s failings which materially contributed to her death

However, there remain too many examples of the DWP 'acting inhumanely' and a 'continued resistance' by the Department to carry out transparent investigations into benefit-related deaths, says Leigh Day law firm

3 November, 2021 Open access

House of Lords votes to preserve triple-lock protection for state pension

Introducing amendment to Uprating Bill, Conservative peer Baroness Altmann says that while the change would be for one year only, 'what a year to choose' when older people are facing a cost-of-living crisis

3 November, 2021

Scottish Social Security Committee calls for Scottish child payment to be doubled ‘as soon as possible’

Scrutiny report issued ahead of Scottish Budget says expediting the increase will ‘maximise potential to meet Scotland’s child poverty targets’

2 November, 2021

More than 300,000 PIP claims will need to be reviewed as a result of Supreme Court’s 2019 judgment relating to Activity 9

DWP Minister confirms that while claimants will not be invited for an assessment, they may be contacted for further information

2 November, 2021

Northern Ireland Communities Minister says she has tried to get welfare mitigation legislation onto the Executive agenda 40 times ‘to no avail’

Legislation is ready to go, says Minister, calling for DUP to lift blockage that is causing ‘unacceptable’ delays

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