webinar: profiling your dhp budget to mitigate the impact of welfare reforms
TRANSCRIPT
Policy in PracticeWebinar:
Profiling your DHP Budget
Wednesday 1 March 2016
Housekeeping
• Audio check
• Please ask questions
• Polls and a survey
• Finish by 11:30
Speakers
Zoe Charlesworth
Policy in Practice
Deven Ghelani
Policy in Practice
Agenda
• Introduction to Policy in Practice
• The background to DHPs
• Identifying and engaging the right households
• Effective administration of DHPs
• DHPs and Universal Credit
• Q&A / Next steps
We make the welfare system simple to understand, so that people can make the decisions that are right for them
www.policyinpractice.co.uk
SOFTWARE
individual impact
CONSULTANC
local impact
POLICY
national impact
777
Poll:What do you use DHPs for?
Over to Deven and Zoe
• Discretionary Housing Payments were introduced in April 2013 as a way for local authorities to mitigate the impact of housing benefit reforms.
• They are paid from a cash-limited budget and are intended to help people meet housing costs, typically where there is a shortfall between their Housing Benefit (or housing element of Universal Credit) and their rent.
• They typically go to people impacted by the Benefit Cap, under-occupation or with rent above their local housing allowance rate.
The background to DHPs
DHP Allocation By Region
Region £M DHP a lloc a tion
(2016/ 2017)
Perc entage of the
tota l a lloc a tion
East Mid lands 7.4 6%
East of Eng land 10.1 8%
Grea ter London 39.2 31%
North East 7.1 6%
South East 14.7 12%
South West 8.7 7%
North West 16.5 13%
West Mid lands 12.4 10%
Yorkshire and The Humber 10.9 9%
Total 127.0 100%
• Local authorities vary in the way they decide who should get a DHP award and the way they manage the budget.
• You must act ‘Fairly, Reasonably and Consistently’
• The resident must apply for a DHP – engagement and awareness are common challenges
• Awards can be challenged, and DHPs are allocated according to whether they meet the award criteria.
• Ensure your policies are up to date to reflect e.g. two child rule, and ESA changes.
• There has to be flexibility within the policy – a tricky balance.
Local authority responsibilities
The resident must apply – but you don’t
have to use a paper form
12
An online DHP application process
141414
Poll: What is your biggest challenge in administering DHPs
151515
There will not be enough funding to meet every shortfall as a result of the benefit cap, so your local authority will need to target funding to those who need it the most.
Discretionary Housing Payments Guidance Manual, DWP, Dec 2016
DHPs and the gap to be filled
£m Savings / Spending from specified reforms
£155m Benefit Cap savings for 2017/18
£558m Under-occupation savings for 2017/18
£3,700m Gap between LHA and rent for people on HB
£180m Discretionary Housing Payments allocated for 2017/18
4% - 25% Amount of shortfall DHPs are funded to cover
Local authorities are expected to turn away one in every four needy households away, or point them to alternative support.
Maximising Discretionary funds
“You may want to profile your caseload to identify certain groups among those potentially affected by the changes, and establish the level of demand among those groups. you may want to carry out a more detailed assessment for your
area.”
The targeting and take-up of these schemes is not straightforward.
• Are DHPs getting to those who need it the most?
• Are the same households applying for multiple types of support, and could this be consolidated?
• Discretionary Housing Payments
• Council tax support schemes with hardship funds
• Local welfare support schemes are increasingly discretionary
18
Profiling need for each low income household in your local authority
• Raise awareness of DHPs among people most in need.
• Have a flexible policy -track awards and their impact.
• Do DHPs prevent Homelessness, and protect a tenancy
• Target financial support and employment support appropriately.
Optimising DHPs
“Having a consistent policy is important, but
local authorities are good at administering
payments.
“The main issue is not the application process…
“it is raising awareness of DHPs among people that
need it the most, and encouraging them to take
action.”
Analysis for one local authority
Average application rate: 21%
Average award rate: 88%
One in every five of the most needy households receives an award
• DHPs can be used as an emergency fund to bridge gaps as people wait for funds.
• To qualify, they need to be in receipt of Housing Benefit for the housing element of Universal Credit.
• There are some serious issues emerging:
Don’t underestimate the level of advocacy you will need to do under Universal Credit
People give up applying…
Residents are not always notified about council tax support.
You can get both APAs and DHPs – but there has been some confusion.
DHPs and Universal Credit
222222
Any Questions?
