Section: Benefits & Grants

News in Brief

In response to the Welfare Reform green paper, strong views were expressed about the right of claimants to opt for payments to be made directly to them when the Local Housing Allowance is introduced.

These included Citizens Advice, who expressed its concerns to the DWP about plans to let local government officers decide which tenants were too vulnerable to receive the benefit direct. The response pointed to the experience of the pathfinder areas, where the Local Housing Allowance vulnerability procedures had not prevented some problems from arising.

The National Housing Federation also warned against removing the option for tenants to decide on direct payment.

Shelter called for more support for vulnerable tenants - particularly regarding the quality of financial advice available. Along with Citizens Advice, Shelter also called for an end to the single room rent restriction, which caps the amount of benefit claimants under the age of 25 can receive.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) was reported to be close to finalising new access arrangements for its Housing Benefit operational database, known as HOBOD. Until now it has only been available to DWP officials, but from May local authorities will be able to access it and compare performance on Housing Benefit.

www.dwp.gov.uk
A new report from the Public Accounts Committee blames the complexity of the benefits system for low take-up of benefits by older people. It calls on the DWP to make more effort to tackle the complex and unwieldy system, to make it easier to understand and access, particularly by older claimants. In particular, the report points to confusion caused by conflicting rules across various benefit procedures and the lack of accurate and easy to understand guidance.

Section: Benefits & Grants

News in Brief

Housing Monthly Diary

Issue: May 2006 Reporting on April 2006

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