Ongoing News

From 29/9/2017 the Government has announced in a policy paper that some clients in the Support Group will no longer have

A useful case has decided that a client can still continue forward to an appeal even if a decision maker does not accept the reasons for lateness given for a mandatory reconsideration(revision).

The government has said that for JSA- no, but for Universal Credit, yes. One of the objectives of UC is to promote flexible working in the gig economy.

The Statistics tell us 85% of new claims reconsiderations and 79% of reassessed

DLA reconsiderations for normal rules resulted in no change to the award. The

message is clear- around 60% of clients win their cases at appeal- don't be put off

Calls to pause UC roll out- to avert '...a human and political catastrophe’from the Work and Pensions Committee. 

According to a report by the Centre for Responsible Credit many Local Welfare Provision Schemes are in crisis. Key Findings-

Twenty six local authorities have now closed their schemes altogether;

A further forty one authorities have cut back spending on their schemes by

over 60 percent;

Latest annual Government Take up Statistics on the take up of means tested benefits show £12.4 billion went unclaimed in 2015/2016.

% of those who do receive their entitlement –

The Government has published its final review on the State Pension Age-

(From the accompanying course booklet supplied to participants on our Benefits for Older People course)-

The government has issued new regulations making changes (in force from 6 April 2018) so that Mortgage interest will no longer be paid as a benefit but instead as a loan.

Latest Statistics on the Benefit Cap are available here.

Three-quarters of capped households are capped because of the introduction of lower cap levels.

Latest projections from the Office for National Statistics show that the number of people over State Pension age in the UK is expected to grow by a third between 2017 and 2042, from 12.4 million in 2017 to 16.9 million in 2042.

Getting sanctioned when on JSA is very common.
How can you help clients who struggle with their JSA claimant commitment?

The government has said it plans to-

'merge 68 smaller jobcentres into larger or underused ones nearby

move 4 jobcentres to new sites where we have secured better new premises

Hardship payments are often payable where a client has been sanctioned and has no other income/ savings to rely on. Often they are paid at 60% of the personal allowance(or sometimes 80%).