[PPT] - Welcome poster image 4 November 2011 allpay public allpay public PowerPoint Presentation

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Welcome poster image

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Schedule

13:00

Welcome from 24housing Editor Jon Land Victoria Suite

13:15

‘An overview of the Universal Credit Payment Proposal and Housing Demonstration Projects’ Andy Brittan & Felicity Ridgway, Department For Work and Pensions Victoria Suite

13:30

‘The impact of Housing Benefit and welfare reform on ALMOs’ – Chloe Fletcher, Policy Manager, NFA Victoria Suite

13:45

‘The views from Stockport Homes’ – April Higson, Director of Housing, Stockport Homes Victoria Suite

14:00

‘The views from Berneslai Homes’ – Helen Jaggar, Chief Executive, Berneslai Homes Victoria Suite

14:15

‘Universal Credit and its impact on tenants’ Alan Jess, Board Member of Tenants and Residents Organisation of England, TAROE Victoria Suite

14:30

Tea & coffee break Victoria Foyer

14:45

‘The potential impact of direct payments and solutions for protecting income streams’

Nick Peplow, Marketing Director & Richard Roberts, Head of Prepaid Card Sales, allpay Victoria Suite

15:00

Your questions answered Victoria Suite

16:00

Closing remarks & next steps – Jon Land, Editor, 24housing Victoria Suite

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Jon Land

Editor

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Welfare Reform: Universal Credit

and the Housing Demonstration Projects

Andy Brittan DWP Housing Strategy andy.brittan@dwp.gsi.gov.uk Felicity Ridgway DWP Universal Credit Programm felicity.ridgway@dwp.gsi.gov.uk

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Why change?

Managing rising costs

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Delivering fairness
Increasing employment

This means transforming what we do and how we do it

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Universal Credit Overview (1)

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What will Universal Credit look like?

Simpler, on-line benefits system Showing how work pays

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Scope of Universal Credit

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In Scope:

Income-based Jobseeker‟s

Allowance

Income-related Employment and

Support Allowance

Income Support (including Support

for Mortgage Interest)

Child Tax Credits
Working Tax Credits
Housing Benefit
Social Fund (budgeting/alignment)

Out of Scope:

Council Tax support
Disability Living Allowance
Contributory Benefits

(although earnings rules aligned)

State Pension
Child Benefit
Pension Credit
Carer‟s Allowance

Universal Credit Overview (2)

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Universal Credit Overview (3)

No need to „sign-off‟ benefits to take an employment opportunity
Support seamlessly continues based on dynamic financial need

rather than crude employment status

Reduces workless households facing Participation Tax Rates of over

70% by 1.1 million

Highest Marginal Deduction Rate (MDR), including tax and National

Insurance, reduces from 96% to around 76%, improving work incentives of 700,000 people with the highest MDRs.

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Better work incentives

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Universal Credit Overview (4)

200 100 100 £100 £500 £400 £300 £200 £100 £300 £200 £0 £400 £500

Universal Credit payment Total in-pocket income Universal Credit: lone parent with two children

£600 £700

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A simpler system with clear work incentives

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Universal Credit Overview (5)

Success of Universal Credit is predicated on influencing customer

behaviour: – to take up work, or do more hours – to be able to interface with the system as a couple as well as an individual – to trust the system to get the information it needs without their contact – to use new channels as the main way of making contact

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Customers of Universal Credit

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Universal Credit Overview (6)

No cash losers at the point of change
Estimated 2.7 million households will have higher entitlements

– Over 1 million of which see a rise of more than £25/wk

350,000 children and 600,000 working-age adults could be lifted out
f poverty
300,000 fewer workless households
£2bn per year saved by reducing fraud and error overpayments in the

long term

Annual flow of savings due to greater administrative simplicity

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Broad Impacts

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Implementation Timescale

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Oct „13 Apr „13 Oct „14 Oct „15 Oct „16 Oct „17

Test New claims from out-of-work claimants

Apr „14 Feb „11

Design & build New claims from in-work claimants

Natural transitions due to change of circs (mainly JSA) Managed transitions (mainly other benefits) Legacy load JSA, ESA, IS, HB, WTC, CTC 8m 6m 4.5m 2.5m UC load

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Universal Credit and housing (2) Direct payments in Universal Credit

Responsibility prepares people for the world of work

– Managing your rent or mortgage is a social responsibility – Progress has already been made through the LHA

Private rented sector tenants will generally be paid as now
Social-sector landlords need stable incomes

– Welfare Reform Bill pledges appropriate protection – Demonstration projects to commence June 2012

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Who will the direct payment to tenant policy affect?

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35%

Working age adults, not claiming Housing Benefit

10%

Working age adults in receipt of a partial Housing Benefit payment

10%

Estimate of vulnerable group of working age adults claiming Housing Benefit

25%

Pension age tenants claiming Housing Benefit

20%

Working age adults claiming Housing Benefit & new to Direct Payments All households in the Social Rented Sector, Great Britain

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Direct payments - demonstration projects

On 14th September, Lord Freud announced we shall establish about six small-

scale demonstration projects to will test some key elements of social sector housing support under Universal Credit while protecting social landlords’ financial position.

These will include:

– direct payments to tenants being the default; – adopting the payment frequency envisaged under Universal Credit (likely to be monthly payments in arrears); – safeguards to pay the landlord directly where necessary. We will define the details of how these will operate during the project. We expect the safeguards generally to be rules based and automated, simulating the approach within Universal Credit.

We will run the demonstration projects in about six local authority areas from

June 2012 to June 2013, with a six-month lead in starting in January 2012.

We are keen to get volunteer local authorities and landlords to take part in these
projects. We welcome expressions of interest until 8th November 2011.
For further information, please contact us at:

demonstration.projects@dwp.gsi.gov.uk

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Delivering Universal Credit

Universal Credit will be „digital by default‟
For 2013, Universal Credit will be delivered using existing resources
There will, therefore, be joint working between DWP, local authorities and

HMRC

Jobcentres are expected to be the primary channel for local, face-to-face

support

DWP is working with local authorities to define and agree their role in face-

to-face delivery

Contact centres and support centres will be provided from a subset of the

best DWP and HMRC sites

Delivery of Universal Credit in the longer term is under consideration

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The Delivery Model – what do we know?

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Conclusion

Radical changes to the benefit system
Move towards Universal Credit over time, with implications for

Housing Benefit delivery

Key changes to the payment of benefits
Major transformation and major challenge
Increasing employment and reducing poverty

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Welcome poster image

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Housing Benefit and Welfare Reform – an ALMO perspective

Chloe Fletcher, NFA Policy Manager

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Housing Benefit and Welfare Reform

 The NFA supports the intention to reform the

welfare system to help make work pay.

 We also recognise the need to make the

system simpler for tenants.

 But…. Concerns about implementation and

impact on tenants in the process.

 And the impact on the new self financed

business plans.

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NFA concerns

 The loss of direct payment of Housing Benefit

to the landlord for most tenants.

 The introduction of family sized Housing Benefit

payments.

 Concerns over the implementation of Universal

Credit – possible IT problems and a loss of a local expert benefit team.

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Housing Benefit reforms

From April 2011

 Non-Dependent Deductions started to increase

in line with prices. This is reversing the freeze in these rates since 2001-02. From April 2013

 Housing entitlements for working age people in

the social sector will reflect family size.

 Household benefit payments will be capped to

around £500 per week.

 No more Housing Benefit direct to landlords.

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A Universal Credit

 A “Universal Credit” – a nice simple idea but

ne very complicated benefit.

 Can the government implement the IT system

to deliver it?

 What happens if the administration and the

expertise all goes to a central office?

 Loss of local Housing Benefit teams who

currently work closely with tenants and ALMOs to sort out claims, identify problems and attend court if necessary to give evidence on arrears cases.

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Impact on Tenants

 Confusion over the changes, there will be lots

f changes for some.

 Impact on family relationships where there is a

non-dependent.

 Willingness to move to smaller accommodation

if necessary?

 Ability to budget once all benefit delivered as

ne Universal Credit.

 Need to have a bank account to pay rent easily

where previously they hadn‟t?

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What ALMOs can do

 Work with their councils to identify the numbers

affected.

 Inform and educate tenants  Work with partners locally to try to help tenants.  Increase financial inclusion work, setting up

basic bank accounts, financial education, benefit advice, debt advice.

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What the NFA is doing

 Lobbying on Welfare Reform Bill with other landlord

rganisations across the social and private sector

as well as other housing stakeholders.

 Briefing MPs and Ministers and supporting a cross

party amendment for “tenant choice” in direct payments.

 Meeting with DCLG and DWP officials to raise

concerns and practical issues regarding the implementation.

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Chloe Fletcher, NFA Policy Manager 07515 050207 Chloe.Fletcher@hqnetwork.co.uk www.almos.org.uk

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Welcome poster image

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Stockport Context

Stockport is the 151st most deprived of 326 districts in

England (Index of Multiple Deprivation 2010)

Median household income in Stockport is £31,540,

slightly higher than the national median of £29,464

Stockport is ranked 163rd most able to cope with cuts

in public spending (of 324 districts)

3.4% of the population are claiming Job Seekers

Allowance compared with 3.8% nationally

There are currently 0.29 jobs per claimant in

Stockport slightly more than the England average of 0.23

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Stockport Context

However Stockport is a polarised borough:

– 25% of Stockport‟s 190 Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs) fall in the 20% most deprived nationally in the health deprivation domain of the Indices of Deprivation 2010, 4 LSOAs are in the 1% most deprived nationally – 6 LSOAs are in the 5% most deprived nationally on the Income Domain of the ID 2010 – 4 LSOAs are in the 1% most deprived nationally on the Employment Domain of the ID 2010 – 6 LSOAs are in the 5% most deprived nationally on the Education Domain of the ID 2010

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Context for Stockport Homes

3* excellent on two occasions
100.27% rent collection
0.72% arrears as % debit (£413k)
3,289 tenants in arrears
10 evictions
70% tenants on H.B
33% stock age restricted

(two bed flats under-occupied)

Rent loss through voids 0.38% (£142k)
FTA‟s 1.54% (£626k)
Water collection agreement

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Prevention rather than enforcement

Pre-tenancy risk assessment
Sign up process
Flexible payment
Debt Out-Reach worker
H.B Officer
Funding to CAB
Profiling of debt/targeting of resources

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Impact Welfare Reform

Private Sector
LHA changed calculations affect the majority

(30% unable to negotiate lower rent/meet difference). Estimate additional 250 homeless presentations in 2011/12.

Extension single room rate from 25 to 35 more

homeless/pressure on H.W.L as private sector unlikely to provide accommodation.

Overall DCLG expecting 50% rise in homeless

footfall

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Impact Welfare Reform

SHL tenancies
Freezing child benefit – moderate

impact (25% of those on H.B at least one child) Universal Credit

Monthly paid over £500 in hand
Weekly rent collectable moves from £363k to 900k

(£43 million per annum)

Worse case scenario arrears double to £900k

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Impact Welfare Reform

SHL tenancies

Universal Credit

Void loss doubles to 0.76% (£284k)
Viability of water agreement
Staff resources – Customer Finance team doubles in

size (£200k) Family Sized Payments

Estimate 43% of all working age tenants affected by

under-occupation. Impact £36k at best to £1.8M at worst

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Impact on 30 year Business Plan

Void Loss Doubles Can sustain plan but £7.2M funds for investment on services and assets lost Bad Debt Worst case – Business Plan will not stack up without significant reductions in spend on services and

investment. £28M lost.

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What are we doing

Publicity/Education
Reducing age restrictions
Tenancy sharing pilot
Reviewing Service Charges
P.V programme
Caretaking Business Plan
Incentives for direct debit
Enhanced financial inclusion strategy
Lobbying through NFA/MP‟s

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April Higson 0161 474 2868 april.higson@stockporthomes.org

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Welcome poster image

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