Helping to meet the challenge of welfare reform: local profiling and research

methods

Damon Gibbons, Malen Davies & Laura Gardiner

Outline of presentation

Main elements of welfare reform likely to increase financial pressures and drive demand for advice and information

Inclusion’s work on local profiling Additional research and assistance

Incapacity Benefit reform Housing Benefit and Local Housing

Allowance reform Disability Living Allowance (DLA) reform Social Fund Localisation Council Tax Benefit localisation

Elements of welfare reform

The impact of IB reform Eligibility assessments started in April 2011 with the introduction of the Work

Capability Assessment and Employment Support Allowance – process to be completed by March 2014

Ongoing process of assessment, with 3 possible outcomes: JSA, ESA Work Related Activity Group, ESA Support Group

The latest figures from DWP released in March 2012 found that of the 63% of people that were entitled to ESA (34% placed in WRAG, and 29% in Support Group), 37% found fit for work.

Short term higher/lower IB = £74.80/£88.50Long term IB =£99.15Destinations after WCA: Jobseeker’s Allowance =£71 per weekSupport group = £99.15 per weekWork Related Activity Group = £105.05 per week

Impacts for claimants and services Uncertainty and stress during the assessment

process (particularly in respect of people with mental health problems)

Possible reductions in income: Long term IB =£99.15, Jobseeker’s Allowance =£71 per week

Complexity of income effects – household circumstances and interaction with other benefits

Creating an ongoing demand for information and advice.

Local profiling Aug 2011 – 10,300 IB claimants in Salford

(DWP dataset) Inclusion estimates of impacts based on

national outcomes from assessment:– Around 3,800 IB claimants to be found fit

for work and potentially move onto JSA – Around 3,500 IB claimants moving onto the

ESA Work Related Activity Group – Around 3,000 IB claimants moving into the ESA

support group Monthly profile – 300 reassessments in

Salford

Main HB and LHA reforms in 2013 Benefit cap – total level of benefit household

£26,000 and single household £18,200 (DWP impact assessment provides estimates of numbers affected by local authority)

Direct payment of housing benefit element of Universal Credit to tenants raises concerns about rent arrears

Under occupancy rules for working age tenants in the social rented sector– reduction in level of eligible rent by 14% where a

property is under-occupied by one bedroom and by 25% where a property is under-occupied by two or more bedrooms

Local profiling

Numbers affected by benefit cap at local authority level set out in DWP impact assessment

Direct payment – Inclusion estimate based on numbers and age profile of social housing tenants and HB claim rate

Inclusion estimate of under-occupancy – further supported by access to local information on under-occupancy (strategic housing market assessments)

DLA Reform

From April 2013, DLA will be replaced by the Personal Independence Payment (PIP). Government estimates that there will be 20% fewer claimants of PIP than DLA.

Working age DLA claimants will start to have their claims reassessed for PIP from October 2013 to March 2016.

DWP data available. In Salford, figures from August 2011 show that 18,120 people were in receipt of DLA. 15,000 have been in receipt of DLA for over 5 years.

More work needed to understand monthly profile but likely to generate a considerable need for advice and information.

Salford will see an overall benefit cut of £103 million over the Spending Review period, a reduction in total spend of approximately 9%.

Benefit and Tax Credits Numbers claiming in Salford

Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) / Incapacity Benefit (IB)

6,000 (ESA), 9,440 (IB) – Nov-Dec 2011

Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) / Income Support (IS)

7,830 (JSA), 4,200 (IS) – Nov-Dec 2011

Working and Child Tax Credits (WTC & CTC)

26,500 families (2010/11)

Housing Benefit 29,480 households – April 2012

Child Benefit (CB) 29,590 families – August 2011

Disability Living Allowance (DLA) 10,050 claimants – November 2011

Council Tax Benefit (CTB) 33,240 households – April 2012

Social Fund Localisation

Settlements for programme funding challenging (around 10% lower than actual spend in first half of 2011/12 in Salford)

Requiring authorities to look at ways of protecting the budget– Tightening eligibility; capping repeat

applications; limiting the amount of any grant payment

– Using alternatives to cash payments (credit union loans, direct purchasing schemes, food banks)

Helping to design local replacement schemes

In Leicestershire: analysing DWP data on current Social Fund applications, decisions and spend and identifying options for different elements of the budget

Examining the potential role for credit unions and where these fit in any new local scheme– Hierarchy of possible assistance – urgent crisis

payment - budgeting advance - credit union loan, direct purchase – voucher - grant payment

Helping to draft eligibility criteria for consultation

Government set to reduce level of support for households to meet their Council Tax Payment by £470 million per year across Great Britain from April 2013.

Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) is proposing to require local authorities to reduce Council Tax Benefit expenditure by 10 per cent

Councils have flexibility to design their own local schemes of assistance for working age residents within this budget.

CTB Localisation

Additional research and assistance

Surveying extent and quality of provision Qualitative interviews and focus groups

with residents affected Fragmentation analysis:Mapping welfare reform and wider

economic indicatorsMapping changes to welfare rights and

debt advice services

Fragmentation analysis Looking at changes to provision and support

over time and for different groups of beneficiaries

Analysing how provision has changed and is forecast to change, including levels of funding

Building in local economic indicators Synthesising information on easy-to-

understand diagrams, to draw out pressure points and gaps

Other help: the CfRC Atlas