1 / 13

A new government: where now for welfare reform?

A new government: where now for welfare reform?. Scottish IRRV Conference 1 st September 2010 Paul Howarth, Housing Benefit Strategy Division. New government – new priorities. Additional £6bn contribution to the budget deficit this year Emergency Budget - 22 nd June

turi
Télécharger la présentation

A new government: where now for welfare reform?

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. A new government: where now for welfare reform? Scottish IRRV Conference 1st September 2010 Paul Howarth, Housing Benefit Strategy Division

  2. New government – new priorities • Additional £6bn contribution to the budget deficit this year • Emergency Budget - 22nd June • Spending review reporting in October • New Work Programme • Localism • Longer-term benefit reform

  3. Overall context for reform • Budget deficit • Growing expenditure (Housing Benefit will cost £21 billion in 2010/11) • Principle of fairness • Improving work incentives • Working age benefit reform • Different arrangements for pensioners

  4. Work Programme • New work programme, simpler and more effective • In place nationally by Summer of 2011 • Supports a wide range of customers • Delivered by contractors drawn from public, private and voluntary sectors • More personalised support, tailored to individual needs • Discussions on how this will apply in Scotland and Wales.

  5. Housing Benefit Budget measures: short to medium term (1) • From April 2011: • Local Housing Allowance levels will be restricted to 4 bedroom rate. • A new upper limit will be introduced for each for each property size (1 bed, £250; 2 bed £290; 3 bed £340; 4 bed, £400). • £15 excess provision currently payable within the LHA rules will be removed (as previously planned).

  6. Housing Benefit Budget measures: short to medium term (2) • From April 2011: • Size-criteria adjusted to provide an additional room for a non-resident carer where a disabled person has an established need for overnight care. • Staged increase in non-dependant deductions so that by 2014 rates will be at the level they would have been if uprated since 2001. • From October 2011: • LHA will be set at the 30th percentile of rents in each Broad Rental Market area, rather than the median.

  7. Housing Benefit Budget measures from April 2013 • Local Housing Allowance rates will be uprated on the basis of the Consumer Prices Index rather than local rents. • Housing Benefit for working age social-rented sector customers will be restricted for those who are occupying a larger property than their household size and structure would warrant. • Recipients of Jobseeker’s Allowance will receive their full Housing Benefit award only for a period of 12 months. After that period, their benefit will be reduced by 10%.

  8. Current status and next steps • Impact assessment published – no behavioural assumptions made • Referred to Social Security Advisory Committee • Consultation with local authority associations • Aim to lay regulations in early November • Work with local authorities on implementation • Stakeholders and communications • Policy development on long-term measures (all of which require primary legislation)

  9. Easing the transition • Discretionary Housing Payments • £20m funding increased by £10m in 2011/12 • Funding trebled from 2012/13 to £60m • Advice and support – work with CLG, Scotland and Wales, and with local authorities • Helping people who need to move • Welcome any thoughts on this

  10. Universal Credit • Tax and benefit system should be made fairer and simpler • Respectable standard of living for all • Deliver affordable change • System more work-focused • Combine in and out of work benefits • Low earners retain more wages • Work preferable to additional benefit payments as a route out of poverty • Reduce high withdrawal rates

  11. Universal Credit – including housing? • Implies reform in social rented sector • A much simpler structure • Eliminate separate in-work benefits • Helping people help themselves • Fewer delivery agencies • Greater integration = new delivery arrangements • What is best done centrally, what locally?

  12. Further challenges ahead • Spending Review – further measures to address the deficit • All budgets under scrutiny • Impact on local government • CIS prompts and ATLAS • More process improvements • Risk-based verification

  13. Conclusion • Major changes to the structure of Housing Benefit • Budget changes may be the first step • Investment funding will be hard to come by • Will need to do things differently • Less central direction • Potential for more data-sharing • Take the best from all worlds

More Related