Webinar: Profiling your DHP budget to mitigate the impact of welfare reforms
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Deven Ghelani and Zoe Charlesworth, Policy in Practice, discuss how local authorities can spend their DHP budgets most effectively, to ensure people who need the support the most receive it. View these slides to learn: 1. How DHP money is spent nationwide and why underspends occur 2. How to identify individual households most in need and what support they need 3. How to know if your DHP support is reaching the right people 4. Where to target your DHP engagement campaigns Central government has increased the DHP budget by £35m in 2017-2018 to help with the transition of welfare reforms and it is important that the increased funding is made available to those who need it most. Whilst some assessments of the impact of reforms have taken place, DWP advise local authorities to carry out more detailed work to identify those most in need of discretionary support. "You may want to profile your caseload to identify certain groups among those potentially affected by the changes, and establish the level of demand among those groups. Although DWP has already carried out various Equality Impact Assessments in relation to HB reform you may want to carry out a more detailed assessment for your area." Discretionary Housing Payments Guidance Manual, DWP, Dec 2016 Policy in Practice has helped local authorities identify individual households most at risk from aggregate and cumulative welfare reforms so that support programmes can be targeted where they are most needed. This webinar was held on Wednesday 1 March 2017 at 10:30 View YouTube recording here https://youtu.be/sjNreOrBMWc
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Webinar: Profiling your DHP budget to mitigate the impact of welfare reforms
- 1. Policy in Practice Webinar: Profiling your DHP Budget Wednesday 1 March 2016
- 2. Housekeeping • Audio check • Please ask questions • Polls and a survey • Finish by 11:30
- 3. Speakers Zoe Charlesworth Policy in Practice Deven Ghelani Policy in Practice
- 4. Agenda • Introduction to Policy in Practice • The background to DHPs • Identifying and engaging the right households • Effective administration of DHPs • DHPs and Universal Credit • Q&A / Next steps
- 5. We make the welfare system simple to understand, so that people can make the decisions that are right for them
- 6. www.policyinpractice.co.uk SOFTWARE individual impact CONSULTANC local impact POLICY national impact
- 7. 777 Poll: What do you use DHPs for?
- 8. Over to Deven and Zoe
- 9. • Discretionary Housing Payments were introduced in April 2013 as a way for local authorities to mitigate the impact of housing benefit reforms. • They are paid from a cash-limited budget and are intended to help people meet housing costs, typically where there is a shortfall between their Housing Benefit (or housing element of Universal Credit) and their rent. • They typically go to people impacted by the Benefit Cap, under-occupation or with rent above their local housing allowance rate. The background to DHPs
- 10. DHP Allocation By Region Region £M DHP allocation (2016/ 2017) Percentage of the total allocation East Midlands 7.4 6% East of England 10.1 8% Greater London 39.2 31% North East 7.1 6% South East 14.7 12% South West 8.7 7% North West 16.5 13% West Midlands 12.4 10% Yorkshire and The Humber 10.9 9% Total 127.0 100%
- 11. • Local authorities vary in the way they decide who should get a DHP award and the way they manage the budget. • You must act ‘Fairly, Reasonably and Consistently’ • The resident must apply for a DHP – engagement and awareness are common challenges • Awards can be challenged, and DHPs are allocated according to whether they meet the award criteria. • Ensure your policies are up to date to reflect e.g. two child rule, and ESA changes. • There has to be flexibility within the policy – a tricky balance. Local authority responsibilities The resident must apply – but you don’t have to use a paper form
- 12. 12 An online DHP application process
- 14. 141414 Poll: What is your biggest challenge in administering DHPs
- 15. 151515 There will not be enough funding to meet every shortfall as a result of the benefit cap, so your local authority will need to target funding to those who need it the most. Discretionary Housing Payments Guidance Manual, DWP, Dec 2016
- 16. DHPs and the gap to be filled £m Savings / Spending from specified reforms £155m Benefit Cap savings for 2017/18 £558m Under-occupation savings for 2017/18 £3,700m Gap between LHA and rent for people on HB £180m Discretionary Housing Payments allocated for 2017/18 4% - 25% Amount of shortfall DHPs are funded to cover Local authorities are expected to turn away one in every four needy households away, or point them to alternative support.
- 17. Maximising Discretionary funds “You may want to profile your caseload to identify certain groups among those potentially affected by the changes, and establish the level of demand among those groups. you may want to carry out a more detailed assessment for your area.” The targeting and take-up of these schemes is not straightforward. • Are DHPs getting to those who need it the most? • Are the same households applying for multiple types of support, and could this be consolidated? • Discretionary Housing Payments • Council tax support schemes with hardship funds • Local welfare support schemes are increasingly discretionary
- 18. 18 Profiling need for each low income household in your local authority
- 19. • Raise awareness of DHPs among people most in need. • Have a flexible policy - track awards and their impact. • Do DHPs prevent Homelessness, and protect a tenancy • Target financial support and employment support appropriately. Optimising DHPs
- 20. “Having a consistent policy is important, but local authorities are good at administering payments. “The main issue is not the application process… “it is raising awareness of DHPs among people that need it the most, and encouraging them to take action.” Analysis for one local authority Average application rate: 21% Average award rate: 88% One in every five of the most needy households receives an award
- 21. • DHPs can be used as an emergency fund to bridge gaps as people wait for funds. • To qualify, they need to be in receipt of Housing Benefit for the housing element of Universal Credit. • There are some serious issues emerging: Don’t underestimate the level of advocacy you will need to do under Universal Credit People give up applying… Residents are not always notified about council tax support. You can get both APAs and DHPs – but there has been some confusion. DHPs and Universal Credit
- 23. www.policyinpractice.co.uk Thank you Deven Ghelani deven@policyinpractice.co.uk 07863 560677 hello@policyinpractice.co.uk
Editor's Notes
- [Are we using polls?]
- Adam Knight-Markiegi is Head of Operations at Policy in Practice 15 years in the housing sector – in policy, research and consultancy – always working with local authorities and housing associations Last role was at HouseMark – so he’s very familiar with housing data and the challenges facing the sector Adam joined Policy in Practice keen to help people understand policy on the frontline, so they can help improve residents’ lives. He wants to turn insight from analysis into practical steps on the ground.
- Context to DHPs Why introduced Current levels of funding / recent changes New administration and responsibility for local government Engaging the right households £m of DHPs allocate appropriately. How to engage. Giver Backers. Can’t go over budget. DHPs to right people Tackle barriers to work where possible Software Control costs / Increase applications alongside a benefit check See what the barriers are to a) maximise income (SDP), b) award consistency, c) identify ways to overcome the barriers Ensure policies are update to reflect 2017 changes (2 child rule / ESA) Avoid other costs of e.g. TA The impact of UC on DHPs DHPs and UC Used as an emergency bridging gap Need to be in receipt of housing costs Issues with DHPs APAs vs DHPs (You can get both) Council tax is never notified The level of advocacy around UC Plus they give up applying…
- Policy in Practice is a social policy software and consulting business. We were founded by Deven Ghelani who was part of the team that developed Universal Credit at the Centre for Social Justice. When the policy was adopted by government, he left there to set up Policy in Practice. He was keen to ensure that the policy intent was actually put into practice. Since then, and together with the team he's built at Policy in Practice, he's facilitated conversations between leading local authorities and the Prime Minister's office to ensure frontline feedback about welfare reform policy has been heard. In addition, Deven and the team have helped local organisations to understand the aggregate and cumulative impact of welfare reform changes on their customers so that they can accurately target support programmes. And finally, to close the loop, the software that Policy in Practice has developed simplifies the conversations that frontline advisors can have with customers by clearly showing what benefits they can get under the current system and when they move to Universal Credit, comparing the two side-by-side using data visualisation. --- DG notes --- Onion Slide (DG) http://policyinpractice.co.uk/brexit-whats-next-esf-local-authorities/ How this affects each individual household in your local authority - CTRS / SHBE
- , usually where there is a shortfall between their Housing Benefit (or housing element of Universal Credit) and their rent. It is not possible (and not the intention) to make an award in every case where there is such a shortfall. As demand for DHPs rise / funding falls LA’s will need to target both financial and non-financial support according to need
- there will not be enough funding to meet every shortfall as a result of the benefit cap so your LA will need to target this funding at those who need it most. Flexible policy - track awards Homelessness / Protect a tenancy Financial circumstances Health and support needs Profile your DHP budget 6.15 - list of people to help stay in their homes.
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