Welfare Reform Bill

Dolge - 17 February 2011 02:02 PM

Clause 12 -  additional amounts - in effect, for UC,  what were premiums for IS. It is left open (“as may be prescribed”) but the only amounts mentioned, in the Bill or the notes, are the existing WRA component and support component, and an amount for carers. Are EDP and SDP going completely for working age claimants?

Richard Atkinson

There was a hint in the consultation paper about UC that there would be some rationalisation of “multiple premiums” so yes, SDP and/or EDP might go.

The White Paper said:

“The Government believes the existing structure of overlapping disability premiums is overly complex and causes confusion. We are considering what extra support may be needed for disabled people in Universal Credit, over and above the additional components mentioned above and the benefits available elsewhere in the system.”

consultation out on plans for local auths to deliver ‘local assistance’ in place of community care grants and crisis loans

see rightsnet news Local support to replace community care grants and crisis loans

The figures show 1.7m households will lose out from the universal credit reforms. Nearly 75% of these will suffer reductions of less than £25 per week, but 100,000 households will lose more than £75 a week. The biggest losers, the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) said, are likely to be single people without children, those working more than 30 hours, those not in receipt of housing benefit, and households with savings of more than £16,000.

Ministers have insisted there will be no losers, but this only holds true at the point of transition onto the new scheme due to a special fund set up to temporarily compensate those whose benefits are due to be cut. A total of 100,000 claimants – those in the poorest 40% – are expected to gain by at least £4,000 a year. A further 1m households will see an increase in income of at least £25 a week.

Welfare reform: Find a job or lose benefits, mothers to be told

Hi can anyone point me in the right direction of where it mentions three year sanctions for refusing to take a job three times, as mentioned in Cameron’s speech? I can see reference to 26 weeks in the bill, and I know that it mentions three year loss of benefit in the fraud and sanctions impact assessment document, but where is the detail on losing benefits for three years after refusing to take a job three times?

Any help welcome! Thanks

Lee H

incomemax.org.uk - 18 February 2011 03:07 PM

Hi can anyone point me in the right direction of where it mentions three year sanctions for refusing to take a job three times, as mentioned in Cameron’s speech? I can see reference to 26 weeks in the bill, and I know that it mentions three year loss of benefit in the fraud and sanctions impact assessment document, but where is the detail on losing benefits for three years after refusing to take a job three times?

Any help welcome! Thanks

Lee H

Clause 26(6) I think.

I notice that section 87 of the Bill abolishes DLA altogether.

What does this mean for disabled children - given that the government professes not to have made a decision on whether to extend the PIP to those under 16? 

Derek

They must have made the decision to extend it to children, is my presumption. This presumption is suported by a look at the PIP clauses (76 and 77). The mobiity component includes a lower age limit; the ‘daily living’ component doesn’t. This mirrors the provisions about DLA for children.

Richard Atkinson

.. and it looks like I was wrong about CTB being in UC - even though the documents said it was.

They now intend to consult on moving it to LAs in England and say that “It will create stronger incentives for councils to get people back into work and so support the positive work incentives that will be introduced through the Government’s plans on universal credit.

.....these changes will give councils a greater stake in the economic future of their local area, so supporting the Government’s wider agenda to enable stronger, balanced economic growth across the country.”.

Whatever that might mean.

govt to consult on plans for local council tax rebate schemes

see rightsnet news @

Government to take forward plans for local authorities to develop local council tax rebate schemes

shawn - 17 February 2011 09:48 AM

On dropping the plans to reduce housing benefit for the long-term unemployed, Mr Duncan Smith told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme it would “not be” in the Welfare Reform Bill.

If I were feeling cynical I would say that’s because it will be in regulations instead.

In fact the bill is so vague virtually any conditions at all could be prescribed without going through parliament, particularly under clause 6(1)(a).

77(1)(b) - the person’s ability to carry out mobility activities is limited by the person’s physical or mental condition.

Well, we are going to have lots of fun attempting to interpret ‘mobility activities’, the mind boggles. The UTT judges are going to be very busy indeed…

Paul Treloar1 - 18 February 2011 03:12 PM

incomemax.org.uk - 18 February 2011 03:07 PM

Hi can anyone point me in the right direction of where it mentions three year sanctions for refusing to take a job three times, as mentioned in Cameron’s speech? I can see reference to 26 weeks in the bill, and I know that it mentions three year loss of benefit in the fraud and sanctions impact assessment document, but where is the detail on losing benefits for three years after refusing to take a job three times?

Any help welcome! Thanks

Lee H

Clause 26(6) I think.

Thanks Paul that’s great, it’s most definitely a case of me not being able to see the woods for trees!

Cheers

Lee H

The change to uprating benefits by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), lots of conditionality, cuts to HB. The biggest shake up of the welfare benefits system since WW2, but where is the research into what people actually need to survive on?

How does a single person on £65 a week live after all the utility bills are paid?
How do they know if they are entitled to anything else, or have been unfairly treated when advice agencies are vanishing in the funding round cuts and proposed LSC cuts?
How do they conduct their ‘job seeking activities’ when from April 2011 a first class stamp costs 46p?
How do they get to the nearest Jobcentre to sign on when so many have closed and petrol and bus fares are at record levels?

Well, here’s one way: http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/feb/11/us-payday-loan-firms-expansion

Welcome to the 51st state of America.

Now here’s a nice little challenge for you:

(1)  How many times does the word “prescribed” appear in the Bill?

(2) How many times does “The Secretary of State may by regulation” or something similar appear in the Bill?

(3) What was that saying about “devil” and “detail”?

On the issue about children and DLA, we may have an implementation issue. Just because something is in an Act it will not automatically come into effect on Royal Assent. All sections need to be brought into effect by commencement orders and some may take years to be brought into effect. There is a commencement clause (136) in the Bill. There is a proviison in the I think the alst Welfare Reform Act taking power to abolish income support, but it isn’t in force yet.