CLG Select Committee inquiry into implications for local government and the communities they serve of the Welfare Reform Bill

I have received the following information via one of our local MPs:

The Communities and Local Government Select Committee of the House of Commons has decided to conduct a brief inquiry into the implications of welfare reform – specifically the localisation of council tax benefit and elements of the Social Fund – insofar as it affects matters in the remit of DCLG.  Members are interested in exploring the ramifications of these changes for users and administrators of these benefits, local authorities in particular.  The implications of housing benefit being incorporated into Universal Credit may also be of interest.

Some possible areas of interest to the Committee:

•  What are the advantages and disadvantages of localisation of council tax benefit? Are concerns that it will undermine the intent of Universal Credit valid?

•  Will localisation of Community Care Grants and Crisis Loans resolve identified problems with these funds? (such as uneven distribution of funding, variation in success rates for applicants with similar needs across the country, high administrative costs, questions over the standard of decision-making processes)

•  How much local discretion will/should be allowed in criteria, systems, decision-making and so on? What, if anything, should be off-limits to local decision-making? (For example, DWP has committed to ensuring that localisation of council tax benefit does not jeopardise the single taper feature of Universal Credit)

•  How vulnerable will the funds available be to pressures on general local authority finances?

•  What, if any, changes will be needed to the working relationship between local authorities and DWP for the reforms to work effectively? What will the requirements be in terms of information sharing between DWP and local authorities, and how should these be managed?

•  Are local authorities equipped to deal with the attendant workload, and what new systems will they have to put in place?

•  Will these changes make is easier or more difficult for claimants to access assistance? Will they complicate the system overall, or just improve its responsiveness to local circumstances?

•  Is the timescale for change (including the rolling of Housing Benefit into the Universal Credit) realistic?

•  How is the process of policy formation reflecting, in your view, on the working relationship between DCLG and DWP?

The Clerk to the committee provided the following comments:
“The questions are provided as a guide only, and it is not necessary either to frame your submission as a response to the questions, nor to feel restricted by them; please concentrate on the issues you feel are most important…. As this will be a small inquiry with a short timescale for responses, we are not issuing a general call for evidence.”

“Submissions can be brief, and in any case need not be longer than about 2,000 words.  It would assist us greatly if submissions could be sent in Word format, with numbered paragraphs. If you feel you would simply be duplicating previous responses made to the Work & Pensions Select Committee or the Welfare Reform Bill Committee, please feel free to point us in those directions, but do bear in mind the Communities and Local Government Committee has a particular perspective on this issue, being responsible for scrutinising the work of DCLG.  “

Submissions by Friday 17 June if at all possible

Communities and Local Government Committee
7 Millbank
House of Commons
London
SW1P 3JA
Telephone: 020 7219 4972/1353
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)