How many different benefits are there?

Strange question I know - but I am delivering some training soon and want to highlight the complexity of the benefits system. I was going to ask the trainees how many benefits there are currently in payment but I don’t know the answer! I’ve done a couple of internet searches and I am none the wiser.
Any ideas?

Maybe start a list….

Income Support
Jobseekers Allowance (contribution based and income-based)
ESA (contribution based and income-related)
Pension Credit (Guaranteed credit and savings credit)

Housing Benefit (“Working Age” and “Pension Credit age”)
Council Tax Benefit (“Working Age” and “Pension Credit age”)
Discretionary Housing Payments (technically not a benefit, but directly relevant)

Attendance Allowance (2 rates)
Mobility Allowance (only one rate, apparently…(amended))
DLA (care - 3 rates)
DLA (mobility - 2 rates)

Tax Credits (WTC and CTC)
Child Benefit

State Retirement Pension

Further, at least three different sets of administrative bodies.  DWP; HMRC; local authorities

Ok, so I’ve cherry picked the easy ones (er, I *think* mobility allowance is still out there!).

SDA
Surestart maternity grants
Does Independent Living Fund count?

... and

carers allowance
incapacity benefit
bereavement payment
bereavement allowance
widows pension
widowed parents allowance
guardians allowance
industrial injuries disablement benefit
  (incl constant attendance allowance, exceptionally severe disablement allowance, reduced earnings allowance, retirement allowance)
SSP, SMP, SPP, SAP
maternity allowance

and lots of different war pensions and allowances.

does SSP really count any more? given that it’s paid by employers and they aren’t allowed to claim it back?

mobility allowance might still be out there but it never had 2 rates!

Hmmm.  That sent me searching.  Having done that, I have no idea why I thought it was two rates.  That said, I am not exactly thinking straight at the moment…..(earlier post amended).

There are 38 distinct, ‘whole’ benefits, pensions, allowances, tax credits and one off payments in all, administered by the DWP, HMRC and local authorities as well as 4 employer paid payments, such as SSP.  I have deliberately excluded health benefits, education grants and benefits, such as Educational Maintenance Allowance; other local authority payments, such as fostering allowances and disabled facilities grants; return to work payments, such as Housing Benefit run on, job grants, etc; increases for dependents and components of and additions to benefits, such as Constant Attendance Allowance and Graduated Retirement Pension.  If I have omitted any please feel free to correct me.  The 42 are:

Attendance Allowance
Bereavement Allowance
Bereavement Payment
Budgeting Loan
Carers Allowance
Child Benefit
Child Tax Credit
Christmas Bonus
Cold Weather Payment
Community Care Grant
Council Tax Benefit
Crisis Loan
Disability Living Allowance
Discretionary Housing Payments
Employment and Support Allowance
Funeral Payment
Guardian’s Allowance
Housing Benefit
Incapacity Benefit
Income Support
Industrial Death Benefit
Industrial Disablement Benefit
Jobseekers Allowance, incl’ hardship payments
Local Housing Allowance
Maternity Allowance
Pension Credit
Reduced Earnings Allowance
Retirement Allowance
Retirement Pension
Severe Disablement Allowance
Sure Start Maternity Grant
Vaccine Damage Payment
Widowed Mothers Allowance
Widowed Parents Allowance
Widows Payment
Widows Pension
Working Tax Credit
Statutory Adoption Pay
Statutory Maternity Pay
Statutory Paternity Pay
Statutory Sick Pay
War Pension

Awards of Mobility Allowance were converted into awards of DLA under the Social Security (Introduction of Disability Living Allowance) Regulations 1991.

This is offered constructively, Just for clarity, “Local Housing Allowance” is not a benefit in its own right.  It remains “Housing Benefit”.  In plain English, LHA is the latest in a long line of mechanisms to provide a maximum level of rent used in the HB calculation.

This thread already epitomises the complexity of the social security system.  My “Mobility Allowance” faux pas and now LHA.  Is it any wonder EVERYONE has difficulty with the benefits system…. And that’s before dealing with the legislation beyond the title of the benefit *deep jaundiced sigh*.

“Is it any wonder EVERYONE has difficulty with the benefits system”.

I’ll go along with that.

Industrial Death Benefit? Abolished 22 years ago? I suppose someone, somewhere, might still be claiming it.

But then what about Industrial Death Benefit for Widowers? Surely everyone remembers this? Payable if claimant’s wife died in an industrial accident before 11.4.88 and was wholly or mainly maintaining him prior to the accident and the relict is now permanently incapable of self support? I always cited this when discussing complexity in the benefits system. Last time any statistics were published there was precisely one claimant.

Richard Atkinson

Are there any transitionally protected cases of Widows Special Allowance?  A benefit abolished in 1988 for divorced women whose ex-husband had died.  Also I think there are still some people getting Workmen’s Compensation (for claims made before 5th July 1948).

donewithwr - 09 July 2010 07:50 AM

mobility allowance might still be out there but it never had 2 rates!

War Pensioner Mobility Supplement has two rates. Officers are entitled to £2,726 a year whilst all other ranks are entitled to £52.25 a week.  The fact that the annual amount is the same may seem a little archaic.

There are still payments of compensation for the loss of Housing Benefit Supplement made which is really transitionally protected HBS.

Some time last year I came across a list (well several double sided pages) of DWP terminology which also listed the benefits. I counted the benefits the DP, SDP, EDP etc were counted separately there were about 76, however as noted in a previous post many of these benefits have probably only one last lonely claimant left!

Chaos