UPDATE Revenues & Benefit Service

Benefit Performance Housing Benefit Processing Timescales Figures as at 01/10/14 Total caseload = 18,225 New Claims = days Changes in Circumstances = days Right Time = days

Service Developments Committed to service improvement. Recent recruitment exercise resulted in an additional 9 Benefit Officers being appointed. Utilisation of an external housing benefit processing resource to assist with short term peaks in workloads.

Welfare Reform Universal Credit Universal Credit is currently being successfully rolled out in the North West of England to new claims from single people and couples. The new service is already available in over 50 Jobcentres in England, Wales and Scotland, and will be available in nearly 100 Jobcentres by Christmas – more than 1 in 8 across Great Britain. On Monday 29 September the Department for Work & Pensions Secretary, Iain Duncan Smith announced that Universal Credit will be rolled out across all Jobcentres and local authorities from February 2015 for new single claimants previously eligible for Jobseeker’s Allowance. This will include people claiming with a current HB or tax credit award. Uncertainty still remains as a result of the Scottish Referendum and the resultant pledge to devolve responsibility for welfare to the Scottish parliament.

Welfare Reform HB for EEA Nationals The UK government has recently introduced a number of measures in order to limit access to UK means tested benefits by EEA nationals. These measures are intended to curb what has become known as ‘benefit tourism’ and assist with the on going deficit reduction programme. From 1 st April 2014 EEA Nationals in receipt of Job Seekers Allowance (IB) will not be entitled to Housing Benefit, unless they have attained what is known as ‘worker status’ Claimants who are awarded JSA (IB) but have failed to attain worker status will be classed as an “EEA Jobseeker” and will not be entitled to Housing Benefit.

Welfare Reform HB for EEA Nationals Existing claimants currently in receipt of Jobseekers Allowance (IB) and Housing Benefit will be unaffected until such time as they have a change in their circumstances resulting in their current JSA award ending. Any EEA national who has been resident in the UK for a period in excess of 5 years would be exempt from these changes as they then gain the right of permanent residence in the UK. It also does not apply to anyone arriving from or within the “common travel area” (UK, Republic of Ireland, Channel Isles and The Isle of Man )

Real Time Information Real Time Information is a new system developed by Her Majesty’s Revenues and Customs (HMRC) which now requires employer and pension providers to provide PAYE income details directly to HMRC immediately after such payments are made. It was announced that as part of a Spend and Save initiative that the DWP would carry out a data matching exercise. This initiative would match data held on HMRC’s RTI system against data held on 6 social security benefits, including Housing Benefit, in order to identify cases where the claimant has either failed to declare or have under-declared earnings and non-state pension income.

Real Time Information The RTI initiative will create approximately 223, 000 referrals nationally, in July 2014 the DWP advised that based on West Lothian’s Housing Benefit case load that we would be forecasted to receive 500 referrals. It is anticipated therefore that significant HB overpayments will occur as a result of this exercise. All affected persons will be notified of these decisions and the normal appeals process will be applied.