1. UNIVERSAL CREDIT – recent and upcoming changes
Owen Stevens
HOW LONG CAN I TALK FOR?
Supported by City Bridge Trust, the funding arm of the City of London Corporation's charity, Bridge House Estates ( )

2. Budget 2018 – new announcements

3. Work Allowances up
The amount of UC some workers (parents and disabled workers) can keep before earnings reduce their entitlement
Currently worth £198/£409 per month
Increased by £1,000 per year
From April 2019

4. Extra two weeks of some benefits
Currently two weeks of HB are payable when you “migrate” to UC
Extended to income support, jobseekers allowance and employment and support allowance from 22 July 2020
No extra money for children

5. Minimum income floor
Assumed earnings rather than actual earnings for self employed people, policy criticised for ignoring “bad months”, big expenses or downturn
Budget announced grace period for 12 months at the start of UC claim for all gainfully self-employed transitioning to UC
from July 2019 for those moved to universal credit under managed migration, and
from September 2020 for those moving to universal credit as a result of a change in circumstances

6. Debt deduction from UC down
Direct deductions from adults “standard allowance” in universal credit for rent, utility council tax arrears etc.
Reduced from 40% of standard allowance to 30%
From October 2019

7. UC advance payments – more time to pay your debt
Advanced payments available to claimants waiting for their first UC payment
Recovered over 16 not 12 months from Oct 2021

8. Budget 2018 –previously announced measures

9. Natural Migration
Currently a change of circumstances (eg new job, baby, move into a new area, lose job, get ill) triggers UC claim
Leaves many with “stable” lifestyles on legacy benefits
Those receiving SDP within past month (disabled, living alone and no-one paid CA) no longer be naturally migrated from 16/01/2019
Those already naturally migrated will receive an extra amount of UC under draft regs
Result of litigation by Leigh Day – CPAG also have a case due for a hearing in late January

10. Two child limit, exemption extensions
Two child limit was being applied to kinship carers and to adopted children due to the ordering restriction
Ordering restriction removed for these cases from November 2018
Result of CPAG litigation! Litigation on 2 child limit ongoing…

11. Surplus earnings rule
‘relevant threshold’ is planned to continue at the ‘nil UC threshold’ plus £2500
Reduction to £300 delayed until April 2020

12. Transfer rent support into Pension Credit
Government has delayed rolling rent support into Pension Credit (rather than through HB) by three years
Now due by 2023
This date has been chosen to align with planned full implementation of UC

13. Funding for supported housing
Announced August 2018
Government has decided to retain funding for supported housing within the welfare system, rather than moving to a local funding model

14. Help paying rent restored to 18-21 year olds
18-21 year olds previously not entitled to help unless exceptions apply
Help restored from December 2018
Other restrictions like the bedroom tax, local housing allowance rules and the benefit cap remain

15. Managed migration Will bring the remaining millions onto UC
Transition protection available so you “won’t lose out”. NO TP for natural migration
Trialled in Delayed until 2020, ending 2024?
Government will now trial with 10,000 awards before finalising plans
NB - while the main Budget document says that -
'In response to feedback on universal credit, the implementation schedule has been updated: it will begin in July 2019, as planned, but will end in December 2023.‘
- in the accompanying Budget 2018 policy costings it says that  -
'Policy changes to universal credit have necessitated an update to the schedule for Managed Migration, which is the process by which the Department for Work and Pensions will move people to universal credit from the existing benefit system. The process will start in January 2020 and will end in June 2024 rather than September 2022, including a 6-month contingency assumed by the Office for Budget Responsibility.'

16. Budget 2018 - others Parental bereavement leave and pay
Inclusion of Dupuytren’s contracture in Industrial Injuries Disablement

17. Various other changes/announcements

18. 2 child limit – restriction ends
Restriction on people with three or more children from claiming UC will come to an end following 31/01/2019
Government had planned to apply UC two child limit retrospectively. However, this plan has been scrapped so universal credit still available for a third or subsequent child or qualifying young person who was born before 6 April 2017
regulations allow Pension Credit to include similar amounts for children from 1 February 2019

19. PC for mixed age couples
From 15/05/2019 mixed-age couples, where one has reached state pension age and the other is of working age, are excluded from entitlement to pension credit.
if a member of a mixed-age couple has entitlement to PC or pension-age HB on 14/05/2019 then entitlement to those benefits as part of that couple continues. This continues to apply until there is no entitlement (as part of the couple) to either pension credit or pension-age housing benefit

20. Change to direct payments cycle
Were being paid over 13 four-weekly cycles throughout the year - means there is one four-week cycle where no APA money would be released placing tenants into debt
Plan to move social landlord payments to a monthly cycle in 2019
In December, the DWP wrote to Kate Henderson, chief executive of the National Housing Federation (NHF), confirming the change.

21. Sure Start Maternity Grant
Time for claiming this payment is extended from three to six months
With effect from October 2018

22. AP income
High Court found the amount of earned income in respect of an assessment period is to be based on, but will not necessarily be the same as, the amount of earned income actually received in that assessment period
Permission to appeal refused
Unclear whether SSWP will seek to renew application to Court of Appeal direct

23. CPAG handbooks www.shop.cpag.org.uk/
IF UC WYNTK 5th ed HAS NOT BEEN PUBLISHED THEN PROMOTE ‘FINANCIAL HELP FOR FAMILIES’ INSTEAD
UC, WYNTK: £15
WBTCH: £61

24. Get advice Service is for advisers only, not for clients
cpag.org.uk/uclondonadvice
UC advice:
Telephone UC advice:
Wednesdays between 10 – 12 & 2 – 4pm
cpag.org.uk/content/welcome-ask-cpag-online

25. TBC 26th April 2019 25th June 2019 12th September 2019
17th December 2019
9th April 2019