Industry News
Harrogate to pilot changes to Universal Credit
will be transferred onto Universal Credit, after telling Parliament she is committed to making the system fairer. This will involve piloting a managed migration of
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the flagship welfare reform system from July, while trialling changes in how it works. Work and Pensions Secretary Ms Rudd made the announcement when appearing before a Commons select committee. It is one of various measures being introduced to make the benefit system more acceptable to MPs, campaigners and claimants. She said: “Obviously there’s been a lot of interest
in what progress we’re making with our managed migration pilot and we have decided to go ahead and do that in Harrogate. We’ve chosen them because they’ve had Universal Credit for three years, they’re an experienced Jobcentre, and they’re an area with both urban and rural claimants.” Around 3,000 people registered at Harrogate
Jobcentre are currently claiming legacy benefits. They will be the first of three million to switch over to Universal Credit by the end of 2023. Currently the combined benefit has only been paid to new benefit claimants, so the Harrogate pilot represents a real test of UC and it will be under intensive scrutiny.
COMPENSATION DESERVED In the latest of measures taken, DWP has awarded £39 million to Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland for an independent ‘Help to Claim’ service. People using the service can get advice on anything to do with applying for the benefit, including gathering the required evidence, filling in the application or preparing for their first Jobcentre appointment. Meanwhile a Conservative thinktank has
recommended Universal Credit claimants should be compensated if their benefits are paid late or promised training and skills courses are not delivered. Bright Blue said it was unfair that claimants were
sanctioned (had their benefits docked) if they failed to look for work or missed appointments, but Jobcentre officials faced no penalty if their errors left claimants in hardship. It also called for financial rewards for claimants
who put “maximum effort” into their job search but were unable to find work. This could be a cash supplement built into benefits and a biannual £1,000 cash prize. All new Universal Credit claimants should
receive a one-off upfront “helping hand” payment amounting to a quarter of the estimated first month’s benefit to help with the five-week
mber Rudd has revealed the Yorkshire town of Harrogate will be the first area where existing welfare benefit claimants
News in brief
• Brentwood Borough Council in Essex has signed a £1 billion Joint Venture partnership for up to 30 years with construction company Morgan Sindall to deliver new housing, commercial space and leisure facilities across the borough. The contract is the largest that Brentwood Council has entered into and the fourth long-term deal of this kind signed by Morgan Sindall. The council will now act as a central purchasing body through which other local authorities in Essex may procure similar partnerships with Morgan Sindall Investments. The company has struck similar deals with Slough Council, Bournemouth Borough Council and Hertfordshire County Council.
minimum waiting time for the first payment. The thinktank said the long waiting time for
initial payments was “difficult and distressing” for most claimants, and making non-repayable financial support available would soften the impact and generate goodwill. Bright Blue said it was broadly supportive of the
online benefit system and said its research showed most people were adapting. But it said older claimants and those with mental and physical health problems often struggled with Universal Credit – particularly with the initial 35-day wait for payment – and its complexity and harshness was dissipating public confidence.
NEGATIVE IMPACT The Chartered Institute of Housing is among a host of organisations calling for the cap on benefits to be relaxed. Its deputy chief executive, Gavin Smart, said Universal Credit and the benefit cap had increased poverty and hardship among the poorest households in the country. He said changes in its rules and how it is implemented needed to be made. The Government’s justification for the cap was
that it would encourage more people into work; restore “fairness” to the benefit system, by ensuring a non-working family does not receive more in benefits than a working family gets from going to work; and make financial savings. However, he said the select committee’s report
showed that 82 per cent of those hit by the benefit cap are people who by the DWP’s own terms are unable to work for the time being, including single mothers of small children and those who are unwell. He said the CIH agreed with the Committee’s
conclusion that the claim of “fairness” does not hold, because it fails to take account of benefits received by working families (such as child benefit), so that those in work are already better off even without the cap. Further, the Committee’s evidence shows that the cap is largely failing in its stated objective of getting people back into work with less than one in 20 households affected by it doing so.
• A north London council is introducing a borough-wide licensing scheme for houses in multiple occupation (HMOs). Haringey Council’s cabinet approved a scheme under which landlords renting a property to three or more people in two or more households will have to obtain a licence from the council at an early-bird cost of £500. A smaller selective licensing scheme for non-HMOs for some parts of the borough was also approved. The council said the scheme will allow it to know who manages and owns HMOs in the borough and that the homes meet legal standards. Emine Ibrahim, cabinet member of housing and estate renewal at Haringey Council, said: “Many residents live in HMOs across Haringey, and the council is committed to doing what it can to ensure that every resident has access to good-quality housing. This additional HMO licensing scheme will help ensure all HMOs in our borough are safe, well maintained and managed effectively.”
• According to research from Rentokil Property Care, over two fifths (44 per cent) of rented properties in the UK have no extractor fan in the bathroom, and in a further 31 per cent the bathroom had no window either. More than a third (35 per cent) of rented properties did not have enough natural light in them and 34 per cent did not have reliable central heating. Up to 5.8 million renters have experienced damp and condensation issues, while it takes a landlord almost three months (84 days) to help rectify such issues. The research also indicates that up to 2 million renters have developed an illness as a result of their living conditions while an average family of four can produce up to 24 pints (14 litres) of water vapour in just 24 hours.
www.housingmmonline.co.uk | HMM April/May 2019 | 19
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