APAD policy briefing: What is happening to welfare?

1. APAD policy briefing:What is happening to welfare? 12 May 2011

2. Today’s objectives • What drives welfare reform • The new reform agenda • Implications for appointees and deputies

3. APAD policy briefing:What drives welfare reform?

4. Origins of welfare in England • The rich man asks: to whom should I give alms? “The charity of Christian faith excludes no-one from alms when they have need – not man nor woman, no estate or degree, no sect, heathen or Christian. Nevertheless, we must maintain order in our giving – sinners are last in the order of alms giving unless their need be greater. For common beggars, it suffices so to help them that they perish not”. Dives and Pauper, c. 1405

5. The Old Poor Law • 1349: Ordinance of Labourers – prohibits alms giving to able bodied beggars • 1388: Statute of Cambridge - the “first” English Poor law; County Hundreds responsible for supporting the ‘impotent poor’; restrictions on the free movement of labour • 1601: An Act for the Reliefe of the Poore: the parish established as the administration of poor relief. Responsible for “setting to work all such persons […] having no means to maintain them”. Funded through ‘Poor rates’ – origin of rates. • 1722: establishment of workhouses – if any refuse the work house “such Person shall be put out of the Parish Books and not entituled to Relief”.

6. The New Poor Law and its demise • 1834: Poor Law Amendment Act: Poor Law Commission established – parish relief subject to centralised orders – heavy restrictions on “outdoor relief”; Poor law strongly opposed; riots. • 1871: Local Government Board established – responsible for poor relief plus sanitation and public health – start of modern local government • 1905: Royal Commission on the Poor Law and the unemployed; Lansbury publishes “Smash up the Workhouse” • 1909: old age pension for those aged 70 plus • 1911: National Insurance Act:contributory benefits protect against sickness and unemployment independent of the work house system

8. Modern welfare: Beveridge report - against five “Giant Evils” Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness • 1945: Family Allowances Act: (start of Child benefit) • 1946: National Insurance (Industrial Injuries) Act • 1946: National Insurance Act: (extension of social insurance) • 1946: National Health Service Act: (start of NHS) • 1948: National Assistance Act (formal abolition of Poor Law) • 1949: Landlord and Tenant (Rent Control) Act: (start of rent control and rent tribunals)

9. Classes of benefit

10. APAD policy briefing:The new reform agenda

11. Public spending

12. Benefit savings in Emergency Budget and Spending Review • £18 billion taken off benefits bill by Budget and SR (34% of total savings) - 43 changes between 2010 and 2018 • Social insurance principle weakened • ‘Safety net’ principle of means testing weakened • Limited impact on pensioners – main losers are of working age • Lone parents and sickness benefit claimants transferred to JSA • Housing benefit withdrawal threatens debt and homelessness for many – especially in high rent, low employment areas

13. Main benefit savings in 2011 April 2011 • Local Housing Allowance (LHA) caps for new claims. Existing claims have 9 months transition • LHA 30th percentile (instead of 50th) for new claims. (Existing claims 9 months transition) • LHA £15 extra payment ends • Non dependant deductions - 27% increase (all tenures) • Re-assessment of all incapacity benefit claimants • Lone parents with children 5 years + transfer to Jobseeker’s Allowance

14. Main benefit savings in 2011 (2) Up-rating by CPI not RPI – (loss of 2% benefit – all claimants) Sure Start Maternity grant for 1st child only – Health in Pregnancy grant abolished Educational Maintenance Allowance abolished 52 week time limit on contributory Employment Support Allowance Various tax credit reductions including cut in childcare element

15. Main benefit savings in 2012 April 2012 • Age to which single room rent applies raises from 25 to 35 - c290 affected • DLA mobility withdrawn from LA funded care home residents

16. Main benefit savings in 2012 April 2012 • Age to which single room rent applies raises from 25 to 35 - c290 affected • DLA mobility withdrawn from LA funded care home residents Withdrawn

17. Main benefit savings in 2013 April 2013 • Cap household benefits to median after tax income of working family (£500 p. week for couples; £350 for single people) • Under-occupation restriction on help with housing costs for working age social housing tenants – (still awaiting details) • Abolish Disability Living Allowance • Council Tax Benefit: spend reduced by 10% and delivery of saving devolved to local authorities • Social Fund Crisis Loans and Community Care Grants abolished – funding passed to LAs

18. Universal Credit • All benefit savings imported into Universal Credit • A single means tested benefit for people of working age • Policy intentions: • Simplify administration to accommodate short term employment • Target benefits on ‘the right people’ • Reward positive behaviours • Reduce the rate at which benefits & tax credits are withdrawn • Support the Work programme • Increase conditionality to require work progression • Improve automation: (Real-time PAYE system)

19. APAD policy briefing:Implications for appointees and Deputies

20. Re-assessment of incapacity benefit claims • Between March 2011 and Spring 2014 re-assess 2.6 million claims for: • Incapacity benefit • Severe Disablement Allowance • Income Support paid to those unfit for work • Test is the Work Capability Assessment • No-one exempt – care home residents and those on DLA (HC) will have to be re-assessed • Outcomes: transfer to Employment Support Allowance or claim Jobseeker’s Allowance

21. Assessment process • Notice letter • Follow up telephone call • Postal medical questionairre • Attend Work Capability Assessment • Any failure to respond may result in suspension of benefit

22. Customer journey 08/09/10 Version: 4.0 I attend the WFI ~WFHRAs have been suspended for 2 years from 19/07/2010 Atos call me to arrange & conduct a WFHRA~ Someone calls to advise on ESA entitlement and next steps in the ESA regime Someone calls to gather any missing information and explain the next steps (this TP only applies to customers with missing information) 12 Someone calls me to give further information and advice, find out if I need extra help with the process 11 Someone calls me to arrange a WCA 10 WRAG The Jobcentre contacts me to arrange a WFI I become aware about forthcoming changes to my benefits Support Group 9 8 I receive a letter with my ESA award notification ALLOWED 4 7 3 5 2 I receive a letter with my JSA award notification 6 1 I receive a medical questionnaire to fill out DISALLOWED 13 14 17 I receive a letter informing me that changes are about to commence and advising me on the next steps I attend the WCA with Atos Appeals Someone calls to inform me of the entitlement decision and advises me of my options. If I wish to claim JSA I am transferred to someone who takes my claim details 15 I receive a letter informing me of benefit disallowance and the WCA outcome 16 I write a letter / call to appeal* Someone calls to confirm information for reconsideration^ *if customer calls they will be told appeal needs to be in writing

23. Outcomes • Satisfy WCA: Passed to Employment and Support Allowance Work Related Activity Group or Support Group • No loss of benefit at point of transition • Fail to satisfy WCA: invited to claim Jobseeker’s Allowance • Right to challenge WCA decision – high proportion of appeals successful

24. Changes to Disability Living Allowance • Green Paper: abolish DLA – replace with – Personal Independence Payment (part 4 of Welfare reform Bill 2011) • Introduce in 2013-14 • Re-assessment of existing beneficiaries – big savings anticipated • ‘Objective’ assessment • Led by health professional (as with WCA) • Two rates of care only • No PIP (mobility) for people in care homes • How the new benefit will interact with the social care system and social care charges

25. Changes to discretionary Social Fund • Community Care Grants and Crisis Loans to be abolished from April 2013 (s.69 Welfare reform Bill 2011) • Replaced by ‘locally based assistance’ – funding will be transferred to LAs but ‘there will be no new statutory duty requiring local authorities to deliver the service’. • Examples of how the funding might be used: • Local charities to give small grants • Social housing providers making homelessness prevention payments • Credit unions • Furniture re-cycling projects

26. Considerations for appointees and Deputies • How to ensure that Jobcentre Plus sends all correspondence to the relevant person • Is there a need to identify service users who will be undergoing WCA • Is there a need for staff training on completing the WCA questionnaire • Can supplementary evidence be obtained to avoid the need for a medical • Is there a need to allay service users’ anxieties about the reforms?

27. Contact • Martin Baillie Islington Council 020 7527 8620 martin.baillie@islington.gov.uk