The Income-related Benefits (Subsidy to Authorities) Amendment Order 2018
S.I. 2018/985 · Made 6 September 2018
Social Security
Made 6th September 2018
Laid before Parliament 10th September 2018
Coming into force 15th October 2018
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions makes the following Order in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 140B(1), (3), (4) and (4A), 140C(1) and (4), 140F(2) and 189(4) to (7) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992f1.
In accordance with section 189(8) of that Actf2, the Secretary of State has obtained the consent of the Treasury.
In accordance with section 176(1) of that Actf3, the Secretary of State has consulted with organisations appearing to the Secretary of State to be representative of the authorities concerned.
Annotations to the whole text
Footnotes
- f1
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1992 c.5. Sections 140B, 140C and 140F were inserted by section 121 of, paragraph 4 of Schedule 12 to the Housing Act 1996 (c.52). Section 140B was amended by sections 10 and 22 of, and paragraph 7 of Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 to, the Social Security Administration (Fraud) Act 1997 (c.47) (“the Fraud Act”). Section 189(1) and (4) was amended by paragraph 109 of Schedule 7 to the Social Security Act 1998 (c.14). Section 189(4) was amended by S.I. 2013/252. Section 189(7) was amended by section 103 of, and paragraph 24 of Schedule 9 to, the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (c.14) and paragraph 10 of Schedule 1 to the Fraud Act. Sections 140B, 140F and 189 were repealed, to the extent they relate to council tax benefit, by section 147 of, and paragraph 1 of Schedule 14 to, the Welfare Reform Act 2012 (c.5) with effect from 1st April 2013 and subject to savings and transitional provisions in articles 9 and 10 of S.I. 2013/358.
- f2
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Section 189(8) was amended by section 123 of, and paragraph 3(5) of Schedule 13 to, the Housing Act 1996, section 33 of, and paragraph 10 of Schedule 3, and Schedule 4 to, the Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) Act 1997 (c.27), section 51 of, and paragraph 3 of Schedule 4 to, the Tax Credits Act 2002 (c.21), section 5(2) of, and paragraph 29 of Schedule 1 to, the Pensions Act 2007 (c.22) and section 2 of, and paragraph 57(1) and (3) of Schedule 3 to, the Social Security Contributions (Transfer of Functions, etc) Act 1999 (c. 2).
- f3
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Section 176(1) was amended by section 123 of, and paragraph 3(4) of Schedule 13 to, the Housing Act 1996 and section 69(6) of the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000 (c.19). It was repealed, to the extent it relates to council tax benefit, by section 147 of, and paragraph 1 of Schedule 14 to, the Welfare Reform Act 2012 with effect from 1st April 2013 and subject to savings and transitional provisions in articles 9 and 10 of S.I. 2013/358.
Contents
- 1Citation, commencement and interpretation
- 2Amendment of the 1998 Order
- 3The amount of an authority’s subsidy
- 4Rent rebate deductions from an authority’s subsidy
- 5Subsidy claims made by authorities in England
- Signature
- Schedule 1Schedule to be substituted for Schedule 1 to the 1998 Order
- Schedule 2New Schedule 1ZB to 1998 Order
- Schedule 3Substitution of Part 3 of Schedule 4A to the 1998 Order
- Schedule 4Substitution of Part 5 of Schedule 4A to the 1998 Order
- Explanatory note
1Citation, commencement and interpretation
This Order may be cited as the Income-related Benefits (Subsidy to Authorities) Amendment Order 2018 and comes into force on 15th October 2018.
Article 3(2) and Schedule 1 have effect for the purpose of determining subsidy payable for the relevant year beginning with 1st April 2017.
Articles 3(1)(a) and (3) and 4 and Schedules 2, 3 and 4 have effect for the purpose of determining subsidy payable for the relevant year beginning with 1st April 2018.
Articles 3(1)(b) and (4) and 5 have effect from 1st April 2018.
In this Order—
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“the 1998 Order” means he Income-related Benefits (Subsidy to Authorities) Order 1998f1;
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“relevant year” means the period of a year beginning on 1st April in the calendar year in respect of which a claim for subsidy is made.
2Amendment of the 1998 Order
The 1998 Order is amended in accordance with articles 3 to 5.
3The amount of an authority’s subsidy
For Schedule 1 (sums to be used in the calculation of subsidy)f3 substitute the Schedule 1 set out in Schedule 1 to this Order.
After the substituted Schedule 1 insert the Schedule 1ZB set out in Schedule 2 to this Order.
Omit Schedule 1ZA (additional amount of subsidy: right benefit initiative)f4.
4Rent rebate deductions from an authority’s subsidy
Schedule 4A (rent rebate limitation deductions (housing revenue account dwellings))f1 is amended as follows.
In Part 2 (England), in paragraph 3 (amount of deduction), for sub-paragraph (3)f2 substitute—
“(3)The rebate proportion for 2018-19 is 0.756.”.
For Part 3 (weekly rent limits for purposes of Part 2: authorities in England)f3, substitute the Part 3 set out in Schedule 3 to this Order.
For Part 5 (amounts for purposes of Part 4, paragraph 4: authorities in Wales)f4, substitute the Part 5 set out in Schedule 4 to this Order.
5Subsidy claims made by authorities in England
In article 2 (interpretation of Parts 2 and 4), insert in the appropriate places the following definitions—
““HBAP” means the Housing Benefit Assurance Process published by the Department for Work and Pensions on 29th March 2017 and last updated on 27th March 2018f1;”;
““report of factual findings” means the report completed by the reporting accountant in accordance with HBAP setting out the details of, and the relevant matters arising from, the test;”;
““test” means a test of the claim for final subsidy by the authority and the reporting accountant in accordance with HBAP and “tested” shall be construed accordingly.”.
In article 3A (electronic communications)f2, in paragraph (1)—
for “or auditor” substitute “a reporting accountant or an auditor”
after “claim,” insert “test,”.
In article 4 (requirement of claim)f3, in paragraph (3), for the words from “the authority’s auditor” to the end of the paragraph substitute—
“—
(a)in the case of an authority in England, the authority’s reporting accountant;
(b)in the case of an authority in Wales or Scotland, the authority’s auditor,
by 30th April in the following year”.
In article 5 (requirement to keep records and provide information)f4, in paragraph (2)—
before sub-paragraph (a) insert—
“(za)in relation to an authority in England, the claim is in accordance with the report of factual findings and with the relevant articles of this Order;”;
at the beginning of sub-paragraph (a) insert “in relation to an authority in Wales or Scotland,”.
After article 5 insert—
“Test and reporting requirement: authorities in England
5A.(1)In relation to an authority in England and subject to article 9(4), the third condition is that the authority shall—
(a)inform the Secretary of State in writing of the identity of the authority’s reporting accountant by 1st March in the year before the relevant year;
(b)procure the test of the final claim by the reporting accountant;
(c)send the report of factual findings to the Secretary of State by 30th November in the year after the relevant year; and
(d)comply with the following provisions of this article.
(2)The authority shall—
(a)provide such information in written or electronic form;
(b)keep, and where asked to do so, produce records in written or electronic form with a bearing on its claim,
as may be required by the reporting accountant to enable the reporting accountant to test the claim and to complete the report of factual findings.
(3)Where the authority does not inform the Secretary of State in writing of the identity of its reporting accountant by 1st March in the year before the relevant year, the Secretary of State may withhold payment of subsidy until the authority—
(a)informs the Secretary of State in writing of the identity of its reporting accountant; or
(b)provides reasons for the delay which the Secretary of State regards as satisfactory.
(4)No final subsidy shall be paid until—
(a)the authority’s reporting accountant has confirmed in writing that the claim has been tested; and
(b)the Secretary of State has received the report of factual findings.”.
In article 6 (requirement of audit)f5—
at the end of the heading insert “: authorities in Wales and Scotland”;
in paragraph (1)—
at the beginning insert “In relation to an authority in Wales or Scotland, and”;
omit sub-paragraphs (iza) and (ia).
In article 8A (payment of subsidy before audit complete)f6—
before “audit”, in each place where that word occurs (including the heading), insert “test or”;
in paragraph (1), after “yet been” insert “tested in accordance with article 5A or”.
In article 9 (payment of subsidy for the relevant year)—
in paragraph (1)—
after sub-paragraph (a) insert—
“(aa)in the case of an authority in England, the report of factual findings has been properly completed;”;
at the beginning of sub-paragraph (b) insert “in the case of an authority in Wales or Scotland,”;
in paragraph (3), after “occurred” insert “or, as the case may be, once the report of factual findings has been sent to the Secretary of State”.
In Schedule 6 (electronic communications)f7—
in paragraph 2, after “An authority”, in each place where those words occur, insert “, reporting accountant”;
in paragraph 3(b), after “authorities” insert “, reporting accountants”.
Signature
Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Justin Tomlinson
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State,
Department for Work and Pensions
6th September 2018
We consent.
Paul Maynard
Craig Whittaker
Two of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury
6th September 2018
Schedule 1Schedule to be substituted for Schedule 1 to the 1998 Order
“SCHEDULE 1
Sums to be used in the calculation of subsidy
Article 12(1)(b)
Relevant Year 2017-2018
Local authority Administration subsidy (£) England Adur 229,183 Allerdale 348,444 Amber Valley 416,459 Arun 545,120 Ashfield 530,743 Ashford 438,562 Aylesbury Vale 548,334 Babergh 257,734 Barking and Dagenham 1,271,852 Barnet 1,884,335 Barnsley 997,647 Barrow-in-Furness 283,357 Basildon 808,939 Basingstoke and Deane 563,609 Bassetlaw 411,362 Bath and North East Somerset 572,150 Bedford 629,465 Bexley 906,013 Birmingham 6,500,559 Blaby 201,282 Blackburn with Darwen 644,754 Blackpool 1,060,048 Bolsover 322,908 Bolton 1,393,741 Boston 308,254 Bournemouth 954,763 Bracknell Forest 407,403 Bradford 2,399,552 Braintree 503,376 Breckland 478,854 Brent 2,246,191 Brentwood 194,570 Brighton and Hove 1,497,427 Bristol 2,225,899 Broadland 272,252 Bromley 1,179,334 Bromsgrove 222,631 Broxbourne 378,460 Broxtowe 331,435 Burnley 457,318 Bury 741,710 Calderdale 888,950 Cambridge 438,731 Camden 1,856,616 Cannock Chase 384,181 Canterbury 525,886 Carlisle 400,327 Castle Point 286,984 Central Bedfordshire 699,141 Charnwood 441,783 Chelmsford 464,885 Cheltenham 386,863 Cherwell 440,337 Cheshire East 1,075,137 Cheshire West and Chester 1,118,985 Chesterfield 505,328 Chichester 406,903 Chiltern 247,672 Chorley 335,748 Christchurch 168,512 City of London 99,687 Colchester 648,349 Copeland 267,421 Corby 326,202 Cornwall 2,318,680 Cotswold 257,366 Coventry 1,734,762 Craven 138,199 Crawley 603,690 Croydon 2,088,739 Dacorum 583,426 Darlington 534,777 Dartford 324,073 Daventry 194,366 Derby 1,169,718 Derbyshire Dales 186,403 Doncaster 1,378,487 Dover 470,230 Dudley 1,268,760 Durham 2,538,206 Ealing 2,178,676 East Cambridgeshire 255,347 East Devon 406,134 East Dorset 220,520 East Hampshire 303,191 East Hertfordshire 396,962 East Lindsey 641,503 East Northamptonshire 265,081 East Riding of Yorkshire 1,057,222 East Staffordshire 390,138 Eastbourne 502,622 Eastleigh 338,693 Eden 132,277 Elmbridge 374,025 Enfield 1,922,862 Epping Forest 418,490 Epsom and Ewell 196,479 Erewash 403,145 Exeter 504,265 Fareham 256,505 Fenland 412,549 Forest Heath 222,932 Forest of Dean 283,192 Fylde 255,665 Gateshead 1,151,734 Gedling 384,594 Gloucester 571,838 Gosport 398,271 Gravesham 404,246 Great Yarmouth 501,279 Greenwich 1,926,261 Guildford 369,620 Hackney 2,928,819 Halton 659,966 Hambleton 233,401 Hammersmith and Fulham 1,354,729 Harborough 153,541 Haringey 2,178,183 Harlow 491,224 Harrogate 351,090 Harrow 1,154,106 Hart 169,969 Hartlepool 646,713 Hastings 539,876 Havant 427,425 Havering 930,615 Herefordshire 620,381 Hertsmere 408,549 High Peak 305,979 Hillingdon 1,351,669 Hinckley and Bosworth 251,958 Horsham 333,638 Hounslow 1,276,627 Huntingdonshire 468,859 Hyndburn 407,260 Ipswich 693,063 Isle of Wight 636,970 Isles of Scilly 4,068 Islington 2,061,954 Kensington and Chelsea 1,162,761 Kettering 350,427 King’s Lynn and West Norfolk 529,891 Kingston upon Hull 1,775,288 Kingston upon Thames 610,141 Kirklees 1,721,728 Knowsley 978,269 Lambeth 2,848,690 Lancaster 513,633 Leeds 4,014,496 Leicester 1,855,249 Lewes 342,879 Lewisham 2,616,998 Lichfield 249,311 Lincoln 530,979 Liverpool 3,340,547 Luton 1,072,212 Maidstone 536,619 Maldon 178,949 Malvern Hills 237,183 Manchester 3,562,339 Mansfield 468,243 Medway 1,084,359 Melton 132,864 Mendip 373,110 Merton 845,884 Mid Devon 247,297 Mid Suffolk 236,728 Mid Sussex 334,360 Middlesbrough 1,051,842 Milton Keynes 1,238,793 Mole Valley 221,623 New Forest 484,586 Newark and Sherwood 365,114 Newcastle-under-Lyme 430,064 Newcastle upon Tyne 1,516,416 Newham 2,050,990 North Devon 380,990 North Dorset 201,003 North East Derbyshire 346,094 North East Lincolnshire 813,662 North Hertfordshire 452,452 North Kesteven 301,461 North Lincolnshire 667,195 North Norfolk 353,345 North Somerset 750,121 North Tyneside 1,016,610 North Warwickshire 203,670 North West Leicestershire 305,698 Northampton 957,068 Northumberland 1,289,883 Norwich 886,315 Nottingham 2,050,955 Nuneaton and Bedworth 499,185 Oadby and Wigston 135,621 Oldham 1,069,693 Oxford 602,135 Pendle 406,978 Peterborough 1,052,444 Plymouth 1,380,638 Poole 533,225 Portsmouth 1,276,311 Preston 639,408 Purbeck 155,331 Reading 907,287 Redbridge 1,061,166 Redcar and Cleveland 758,980 Redditch 339,907 Reigate and Banstead 416,526 Ribble Valley 120,215 Richmond upon Thames 593,789 Richmondshire 117,505 Rochdale 1,117,737 Rochford 207,720 Rossendale 264,511 Rother 304,638 Rotherham 1,236,929 Rugby 306,578 Runnymede 235,859 Rushcliffe 233,558 Rushmoor 398,025 Rutland 82,911 Ryedale 155,585 Salford 1,546,037 Sandwell 1,785,188 Scarborough 527,027 Sedgemoor 438,725 Sefton 1,211,865 Selby 215,124 Sevenoaks 322,251 Sheffield 2,723,246 Shepway 475,590 Shropshire 962,065 Slough 793,334 Solihull 675,327 South Bucks 166,747 South Cambridgeshire 341,884 South Derbyshire 256,183 South Gloucestershire 755,258 South Hams 264,706 South Holland 299,277 South Kesteven 430,847 South Lakeland 258,011 South Norfolk 349,149 South Northamptonshire 171,564 South Oxfordshire 327,443 South Ribble 306,006 South Somerset 529,785 South Staffordshire 299,835 South Tyneside 1,024,450 Southampton 1,245,248 Southend-on-Sea 888,461 Southwark 2,415,195 Spelthorne 301,477 St Albans 376,310 St Edmundsbury 368,282 St Helens 918,027 Stafford 355,892 Staffordshire Moorlands 229,324 Stevenage 461,869 Stockport 990,068 Stockton-on-Tees 961,088 Stoke-on-Trent 1,380,973 Stratford-upon-Avon 346,374 Stroud 328,997 Suffolk Coastal 364,586 Sunderland 1,609,576 Surrey Heath 206,503 Sutton 738,895 Swale 605,942 Swindon 745,113 Tameside 1,199,715 Tamworth 302,490 Tandridge 250,916 Taunton Deane 411,198 Teignbridge 464,545 Telford and Wrekin 869,461 Tendring 718,769 Test Valley 342,642 Tewkesbury 228,835 Thanet 793,508 Three Rivers 282,704 Thurrock 724,102 Tonbridge and Malling 360,285 Torbay 801,393 Torridge 252,165 Tower Hamlets 2,477,528 Trafford 748,077 Tunbridge Wells 387,360 Uttlesford 189,059 Vale of White Horse 312,857 Wakefield 1,623,695 Walsall 1,492,813 Waltham Forest 1,631,449 Wandsworth 1,880,772 Warrington 632,786 Warwick 389,027 Watford 425,595 Waveney 497,180 Waverley 308,400 Wealden 364,746 Wellingborough 321,192 Welwyn Hatfield 485,335 West Berkshire 457,754 West Devon 176,324 West Dorset 335,019 West Lancashire 382,885 West Lindsey 342,040 West Oxfordshire 282,545 West Somerset 155,230 Westminster 1,751,809 Weymouth and Portland 337,508 Wigan 1,416,315 Wiltshire 1,380,896 Winchester 320,396 Windsor and Maidenhead 425,574 Wirral 1,598,521 Woking 275,126 Wokingham 241,437 Wolverhampton 1,490,701 Worcester 416,402 Worthing 415,699 Wychavon 363,600 Wycombe 525,451 Wyre 421,385 Wyre Forest 406,623 York 515,581 Wales Blaenau Gwent 427,742 Bridgend 647,624 Caerphilly 841,409 Cardiff 1,715,562 Carmarthenshire 709,951 Ceredigion 259,604 Conwy 497,469 Denbighshire 452,289 Flintshire 495,582 Gwynedd 475,850 Isle of Anglesey 269,297 Merthyr Tydfil 340,249 Monmouthshire 284,605 Neath Port Talbot 689,622 Newport 760,425 Pembrokeshire 485,617 Powys 424,163 Rhondda Cynon Taf 1,093,067 Swansea 1,119,443 Torfaen 470,984 Vale of Glamorgan 483,514 Wrexham 601,022 Scotland Aberdeen 824,970 Aberdeenshire 712,677 Angus 449,065 Argyll and Bute 404,355 Clackmannanshire 276,077 Comhairle nan Eilean Siar 132,066 Dumfries and Galloway 737,663 Dundee 1,025,957 East Ayrshire 667,394 East Dunbartonshire 276,959 East Lothian 350,360 East Renfrewshire 225,112 Edinburgh 2,208,590 Falkirk 705,596 Fife 1,664,948 Glasgow 4,867,216 Highland 799,883 Inverclyde 492,472 Midlothian 348,918 Moray 312,938 North Ayrshire 818,701 North Lanarkshire 1,795,458 Orkney 86,456 Perth and Kinross 538,372 Renfrewshire 966,648 Scottish Borders 526,163 Shetland 68,489 South Ayrshire 561,055 South Lanarkshire 1,401,321 Stirling 297,380 West Dunbartonshire 652,110 West Lothian 820,886. ”
Schedule 2New Schedule 1ZB to 1998 Order
“SCHEDULE 1ZB
Additional amount of subsidy: Verify Earnings and Pension Alerts Service
Article 12(1)(bza)
Interpretation
1.In this Schedule—
“relevant activities” means activities carried out by authorities receiving VEP alerts to administer those alerts;
“VEP alerts” means alerts given by the Secretary of State to authorities with a view to enabling authorities to prevent fraud and error arising from real time identification of changes of income.
Additional amount: relevant year beginning with 1st April 2018
2.The additional amount of subsidy for an authority for the relevant year beginning with 1st April 2018 is the amount specified for that authority in the Housing Benefit Circular HB S10/2018 published by the Department for Work and Pensions on 2nd May 2018f1.
Use of amount paid under paragraph 2
3.An authority must use the additional amount received under paragraph 2 in connection with relevant activities.”
Schedule 3Substitution of Part 3 of Schedule 4A to the 1998 Order
“PART 3
WEEKLY RENT LIMITS FOR PURPOSES OF PART 2: AUTHORITIES IN ENGLAND
Relevant Year 2018-2019
Authority Weekly rent limit (£) Adur 93.67 Arun 90.45 Ashfield 68.12 Ashford 89.13 Babergh 89.11 Barking and Dagenham 97.75 Barnet 107.95 Barnsley 74.53 Barrow-in-Furness 74.87 Basildon 87.55 Bassetlaw 72.24 Birmingham 82.61 Blackpool 71.08 Bolsover 81.61 Bournemouth 83.32 Brent 115.86 Brentwood 94.22 Brighton and Hove 84.18 Bristol 80.90 Broxtowe 74.23 Bury 76.45 Cambridge 102.69 Camden 121.13 Cannock Chase 75.43 Canterbury 88.11 Castle Point 88.14 Central Bedfordshire 101.36 Charnwood 74.14 Cheltenham 80.14 Cheshire West and Chester 82.23 Chesterfield 79.50 City of London 106.20 City of York 79.15 Colchester 87.32 Corby 78.62 Cornwall 70.84 Crawley 102.93 Croydon 105.82 Dacorum 108.18 Darlington 70.84 Dartford 89.81 Derby 78.50 Doncaster 73.09 Dover 84.08 Dudley 82.54 Ealing 101.32 East Devon 81.52 East Riding of Yorkshire 79.09 Eastbourne 79.33 Enfield 101.10 Epping Forest 99.17 Exeter 75.13 Fareham 90.81 Gateshead 76.27 Gosport 83.63 Gravesham 89.44 Great Yarmouth 74.70 Greenwich 102.98 Guildford 110.47 Hackney 100.76 Hammersmith and Fulham 115.80 Haringey 106.19 Harlow 91.92 Harrogate 80.51 Harrow 113.57 Hartlepool 100.62 Havering 96.37 High Peak 73.03 Hillingdon 109.03 Hinckley and Bosworth 78.30 Hounslow 102.46 Ipswich 82.06 Islington 121.19 Isles of Scilly 80.09 Kensington and Chelsea 127.88 Kettering 81.26 Kingston upon Hull 74.98 Kingston upon Thames 112.18 Kirklees 69.66 Lambeth 108.68 Lancaster 77.13 Leeds 74.04 Leicester 71.72 Lewes 89.29 Lewisham 96.29 Lincoln 68.65 Luton 86.53 Manchester 74.13 Mansfield 73.01 Medway Towns 81.79 Melton 77.06 Mid Devon 78.55 Mid Suffolk 82.21 Milton Keynes 85.68 New Forest 99.28 Newark and Sherwood 77.98 Newcastle upon Tyne 75.07 Newham 97.67 North East Derbyshire 81.18 North Kesteven 76.36 North Tyneside 76.47 North Warwickshire 87.76 North West Leicestershire 78.89 Northampton 83.05 Northumberland 68.17 Norwich 79.22 Nottingham 74.88 Nuneaton and Bedworth 78.05 Oadby and Wigston 79.19 Oldham 79.33 Oxford City 108.92 Poole 84.98 Portsmouth 84.78 Reading 104.67 Redbridge 102.63 Redditch 77.97 Richmondshire 77.60 Rotherham 75.79 Rugby 86.53 Runnymede 110.22 Salford 80.25 Sandwell 81.28 Sedgemoor 77.57 Selby 78.21 Sheffield 71.78 Shepway 84.04 Shropshire 81.41 Slough 106.14 Solihull 82.13 South Cambridgeshire 106.87 South Derbyshire 79.81 South Holland 75.60 South Kesteven 78.67 South Tyneside 75.22 Southampton 84.68 Southend-on-Sea 85.75 Southwark 107.89 St Albans 113.74 Stevenage 97.80 Stockport 74.61 Stoke-on-Trent 70.37 Stroud 82.37 Sutton 106.95 Swindon 82.74 Tamworth 80.28 Tandridge 98.06 Taunton Deane 82.23 Tendring 83.82 Thanet 80.84 Thurrock 85.89 Tower Hamlets 110.64 Uttlesford 98.32 Waltham Forest 101.92 Wandsworth 124.78 Warwick 93.66 Waveney 80.20 Waverley 114.44 Wealden 84.65 Welwyn Hatfield 107.96 West Lancashire 76.06 Westminster 124.93 Wigan 76.89 Wiltshire 88.03 Winchester 101.19 Woking 104.18 Wokingham 115.22 Wolverhampton 79.69. ”
Schedule 4Substitution of Part 5 of Schedule 4A to the 1998 Order
“PART 5
AMOUNTS FOR PURPOSES OF PART 4, PARAGRAPH 4: AUTHORITIES IN WALES
Relevant Year 2018-2019
Local authority (1) Specified amount “O”(£) (2) Guideline rent increase “P” (£) Caerphilly 86.00 5.72 Cardiff 96.69 6.29 Carmarthenshire 85.56 5.68 Denbighshire 83.28 5.68 Flintshire 86.50 5.87 Isle of Anglesey 82.38 5.73 Pembrokeshire 86.83 5.36 Powys 87.41 5.67 Swansea 84.32 5.78 Vale of Glamorgan 93.60 6.09 Wrexham 85.61 5.73. ”
Explanatory note
(This note is not part of the Order)
This Order amends the Income-related Benefits (Subsidy to Authorities) Order 1998 (S.I. 1998/562) (“the 1998 Order”) which provides for the calculation and payment of housing benefit subsidy to local authorities in England, Wales and Scotland which administer housing benefit. Section 140F(2) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 (c.5) authorises the making, revocation or varying of an Order before, during or after the year to which it relates.
Article 3(2) substitutes Schedule 1 to the 1998 Order with a new Schedule 1 prescribing the sums to be used in the calculation of subsidy for the year beginning 1st April 2017.
Article 3(1)(a) and (3) and Schedule 2 insert a new Schedule 1ZB which has effect for the purposes of determining additional amounts of subsidy payable for the year beginning with 1st April 2018. In particular, the new Schedule prescribes a system for the making of additional payments of subsidy to authorities administering alerts relating to the earnings and pension entitlement of claimants for housing benefit (“the VEP alert Service”), as notified by the Secretary of State to local authorities on 2nd May 2018.
In the VEP Alert Service, authorities are given funding to carry out activities to enable them to verify earnings and pension information based on their use of real time information. Some or all of the funding may be recovered if the Secretary of State is satisfied that the funding is not being used in connection with those activities. The amendments at article 3(1)(b) and (4) revoke provisions relating to the previous incentive scheme.
Article 4 has effect for the purposes of determining subsidy payable for the year beginning with 1st April 2018. Paragraph (2) amends paragraph 3 of Schedule 4A to provide that the rebate proportion figure for 2018/2019 is 0.756. Paragraph (3) substitutes Part 3 of Schedule 4A to the 1998 Order in respect of weekly rent limits for authorities in England. With respect to authorities in Wales, paragraph (4) substitutes Part 5 of Schedule 4A to the 1998 Order which sets out the specified amount “O” and the guideline rent increase “P” used when calculating deductions from subsidy under paragraph 4 in Part 4 of that Schedule.
The amendments in article 5 reflect new arrangements when local authorities in England claim final subsidy. Those authorities must firstly notify the Secretary of State of the identity of their reporting accountant who must test the claim in accordance with the Housing Benefit Assurance Process (set out on the Department for Work and Pensions website) alongside the authority for compliance with the provisions of the 1998 Order. The reporting accountant must then complete a report of factual findings on the claim which must be submitted the Secretary of State. Article 5 also makes amendments consequential on the new process.
Hard copies of the circulars and guidance referenced in this Order are available from the Department for Work and Pensions, Business Finance and Housing Delivery Directorate, Housing Delivery Division, Room 2.2.R, Peel Park, Blackpool FY4 5ES.
An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as it has no impact on the private sector or civil society organisations.