31st December 2018: example cases needed for CPAG's test case (to go to High Court) on claimants made worse off by being put on UC unnecessarily. Click here for more detail and how to respond.

13th December 2018:  the latest edition of the DWP's newsletter "Touchbase" states that UC award will now include a breakdown of any Third Party Deductions.

10th December 2018: in Scotland the Pregnancy and Baby Payment replaces the Sure Start Maternity Grant. More here.

4th December 2018 - UC bulletin UC3/2018 confirms representatives can (after explicit consent has been given) talk to a UC Case Manager through integrated telephony service IF they have claimant's: postcode, first line of address, date of birth, AND phone number claimant registered with UC.

30th November 2018: Proposed benefit upratings 2019-20 published -  here.

27th November Leigh Day solicitors take Judicial review against "irrational" payment system under UC - details - here.

17th November 2018: Your views required by 14.12.2018: Work & Pensions Committee launches enquiry into how effectively the welfare "safety net" works to protect against hardship and chronic deprivation. Details here.

31st October 2018: Disability benefits Consortium needs your views on disabled peoples' experiences of Universal Credit. Survey here.

29th October 2018: Budget -
- work allowance increase meaning £52.50 per month better off for working claimants from April 2019- but only those with a Limited Capability for Work or with children;
- overall deductions not to exceed £ = 30% of standard allowance (rather than 40%) from October 2019;
- from October 2021 repayment of Advances can be extended to 16 months;
- 2 week run-on for  IB JSA, IR ESA and Income Support (expected to work in a similar way to 2 week HB run-on);
- from July 2020; 12 month "grace period" from start of UC delays minimum income floor for self-employed  from July 2019;
- from April 2020 surplus earnings threshold reduces from £2500 to £300;
- managed migration delayed to completion by March 2023. 
More details in our current "Hot Topics" section here.

8th October 2018: Esther Mc Vey admitted "Ministers becoming increasingly alarmed" about Universal Credit in terms of: cashflow problems due to monthly payment in arrears; benefit dept repayment levels; and the income drop for many working families - half lone parents and two third couples with children likely to lose around £200 a month.

21st September 2018: Revised Circular A7/2018 clarifies when a person must claim UC; and confirms that there is no legal reason preventing a UC claimant who has an APA Managed Payment in place from accessing a Discretionary Housing Payment. More on Who Must Claim UC (and who doesn't need to) on this page; more on DHPs for UC claimants on this page.

18th September 2018:  CPAG (Child Poverty Action Group) needs evidence of problems with UC non-dependent deductions (UC call then "housing cost contributions"). They're wanting  both specific cases (names not needed) and general matters.  Contact them on their easy to use case reporting form or email ews@cpag.org.uk or call Dan Norris on 020 7812 5226. More on UC non-dep deductions on this page.

30th August 2018: Prior to the introduction of the Scottish Carers Allowance (to be paid at the same rate as JSA for singles aged 25+) a Carers Allowance Supplement will be paid twice yearly from 03/09/118. This will not be taken into account in calculating means tested benefits. DMG 09/18. More here.

30th August 2018: Supreme Court rules that denial of widowed parent's allowance to unmarried widows/widowers is unlawful discrimination. Guardian article. However we do not know when/if the regulations will be changed.

30th August 2018: CPAG is collating data on under 25 year old parents on UC (because they have a lower standard allowance than the personal allowance under legacy benefits). If you have any cases of parents under 25 on UC please send to testcases@cpag.org.uk. 

20th August: Government publishes sanctions statistics.71% of UC sanctions relate to failing to attend oor participate in a work-focused interview; 13.1% to being available for work; 9.8% to attendance at employment programme; 5.45% to reasons for leaving their job. Between August 2015 and April 2018, 70% of mandatory reconsiderations against sanction decisions were unsuccessful. The DWP say that data on Appeals were omitted from the statistics because of "possible under-recording of adverse decisions". Stats here. 

9th August 2018: Government announces that all supported housing will remain under Housing Benefit. However the government say they "will work with providers, local authorities, membership bodies and resident representatives over the coming months to develop a robust oversight regime. This work will ensure quality and value for money across the whole supported housing sector" and "a further review of housing related support will be undertaken to better understand how housing and support currently "fit together". https://www.gov.uk/government/news/all-supported-housing-funding-to-be-retained-in-welfare-system

26th July 2018: Government consultation on migration from legacy benefits to UC. Responses required by 13th August, details here.

19th July 2018: Esther McVey announces that ESA claimants who were underpaid when they transferred from Incapacity benefit will be compensated, back to 2011 where appropriate. Previously DWP had only agreed to pay back to 2014. Passported benefits (such as free school meals, free prescriptons) that were missed will not be compensated for however. More on this issue on this page.

14th June 2018: The High Court rules that 2 severely disabled UC claimants suffered unjustifiable discrimination when they lost  income as a result of moving onto Universal Credit. This was because of there being no severe disability premium in UC, and although there will be some transitional protection for such claimants migrating oto UC when migration begins, there is no such protection for those who have to make a claim for UC for example because of moving to a different LA. Decision here. More on when people are worse off on UC here.  See related news from 7th June below.

7th June 2018: Esther McVey has announced changes as part of the Universal Credit Managed Migration and Transitional Protection Regulations due in the autumn.
Claimants who receive the Severe Disability Premium in legacy benefits won't be moved onto UC until they qualify for transitional protection under "migration".
There will be an on-going payment to those already on UC which will be backpaid to when they went onto UC.
Any childcare costs element won't erode any transitional protection.
Where transitional protection has ceased due to earnings increasing, the transitional protection can be re-awarded if they make a new claim to UC within 3 months of the MAP in which it increased.
Tax Credit claimants with over £16,000 capital when they move onto UC will have any excess disregarded for 12 months. The process of migrating claimants on legacy benefits will begin in July 2019 as previously announced but the exact timetable will be kept under review.

7th June 2018: Free School meals - Welsh government launch consultation on introducing an income threshold for UC claimants - click here.

31st May 2018: The DWP has accepted that its approach to assessing personal independence payment (PIP) activity 3, ‘managing therapy or monitoring a health condition’, was wrong prior to 2017 - click here for more information.

31st May 2018: HM Courts and Tribunal Service has launched an online appeals service for PIP.  HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has launched as a pilot for claimants in Beds, Berks, Bucks, Cambs, Essex, E Sussex, Herts, Kent, Midlands, Norfolk, Oxfordshire, Suffolk, Once the appeal is submitted it is sent to DWP the same day.

25th May 2018: Email address for ADVISERS ONLY where it appears someone who has transferred from Incapacity Benefit to Contributory ESA should have been given an Income Related EA top-up: The email address which is for adviser use only and must not be made public is dawn.barlow@dwp.gsi.gov.uk

23rd May 2018: The DWP has issued new guidance to local authorities in relation to the transition to universal credit housing payments - G5/2018.

23rd May 2018: 
23rd May 2018: Government list of forthcoming Jobcentre closures here.

11th May 2018:
A new Partner Organisation Escalation Routeway is being rolled out from some point in May. This allows partner organisations (housing associations, councils, ALMOs, advice agencies etc) to raise specific problems their tenants/customers are having with UC, and get them resolved. They will still need the claimant's explicit consent however. If you have not yet done so, do contact your Local Partnership Manage to ensure your organisation is recognised as a partner for these purposes.

May 4th 2018: (Happy Star Wars day).

The Home Office has "urged Local Authorities to "apply extreme caution" to any HB claimants unable to supply immigration status documentation if they say they are "Windrush generation"; they should refer them to the Home Office dedicated taskforce team  to allow them to undertake necessary action.

The Home Office recommends LAs wait at least 2 weeks to allow the referral to be reviewed and any necessary paperwork provided, before taking any further steps to process, restrict or stop HB claims. 

External customers or representatives can contact the free phone number on 0800 678 1925 or email commonwealthtaskforce@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk.

Further information on home office website here. More on benefits for people from Commonwealth countries here.

1st May 2018: Sees the start of the first judicial review regarding UC, which has been taken on behalf of two severely disabled men, who have both seen their benefits dramatically reduced due to the loss of the severe disability premium. The hearing starts on Tuesday 1 May and is scheduled to last four days, with the outcome potentially affecting thousands of severely disabled people across the country.

 

30th April 2018: DWP announced Universal Jobmatch to be replaced by "Find a Job" on 14th May 2018. From the youtube video it looks as if it will work very much like Digital UC. 

23rd April 2018: DWP launches mandatory reconsideration form and guidance. Here. More on challenging UC decisions on our website here; also see the Welfare Reform section for challenging ESA, PIP and Sanction decisions.

23rd April 2018: DWP announce new Easy Read ESA notes sheet for people with learning difficulties. Here.

20th April 2018: CPAG given permission to appeal part of the High Court Judgement that the 2 child limit is lawful. The only part given permission however was the way the kinship care exception works. More on the 2 child limit here. 

11th April 2018: Support with Mortgage Interest for those on: UC, IS, IB-JSA, IR-ESA and PC is abolished and replaced by a loan for those who accepted the offer. 

11th April 2018: Various UC changes take affect: UC Transitional Housing Payment, surplus earnings, surplus losses, backdating: first assessment period, HB for temporary accommodation, time limit for providing supporting evidence of a beneficial change in circumstances, suspending conditionality for some claimants. Click here to find out more.

11th April 2018: Plans to abolish the Bedroom Tax in UC in Scotland delayed until May 2020 at the earliest - click here.

10th April 2018: Free school meals eligibility under Universal Credit - the earnings limit of £7,400 pa means slightly more children eligible under UC than under legacy benefits according to Institute for Fiscal Studies report here.

10th April 2018: A First Tier Tribunal (which doesn't have any influence over future tribunals) rules a woman could have a derivative right to reside through being primary carer of a child (of an EEA worker) in education despite also counting as a "jobseeker" - normally an exempt category that precludes having a derivative right. More here.

6th April 2018: New benefit rates take effect - click here

3rd April 2018: Change to the Funeral Expenses Payment Scheme from 2nd April 2018 - see ADM 07/2018

29th March: Reminder that gov.uk has information on how to report rent changes- Live service - landlords can report on template schedule; Full service - tenants must report - but note where landlord has Landlord Portal they will be asked to verify rents for any tenants who have reported changes. Gov.uk info here. 

March 2018: Updated DHP Guidance manual published - click here

29th March: Government announce change in UC Regulations to allow all 18-21 year olds to get a Housing Costs Element to help pay their rent regardless of their circumstances - click here.

29th March: Simple payment cards ends, replaced by "payment exception service" for exceptional cases where claimants cannot access a bank account- info from gov.uk here.

22nd March: Roll out of Universal Credit changes again for some - click here.

20th March: Court of Appeal Decision - First Tier and Upper Tier Tribunals do not have the power to disapply HB Regulations even where they contravene Human Rights - click here

16th March: Rent increase / decreases - every notification will need verifying by those landlords who are on the Landlord Portal - click here . DWP letter to NHF here.

15th March: Court of Appeal find Benefit Cap does not discriminate against lone parents with a child under two - claimants have been given permission to take appeal to the Supreme Court - click here

15th March: HB Circular A2/2018 confirms more working details of changes to UC /HB for those living in temporary accommodation and the HB two week run on. Circular here

12th March: Only 11 per cent of claimants who receive support for mortgage interest have taken up offer for replacement loan payments - click here

9th March: 6 per cent of full service universal credit awards had a 40 per cent deduction rate applied in January 2018 - click here

8th March: Median clearance time from initial ESA claim to DWP work-capability assessment decision is 19 weeks: click here

8th March: Increase in Carer's Allowance earnings limit from 9th April 2018 from £116 to £120 a week: click here

8th March: Benefit rates for 2018/19 laid in Parliament - regs here.

8th March: Amending Regulations to the changes to help with Mortgage Interest coming in from April: click here

28th February: New Case Law, CUC/533/2017 - Where a child 'normally lives' in more than one household, the 'main responsibility' test then applies to see which household they are living in for the purposes of UC. 21st February: 4 out of 5 UC sanction appeals are successful: click here

19th February: Government confirms that work placements under the Youth Obligation will be voluntary: click here

15th February: Watch our latest video! On Monthly Assessment Periods: here

15th February 2018: Pilot scheme testing universal credit in-work conditionality to be extended for further 12 months - ADM Memo 6/18

13th February 2018: "Simple Payment" benefit payment card to be replaced, from 20.03.18, by HM Government Payment Service - same principles, still withdraw from Paypoint Outlets but max single withdrawal £100 (though can make multiples withdrawals on same day). DWP wrote to stakeholder partners - here.

8th February 2018: DWP's letter to NHF outlines how landlords can notify of UC claimants' rent changes  in Live areas (with template schedule & email address); but reiterates it's the tenant's responsibility (via online account) in Full service. More here. 

30th January 2018:  ADM1/2018 found here - Guidance on the prevention of claims for Universal Credit in non-Digital / Live Gateway areas.

30th January 2018:  Neil Couling, UC's Director General, confirms that the level of Minimum Income Floor can be adjusted to take into account caring responsibilities for those with part-time caring responsibilities.  Couling stated:

'If you are required to work 16 hours a week and you have a child who is over the age of three, the minimum income floor will be a multiple of 16 hours times the national minimum wage over 52 weeks, divided by 12. Similarly, if you have care responsibilities, it might be set at 25 hours times the national minimum wage.'

His oral statement can be found here.

24th January 2018:  Multiple changes to Universal Credit and other benefits announced - some from February 2018, some in April 2018. More here.

19th January 2018: From 31st January 2018 existing Full service UC claimants (as well as new claimants) in Scotland will be able to take advantage of the Scottish Universal Credit Choices ie: choosing to be paid Universal Credit twice a month rather than monthly; and

having their Universal Credit housing element being paid directly to their landlords. More from the Scottish social security website (with a link to a customer leaflet)  here.

8th January 2018:  The fourth DWP Secretary of State in less than two years is announced.  Esther McVey has been appointed with immediate effect with David Gauke moving to the Ministry of Justice.

6th January 2018:  New regulations in Scotland providing for the extension of "flexible payment" arrangements for UC claimants.  Regs found here.  More on our website here.

4th January 2018:  UC case law in the form of CUC/1808/2017 states that consideration must be given as to whether the 35 hour work search requirement should be reduced or lifted.  A claimant successfully overturned a sanction at Upper Tribunal by successfully arguing that she couldn't achieve 35 hours of work search one week due to a family crisis.  More here with link to standard letter.