Universal Credit Welcome and introductions Monica Burns

Transcription

1 Friday 23 January 2015 Universal Credit Welcome and introductions Monica Burns External Affairs Manager National Housing Federation 1

2 Learning from Live Running Gareth Bevan Structure of presentation Federation s work Some headline figures Key issues emerging from UC Pathfinders in the North West Recommendations Solutions for housing associations and DWP What next? 2

3 Federation s work Headline figures 97 Ten , ,093 22,900 Twenty Eight 556 3

4 Emerging issues Application and routing of claims Emerging issues Benefit advances 4

5 Emerging issues Vulnerabilities and Support Emerging issues Alternative Payment Arrangements 5

6 Emerging issues Relationships Emerging issues Data sharing 6

7 Recommendations Save function Confirmation PBS APAs Advance payments Claimant commitment Data sharing Trusted status Solutions Preparing tenants Communication, research, financial/digital inclusion, training Preparing housing association staff Training, role/team changes Preparing the organisation Holistic organisational approaches vs watch and learn 7

8 But Knowing your tenants Working with Staff Communications Rent collection Building relationships with stakeholders Remaining challenges Roll-out Service from Service Centres Families Data sharing Migration Working with a non-digital system 8

9 Remaining challenges Roll-out Service from Service Centres Families Data sharing Migration Working with a non-digital system MAY ? Gareth Bevan gareth.bevan@housing.org.uk Tel:

10 Gareth Bevan Tel: National Update from the DWP Tim Read 10

11 Universal Credit National Housing Federation 23 January What s different about Universal Credit? IN AND OUT OF WORK CLAIMANT COMMITMENT REQUIREMENTS FULL TIME WORK SEARCH IT S ABOUT WORK IT ENCOURAGES WORK IT S LIKE WORK PAID MONTHLY PAID DIRECTLY CLAIMANT COMMITMENT LIKE A CONTRACT EARNINGS, NOT HOURS A SIMPLE TAPER SO BETTER OFF IN WORK EASY TRANSITION UC TO WORK (AND BACK) 11

12 Universal Credit one year on 23 Universal Credit roll out - to date We started deliberately slowly with a small number of claimants so we could learn and build a stronger system. Universal Credit is now being delivered in nearly 100 Jobcentres in England, Wales and Scotland. From end of November we have been taking claims from families in limited locations in the North West and following successful testing will be expanding claims from families to all live locations from end of January Retrofit for families will take place in 2 stages, with 26 sites going live on 26 th January and 65 sites on 2 nd March. We are accelerating the delivery of Universal Credit from February 2015 rolling out nationally through 2015/16 to all jobcentres and local authorities across the country. This expansion will be for new claims from single jobseekers 24 12

13 Universal Credit roll out whats next National roll out will be in 4 Tranches from February 2015 Commencement Order for Tranches 1 & 2, along with expansion to families will be laid in January 2015 Commencement Order for tranches 3 & 4 will be laid after the General election in May 2015 Tranche 1 will launch UC in around 150 Jobcentres bringing a further 78 Local Authorities in as Delivery Partners Tranche 2 brings in around 115 jobcentres and 63 more Local Authorities as Delivery Partners 25 Working with landlords We ve been working closely with social landlords for the past 2 years to help them pro-actively support tenants to manage the change to UC; and with NHF to learn what works and what we can do better meet monthly to review and learn. As part of our learning from our early experience, we have already: Made process improvements eg introduced a standard template on which landlords can apply for an Alternative Payment Arrangement and deductions from UC Enhanced our management of housing costs eg put in place a dedicated Housing Costs team within the UC Service Centre in Bolton and expanding to Glasgow; Senior Operational Manager appointed to oversee housing service Improved information flow between DWP and Landlords eg dedicated helpline and in-box for APAs Offered a range of contact methods depending on the severity of individuals circumstances; made legislative change to support this 26 13

14 Sharing data with landlords 6 week public consultation from 22 nd September Landlords what they can do to help UC claimants UC claimants seeking views on data sharing with Landlords Regulations to Social Security Advisory Committee by December 2014 Regulations scheduled to be laid in Parliament by mid January 2015 Regulations coming into force 9 th February Summary UC come a long way over the last 2 years Learnt a lot Improved a lot but theres more we can do better together Key lesson is that good preparation is key plenty to share eg through this event, regular meetings and local engagement with LAs and landlords

15 Any Questions? 29 Question and answer session 15

16 Tea and coffee break ****This is where the video link goes Experiences from housing associations within pilot areas 16

17 1) Knowing your tenants 2) Working with Staff 3) Communications 4) Rent collection 5) Building relationships with stakeholders Summary and close 17