4 Support for vulnerable claimants
Local Support
Services Framework
54. As we have noted, our 2012 report focused on
the challenge of implementing UC safely for vulnerable claimants.DWP
has acknowledged that some UC claimants are likely to require
advice and support with budgeting and using IT under the UC system.[55]Although
the recent public debate about UC has been dominated by the more
fundamental problems with development of the UC programme, the
ways in which vulnerable claimants will be supported remains a
key challenge. The Government has still not set out in detail
how this support will be provided and funded.
55. We have explored the treatment of housing costs
support under Universal Credit in a recently published wide-ranging
report on housing benefit reforms. This looked in detail at the
implications for vulnerable groups of the housing costs element
of UC being paid to claimants rather than direct to landlords,
in combination with the change under UC to claimants receiving
a single monthly household benefit payment instead of more frequent
instalments of benefits paid for specific purposes, most notably
rent. We were particularly concerned about how vulnerable claimants
can best be assisted to manage their UC payments under these new
arrangements, to try to avoid the risk of rent arrears.[56]
56. DWP published a Local Support Services Framework
(LSSF) jointly with the Local Government Association (LGA) in
February 2013, which aimed to address these sorts of issues affecting
vulnerable claimants.[57]The
Minister for Welfare Reform (Lord Freud) told us recently that
the LSSF was "almost as important as Universal Credit itself".[58]It
sets out a very broad framework for how support for vulnerable
claimants might be delivered locally, through partnership working
between DWP, local authorities, and contracted providers such
as housing associations, including in the voluntary sector.[59]An
"update and trialling plan" for the LSSF was published
in December 2013. However, no indication has yet been provided
of the level of funding that the Government envisages for the
LSSF. DWP has said that it expects to provide a comprehensive
version of the LSSF in autumn 2014.[60]
57. Regarding arrangements in the devolved administrations,
the LSSF stated that DWP was in discussion with the Convention
of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) and the Scottish Government
to establish how the LSSF can best be delivered in the context
of the existing Community Planning Partnership.In Wales, Local
Service Boards,which are led by local government but which have
multiagency membership, are considering how best to support claimants
affected by welfare reform.[61]
In the LSSF update and trialling plan CoSLA and the Welsh LGA
confirmed these arrangements for providing support.[62]
58. Lord Freud described the LSSF as "almost
a parallel UC exercise" with the aim of creating "a
series of partnerships in the various local areas to make sure
that the vulnerable people are supported in the way that they
need to be". He acknowledged that it was"going to be
a major exercise" but the aim was that the claimant would
be supported "as an individual" not on a "service
line basis".[63]
59. Witnesses representing local government, housing
providers and the voluntary sector have all argued in evidence
to our recent related inquiries that they need a clear indication
soon about the specific tasks they will be expected to carry out
under the LSSF, and the funding which central Government will
allocate to them, so that they can plan and budget for these new
responsibilities.[64]
60. The Government has acknowledged that vulnerable
people will need support to adjust to Universal Credit. It has
set out in its Local Support Services Framework (LSSF) how it
envisages this support being provided in partnership with local
authorities, housing providers and the voluntary sector. However,
the initial version of the LSSF published in 2013 lacked detail
on how it would operate in practice, including the funding arrangements.
We regretDWP's lack of progress in giving its LSSF partners a
clear indication of the additional responsibilities they will
be expected to take on under this new arrangement and, crucially,
the central government funding they can expect to receive. The
Government has acknowledged that the LSSF is "almost as important
as Universal Credit itself". We recommendthat it therefore
ensures that detailedinformation about its operation and funding
is set out when the final version of the LSSF is published in
autumn 2014.
55 Government response to the Committee's Third Report of Session 2012-13, Universal Credit implementation: meeting the needs of vulnerable claimants,
February 2013, Cm 8537, paras 23-26 Back
56
Fourth Report of Session 2013-14, Support for Housing Costs in the Reformed Welfare System,
HC 720, Chapter 8 Back
57
DWP/LGA,Universal Credit, Local Support Services Framework, February
2013 Back
58
Oral evidence taken in the inquiry into support for housing costs
on 12 February 2014, Q630 Back
59
DWP/LGA, Universal Credit Local Support Services Framework, February
2013 Back
60
DWP, Universal Credit: Local Support Services-Update and Trialling Plan,
December 2013 Back
61
DWP/LGA, Universal Credit: Local Support Services Framework, February
2013, p 5 (Local Authority Introduction) Back
62
DWP, Universal Credit: Local Support Services-Update and Trialling Plan,
December 2013, pp 4-5 Back
63
Oral evidence taken on 9 December 2013, HC 867, Qq52 and 69 Back
64
See Second Report of Session 2013-14, The role of Jobcentre Plus in the reformed welfare system,
HC 479, paras 61-70; and Oral Evidence taken in the inquiry
into Support for Housing Costs in the reformed welfare system,15 January 2014,
Q360 Back
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