Recommendations & Conclusions
7 items
4
Recommendation
First Report - Cost of Living Support P…
Rejected
The Government should change the eligibility for the final cost of living payment in 2023/24 and for any possible future payments so that Universal Credit (UC) claimants who receive a nil UC award in the qualifying period, but received a payment in the previous and subsequent assessment period, qualify for …
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The Government should change the eligibility for the final cost of living payment in 2023/24 and for any possible future payments so that Universal Credit (UC) claimants who receive a nil UC award in the qualifying period, but received a payment in the previous and subsequent assessment period, qualify for a cost of living payment. This could be incorporated into the mop-up payment system.
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Government response AI summary
The government rejects changing eligibility for nil-award Universal Credit claimants, citing that substantial changes would introduce complexity, risk delays, fraud, or error, and that DWP IT systems cannot distinguish reasons for nil awards.
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Department for Work and Pensions
5
Recommendation
First Report - Cost of Living Support P…
Rejected
We are concerned that support payments do not reach all low-income households in receipt of benefits as some households only receive housing benefit. The Government should consider adding Housing Benefit as a qualifying benefit for future cost of living support payments and set out the practicalities of doing so.
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We are concerned that support payments do not reach all low-income households in receipt of benefits as some households only receive housing benefit. The Government should consider adding Housing Benefit as a qualifying benefit for future cost of living support payments and set out the practicalities of doing so.
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Government response AI summary
The government rejects adding Housing Benefit as a qualifying benefit, explaining it is not an income-replacement benefit and administrative complexities would prevent quick, accurate payment delivery, instead pointing to the Household Support Fund.
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Department for Work and Pensions
6
Recommendation
First Report - Cost of Living Support P…
Rejected
We are concerned that some people with no recourse to public funds could be denied Household Support Fund (HSF) support from local authorities, despite potentially being eligible for such support, due to a lack of clarity in the guidance. We are also concerned that some people with no recourse to …
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We are concerned that some people with no recourse to public funds could be denied Household Support Fund (HSF) support from local authorities, despite potentially being eligible for such support, due to a lack of clarity in the guidance. We are also concerned that some people with no recourse to public funds will not be able to access support through the HSF because there are no specific powers or duties which can be used to enable their access to funding. The Government should clarify in the Household Support Fund guidance the circumstances when a local authority can use the Household Support Fund to assist those with no recourse to public funds. We certainly hope this would explicitly include families with children who otherwise meet HSF’s eligibility criteria. (Paragraph 40) Cost of living support payments 47
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Government response AI summary
The government rejects clarifying Household Support Fund guidance for those with No Recourse to Public Funds, stating that local authorities already have powers for care needs and the variety of factors involved means a definitive list or explicit guidance would not be appropriate.
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Department for Work and Pensions
9
Recommendation
First Report - Cost of Living Support P…
Rejected
The cost of living payments have had an important impact and boosted the finances of low-income households. However, one-off payments were not a sufficient response to the scale of the issue, and many people in receipt of the payments still could not meet essential costs or only had a temporary …
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The cost of living payments have had an important impact and boosted the finances of low-income households. However, one-off payments were not a sufficient response to the scale of the issue, and many people in receipt of the payments still could not meet essential costs or only had a temporary reprieve. The Government has stated it will conduct an evaluation of the cost of living payments next year. The Government should bring forward its evaluation of the cost of living support payments so that preliminary analysis can be fed into decisions on possible future payments ahead of the next financial year. The evaluation should be published before the start of financial year 2024/25.
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Government response AI summary
The government rejects bringing forward the full evaluation of Cost of Living Payments, stating it would compromise robustness, but confirms an evaluation is underway with fieldwork in early 2024 and early findings feeding into policy decisions.
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Department for Work and Pensions
13
Recommendation
First Report - Cost of Living Support P…
Rejected
Should there be future cost of living payments, or similar ad hoc support, the Government should increase the financial support for those with disabilities in proportion to the additional costs that they incur.
Government response AI summary
The government rejected the recommendation for future disability cost of living payments to be proportional to additional costs, explaining its current approach prioritizes higher payments for those on means-tested benefits due to their vulnerability.
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Department for Work and Pensions
14
Recommendation
First Report - Cost of Living Support P…
Rejected
It is clear that an uplift of regular working age benefits received would be more beneficial than ad-hoc cost of living support payments as it would better enable households to budget and reduce the chance of a recipient losing out on a major one-off payment. The Government have explained it …
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It is clear that an uplift of regular working age benefits received would be more beneficial than ad-hoc cost of living support payments as it would better enable households to budget and reduce the chance of a recipient losing out on a major one-off payment. The Government have explained it is not possible to quickly uprate legacy benefits, however it can quickly uprate Universal Credit. We also note this problem will disappear once the transition to Universal Credit is complete. The Government has explained it is not possible to quickly uprate legacy benefits, however it can quickly uprate Universal Credit. We also note this problem will disappear once the transition to Universal Credit is complete. The Government should clarify the legal position as to whether it can uprate Universal Credit and only maintain the one-off payment system for those on legacy benefits. If this can be done, and should further cost of living payments be required next year or in the future, the Government should uprate Universal Credit and only maintain the one-off payment system for those on legacy benefits.
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Government response AI summary
The government rejected the recommendation to uprate Universal Credit separately and maintain one-off payments only for legacy benefits, citing the statutory annual review duty and the breach of equal treatment requirements if differentiated.
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Department for Work and Pensions
15
Conclusion
First Report - Cost of Living Support P…
Rejected
We recognise that the Government is concerned that publishing exact payment windows could encourage fraud and disincentivise people from taking work opportunities. However, the irregular nature of these payments, along with the uncertainty of when they will be received, continues to make household budgeting a challenge. If the Government decides …
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We recognise that the Government is concerned that publishing exact payment windows could encourage fraud and disincentivise people from taking work opportunities. However, the irregular nature of these payments, along with the uncertainty of when they will be received, continues to make household budgeting a challenge. If the Government decides to issue further cost of living payments in the next financial year, it should announce the payment dates (but not the qualifying period) in advance. This would improve the ability of households to budget whilst still mitigating the risk of fraud and risks to work incentives. (Paragraph 87) Cost of living support payments 49
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Government response AI summary
The government rejected the recommendation to announce future cost of living payment dates in advance, stating that doing so would implicitly reveal qualifying dates, which they aim to avoid to prevent fraud and maintain work incentives.
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Department for Work and Pensions