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Older news
Return to conditionality as jobcentres reopen; Changes ahead on UC treatment of earnings; Changes to SSP rules on shielding; Legacy benefits run-on from 22/7; Appeals down but success rates up; UC auto reclaim regulations
Widespread calls to remove benefit cap; Smoothing the rough edges of COVID-19 response; SSP for self isolators; Tax credits regulations amended; No recourse to public funds; Pre-appeal PIP awards under pressure
More COVID-19 benefits changes; Extension of Help to Claim; New Shadow Work & Pensions team; Don't Call Them, They'll Call You; Benefits Question Time webinar
How COVID-19 is affecting the benefits system - including webinar on Universal Credit & the coronavirus; Statutory Sick Pay / ESA; disabiltiy benefits; tribunal decisions; furloughed employees; self-employed; Local Housing Allowance; Working Tax Credits
Abject failure of DWP over claimant deaths; Self isolation for benefits claimants; Poorest become poorer; UC run-on for claimants approaching State Pension age; Surplus earnings threshold; End of free movement; 2019/20 W&P Select Committee new members
Cohabitees right to bereavement support; Losing UC on a leap year; What's mine is yours: cohabitees and UC; Stephen Timms is new Select Committee chair; Lucky for some: 13 managed migrations; New UC tickbox on prescriptions
Over 75% PIP & ESA appeals are sucessful; More legal powers for ministers?; LHAs set to rise in April; Manage Your Appeal online
N Ireland forced to make urgent welfare plans; Busiest month for food banks; Employers should pay first, report later; Benefits uprating 2020/21; LAs urged to respond to SDP gateway enquiries; Social security & the General Election; UC ads 'misleading'; Government should restore LHAs
Problems with the Severe Disability Premium gateway; Coffey wants to speed up managed migration; Claiming UC & other benefits as a refugee; New PIP reassessments of 'managing therapy'; Still no bereavement support for co-habitees; Responses to consultation on Claimant Commitment; Local councils call for welfare shake-up
How does a no-deal Brexit affect benefits; Britons abroad reassured; Conference claims & commitments; Jobcentres to open at weekends?; Benefits claimants can afford 1 in 20 similar rents; 73% success of PIP appeals raises questions
Further changes to reporting UC childcare costs; Managed migration pilot reveals more cracks; Compensation paid to SDP claimants; UC assessment period remains while case continues; £40m for in private DHPs in spending round
BBC uncovers widescale Universal Credit scam; Introduction of Children's Funeral Fund; Disabled people benefit from May's departure; More time needed for refugees on UC; Help to Claim date is not start date; No more reassessments for older PIP claimants
Updates & exceptions for mixed age couples; 57% UC claims include deductions; UN's damning report on extreme UK poverty; Phasing out of unnecessary reassessments; Concerns around start date of UC claim
Benefits changes for EU nationals without settled status; DWP to recover £150m Carers' Allowance overpayments; 1.9m will lose £1K+ in UC; Become an appointee for someone who claims benefits; Update on ESA underpayments; Benefits, human rights & digital technology
Compensation for wrongly advised UC migrations; Launch of Help to Claim; Consultation on the Claimant Commitment; Mandatory Reconsiderations taking more time; Follow up inquiry into in-work progression; Fast track UC claims for refugees?
UC managed migration pilot in North Yorkshire; Severe conditions criteria & ESA reassessments; Rewards for best claimants?; PIP & ESA assessments to merge; UC staff on strike; Evidence of unnecessary migrations to UC; Easing of DV conditionality?; Impact of welfare reforms
UC natural migration causing havoc; Benefits system prepares for a no-deal Brexit; Local DHP allocations; Online benefits appeals; Implicit consent in UC?; 53 week year rent payments; Mental health claimants 240% more likely to miss out on PIP
Rudd unveils latest changes to UC; No pension credit for mixed age couples; Protection for those with Severe Disability Premium; Stealth cuts to child benefit; DWP supported accommodation survey results; Scotland/Wales/N Ireland news
Pre-Brexit changes to EEA regulations; UK poverty 'contrary to British values'; Implicit consent 'a priority'; PIP appeals now online; New W&P Secretary Amber Rudd takes questions; 2019/20 benefits and pensions uprating
Government rethink managed migration; Work allowance rise announced in budget; DWP 'needs more UC case managers'; Government urged to rethink single payment policy; Making a repeat UC claim after a nil award; Working people with disabilities worse off under UC; UC housing costs reintroduced for 18-21 year olds
Citizens Advice to deliver universal support; Extension to maternity grant claim time limit; Government refuses main carer payments; DWP publishes PIP claimant experiences; UC online ID verification goes private; Last Tax Credit office to close in 2025
The UC paydate glitch; DWP to reimburse pre-2014 ESA claims; Housing benefit to continue for most vulnerable; Migrating tax credits to UC; EEA nationals pay in more than they take out; 71% sanctions relate to interviews.
Consultation on UC transitional protection; End of PIP reviews for severe health conditions; Beleaguered appeals system looks ahead to reforms; PIP mobility activity 1 and 'safely' reviews begin
Changes to 2 child limit; Timetable for PIP review process; Urgent guidance to LAs on Windrush; PIP assessment recordings allowed; Fina-a-Job replaces Universal Jobmatch
Single parents challenge benefit cap; 18-21 year olds on UC get housing support; 6% UC claims deducted from start; Guidance on changes to Free School Meals; Surplus earnings & self-employed losses in UC; Benefits uprating 2018-19
Are WCAs fit for purpose?; Tax-free childcare will terminate claims; Risk of homelessness must be referred; 27k unemployed on unpaid DWP work placements; Explaining work-related activity and substantial risk; HM Government Payment Service replaces Simple Payment
Review of 1.6m PIP claims; Update on Minimum Income Floor; New earnings threshold for free school meals; UC risk to public spending control; EU says UK benefits 'manifestly inadequate'; DWP guidance for Work & Health Programme providers
Managed payments for private landlords; 96% of young people get UC Housing Element; 1m children set to lose Free School Meals; The return of Esther McVey
£1.5bn support package for Universal Credit; Further changes ahead; Billions of benefits underpaid; UC Freephone helpline numbers; Christmas for careleavers
Please contact us if you need more information on our previous newsletters.