Welfare Reform Act

Changes to benefits in 2013 – how will you be affected?

Many of the UK Government’s welfare benefits changes have become law.  Some changes have already happened and some others will be taking effect very soon.  In this article we highlight the main changes that are due to come in from April next year.

Please note – the information in the welfare reform pages of our site is believed to be accurate and up to date as far as we know at the time of writing, based on official UK government sources available at that time. However the Government’s plans may change or be subject to unforeseen delay and some of the relevant law may not yet be finalised or may also be subject to change.

Have a look at the list below, to see which changes are likely to affect you.

Changes expected to take effect from April 2013 –

  • Housing benefit ‘bedroom tax’ – penalty for ‘under-occupied’ household

In social housing, for people of working age only (people under pension credit age), the amount of rent that your housing benefit is based on will be reduced if you have one or more bedrooms that are considered unnecessary for the size of your household.  The reduction is expected to be 14% for one unoccupied bedroom, and 25% for 2 or more unoccupied bedrooms.  For more details see the section on Changes to housing benefit from April 2013 here: [link to relevant section – see WRO Forum website welfare reform (2)]

  • Benefit cap

Again for people of working age only (people under pension credit age), housing benefit will be reduced if necessary so that the total income from benefits is no more than an amount called ‘median’ earnings.  The cap on total benefit income is expected to be about £350 a week for single people and £500 for lone parents and couples. There will be exemption from the cap for any household where someone is receiving DLA, or PIP, or the support component of ESA, or industrial injuries disablement benefit or a war pension. For more details see the section on Changes to housing benefit from April 2013 here: [link to relevant section – see WRO Forum website welfare reform (2)]

Council tax benefit to be abolished

The current council tax benefit scheme is to be replaced in Scotland by a new scheme designed by the Scottish Government and administered by the local authority

  • Social Fund grants and crisis loans to be abolished

Community care grants and Crisis Loans for items and general living expenses (including rent in advance) will be abolished and replaced by a new scheme to be run by the Scottish government.  Crisis Loans due to issues with benefit (such as delay in payment) are to be replaced by a new national scheme of Short Term Advances to be run by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

For advice about how to claim attendance allowance or DLA, or about any other benefit issues, see ‘How can I get further advice?’ here: [link to relevant section]

Other changes in 2013

The main changes expected to happen later in 2013 are as follows:

  • Personal Independence Payments (PIP)

In June 2013 a new system of benefits for disabled people, called personal independence payments (PIP), is expected to be introduced UK-wide, after being piloted in the North of England only from April 2013. The main difference with PIP is that it will be assessed on a points scoring system, and the intention is that most claims will be based on face-to-face assessments by an approved healthcare practitioner, similar to the current system for ESA assessments.

PIP is expected to replace DLA for new claims and for anyone with a change in circumstances that would affect their entitlement to DLA. Currently, the intention is for PIP to apply only to people of age 16 to 64.  Eventually, it is expected that everyone between ages 16 and 64 who receives DLA will have their award transferred over to PIP.  The Government intends to achieve this by March 2017.

  • Universal Credit

From October 2013 the DWP plans to start introducing a new benefit called Universal Credit, or UC for short. UC is intended eventually to replace all income related benefits and tax credits for people of working age, including income support, income based JSA, income related employment and support allowance, working tax credit and child tax credit, and housing benefit.  The expectation is that new claims for these benefits will be abolished, and existing claims will move over to UC, in a staged process starting early 2014 and expected to be complete by March 2017.

For more information and updates on Universal Credit see here: [link]