Transcript Welfare Reform Act Main points Timeline

APPOINTEESHIP
LORRAINE COCKELL
PARTNERSHIP SUPPORT MANAGER
DEPARTMENT FOR WORK AND PENSIONS
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Department for Work and Pensions
WHAT IS AN APPOINTEE?
An officer of grade EO (Executive Officer) or above
acting on behalf of the Secretary of
State can authorize someone else to act on a
customer’s behalf only if the customer is
incapable of managing their own affairs. This is called
an appointment to act and the person
or organisation appointed to act is called an
appointee
Who can become an appointee?
An appointment to act can only be made in favour
of a person aged 18 or over
An appointee can be an:
• individual, e.g. a friend or relative or
• organisation or representative of an organisation,
e.g.:
– a limited company
– a firm
– the Local Authority
– a solicitor or
– the matron of a Care Home or Nursing Home
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Department for Work and Pensions
How do you go about it?
»One of our DWP Visiting Officers will see
you in your home to complete the form
BF56.
»We must see the person who has the
mental incapacity and the prospective
appointee to see they are suitable for the
role and explain their responsibilities and
duties to them.
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Department for Work and Pensions
WHAT HAPPENS IF I WANT TO CHANGE APPOINTEE?
• We do not need to see the person with the
incapacity again.
• The current appointee must relinquish their
role in writing to us
• We then visit the new appointee to see they
are a suitable person and complete the BF56
form with their details.
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Department for Work and Pensions
What happens if the appointee is no longer suitable?
• We can take away the right to be an appointee if it is
found that the person is no longer fit to continue in that
role.
• This might be due to financial mis-management or even
fraud.
• We investigate any allegations of financial abuse very
thoroughly.
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Department for Work and Pensions
Welfare Reform Act
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Department for Work and Pensions
Welfare Reform Act - overview
• Introduces the most fundamental reforms to the social security system for 60
years.
• Aims for a simpler, fairer benefits system & to ensure work pays
• Universal Credit
• Personal Independence Payment
• ESA time-limiting
• Benefit cap
• Fraud & error penalties
• IIDB amendments
• Social Fund changes
• Housing Benefit changes
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Department for Work and Pensions
An introduction to Personal
Independence Payment
for support organisations
8 April 2013
Version V4.0a
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Department for Work and Pensions
What is Personal Independence Payment?
• Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is a new benefit to help disabled
people live full, active and independent lives.
• It replaced Disability Living Allowance (DLA) from 8 April 2013.
• PIP will help towards some of the extra costs arising from having a long term
condition (this means ill-health or disability expected to last 12 months or
longer).
• It is based on how a person's condition affects them, not the condition they
have. PIP has a 3 month qualifying period and 9 month prospective test
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Department for Work and Pensions
What is Personal Independence Payment? (continued)
• PIP will be made up of two components – daily living and mobility, each can
be paid at standard rate, or enhanced rate for those with the greatest needs.
• PIP is a benefit people can get whether they are in or out of work.
• It is not affected by income or savings and is not taxed.
• PIP has links to passported benefits where possible
• Entitlement to PIP will be decided based on assessment criteria which
consider the ability to carry out a range of everyday activities
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Department for Work and Pensions
Components, eligibility and the assessment criteria
•
•
PIP will be made up of two components – daily living and mobility
Each can be paid at standard rate, or enhanced rate for those with the
greatest needs
The PIP assessment criteria will consider the
individuals ability to carry out a range of everyday activities
Individuals will receive a point score for each activity, depending on how
well they can carry them out and the help they need to do them
The total scores for each component determine whether a component is
payable, and if so, whether at the standard or enhanced rate
•
•
•
Daily Living Components (activities 1-10)
Standard rate = 8 points
Enhanced rate = 12 points
Activity
1. Preparing food
2. Taking Nutrition
3. Managing therapy or monitoring a health condition
4. Washing and bathing
5. Managing toilet needs or incontinence
6. Dressing and undressing
7. Communicating verbally
8. Reading and understanding signs, symbols and words
9. Engaging with other people face to face
10 Making budgeting decisions
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Daily Living
Mobility
Enhanced
Enhanced
12 points
Standard
Standard
8 points
Not Entitled
Not Entitled
Mobility Components (activities 11-12)
Standard rate = 8 points
Enhanced rate = 12 points
Standard
0-8
0 - 10
0-8
0-8
0-8
0-8
0 - 12
0-8
0-8
0-6
Activity
Standard
11.Planning and following a journey 0 - 12
12 Moving around
0 - 12
Department for Work and Pensions
Example scoring
This example shows the draft scoring for Activity 1: Preparing food and drink
A
Can prepare and cook a simple meal unaided.
0
points
B
Needs to use an aid or appliance to either prepare or cook a simple meal.
2
points
C
Cannot cook a simple meal using a conventional cooker but can do so
using a microwave.
2
points
D
Needs prompting to either prepare or cook a simple meal.
2
points
E
Needs supervision to either prepare or cook a simple meal.
4
points
F
Needs assistance to either prepare or cook a simple meal.
4
points
G
Cannot prepare and cook food and drink at all.
8
points
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Department for Work and Pensions
Case study
• Elizabeth is 40 and lives with her mother. Once a week she gets a lift
to a day centre run by Social Services for people with learning
disabilities. Although she was reluctant to engage at first, she has
become used to the centre and now looks forward to going. She is
always accompanied when she goes out, unless she is going for a
walk in the neighbourhood where people know her, as she is unable
to use public transport and gets confused with directions in unfamiliar
locations. At home, she likes working in her mother’s small garden.
• She does not understand the value of money and therefore cannot
go shopping on her own. She is shy with strangers and usually
needs to be prompted to engage socially. She cannot cook a meal on
her own but can follow instructions while her mother oversees.
Usually she does not bathe, brush her teeth or wash her hair, but she
will do so when encouraged and checked by her mother who will
also get her clothes out each day. She has high blood pressure and
takes tablets once a day, which her mother has to remind her to take.
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Department for Work and Pensions
Likely descriptor choices
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Needs supervision to either prepare or cook a simple meal. 4
2 A
Can take nutrition unaided. 0
3 B
Needs supervision, prompting or assistance to manage medication or monitor a health
condition. 1
4 E
Needs supervision or prompting to bathe.
2
5 A
Can manage toilet needs or incontinence unaided. 0
6 C
Needs either –
i. prompting to dress, undress or determine appropriate circumstances for remaining clothed; or
ii. assistance or prompting to select appropriate clothing.
2
7 A
Can communicate unaided and access written information unaided, or using spectacles or
contact lenses. 0
8 B
Needs prompting to engage socially.
2
9 D
Cannot make any financial decisions at all.
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10 C
Needs either –
i. supervision, prompting or a support dog to follow a journey to an unfamiliar destination; or
ii. a journey to an unfamiliar destination to have been entirely planned by another person. 8
11 A
Can move at least 200 metres either –
i. unaided; or
ii. using an aid or appliance, other than a wheelchair or a motorised device. 0
Total points
Daily living activities = 17 (enhanced rate Daily Living component)
Mobility activities
= 8 (standard rate Mobility component
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Department for Work and Pensions
PIP RATES
The weekly rates of PIP are:• Daily Living Enhanced Rate = £79.15
• Daily Living Standard Rate = £53.00
• Mobility Enhanced Rate
= £55.25
• Mobility Standard Rate
= £21.00
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Department for Work and Pensions
Who are the assessment providers?
The PIP assessment process will be managed by two assessment providers:
 Atos Healthcare - Scotland, North East and North West of England, London and
Southern England
 Capita Business Services Ltd – Wales and Central England and Northern Ireland
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Department for Work and Pensions
What is the Personal Independence Payment
Assessment?
• The PIP assessment considers people as individuals, focussing on the impact their
condition(s) has on their daily lives and over a range of different activities
• The PIP assessment is carried out by health professionals who consider evidence
provided by the claimant, along with any further evidence they think is needed against a
set of assessment criteria
• Most people will be asked to a face-to-face consultation with a health professional as part
of the assessment process
• Claimants will be encouraged to take somebody with them to the consultation
• Face-to-face consultations may not be necessary for everyone – for example, those who
are terminally ill may not have to have them
• Home visits will be available when necessary
• The health professional will send a report to the DWP following the assessment, for the
DWP Decision Maker to make a decision.
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Department for Work and Pensions
New Claims start in April 2013
April
2013
June
2013
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New Claims to PIP are being taken from people living in
Cheshire, Cumbria, Merseyside, North East England and
North West England
New claims national rollout
Department for Work and Pensions
Reassessment starts in October 2013
DWP will start to invite some existing DLA recipients to claim PIP. DWP will write to those
individuals who
October
2013
- are reaching the end of a fixed period DLA award
- are about to turn 16
inviting them to claim PIP
Those existing DLA claimants who report a change in their condition will be invited to claim PIP
DLA recipients who contact DWP wishing to claim PIP will be able to do so (self selectors)
DWP will start to reassess remaining DLA claimants who were aged between 16 and 64 on the
day that PIP was introduced (8 April 2013)
October
2015
Once selected for reassessment, claimants will be asked to claim PIP:
- if they do, then their DLA award will normally continue until a decision on the PIP is made
- if they don’t claim PIP then their DLA claim will end
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Department for Work and Pensions
How is Personal Independence Payment claimed?
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1
Thinking about claiming
2
Making a claim
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How your disability affects you
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Assessment
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Decision
Information about PIP will be available from a range of sources, including online, via leaflets and
through support organisations.
Existing DLA claimants will be contacted individually to ask if they want to claim PIP.
Claimants (or those supporting them) phone DWP to make a claim to PIP. Paper claims won’t
normally be used, and online claims will not be available before 2014.
DWP will send claimants a form where they can explain how their disability affects them.
Special Rules claims will be dealt with more quickly
Claimant completes the ‘How your disability affects you’ form to explain how their condition affects
their daily life, both on good and bad days and over a range of activities.
Supporting evidence can be sent with this form, which they return to DWP by post .
Claim details, form and supporting evidence are passed to the health professional.
Most people will be asked to attend a face to face consultation The health professional reviews
the claim against a set of clear descriptors to assess the challenges faced by the individual.
A DWP Case Manager will use all the information in the claim form, from the health professional
and anything else that has been provided. They will make a reasoned decision on entitlement,
including the level and length of award.
Department for Work and Pensions
What happens after a decision is made about
Personal Independence Payment?
Disallowance/reduced award phone call
• After the decision letter is issued, a DWP Decision Maker will contact the claimant to
explain the decision – where PIP has not been awarded or where the award is lower than
the DLA award in reassessment cases
Awards and Reviews
• PIP awards will be based on the claimant’s circumstances and the impact of their
disability/health condition; the length of award will be included in the decision letter along
with when and how changes in circumstances need to be reported
• There will be fewer ongoing awards; more awards of shorter duration (eg 2, 5, 10 years)
• Awards will be reviewed at pre-determined intervals to see if the claimant’s needs have
changed over time and to make sure their award is still correct
• When someone’s award comes to an end, they can decide to make a further claim to PIP,
if they still have needs arising from their health condition or disability
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Department for Work and Pensions
What happens after a decision is made about Personal
Independence Payment? (continued)
Disputes
• PIP has a reconsideration process which claimants will have to follow before they can
appeal against a decision
• From April 2013, disputes about PIP decisions will come under new arrangements DWP
is introducing
• This means that if someone is not happy with their PIP decision:
– The first mandatory step is for the decision to be reconsidered by the DWP case
manager
– If the issue is not resolved at the reconsideration stage there is a right to appeal
– Appeals must be lodged directly with Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service
(HMCTS)
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Department for Work and Pensions
Universal Credit:
welfare that works
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Department for Work and Pensions
How is Universal Credit different?
Current System
Universal Credit
The welfare system has more
than 30 benefits each with their
own rules and criteria
Universal Credit provides a new single system
means-tested support for working-age people
who are in or out of work
Work incentives can be
very low, benefits are reduced
to take account of earnings but
different benefits have different
rules
Universal Credit will ensure that work pays.
Financial support will be reduced at a
consistent and predictable rate and people will
generally keep a higher proportion of their
earnings
Conditionality: some benefit
claimants are capable of working
but have no obligations to look
for work
Universal Credit will personalise conditions
according to people’s capability and
circumstances
Payments are paid to different
adults in a household and for
various periods
Universal Credit is a single monthly payment
to each household (Though we will retain the
ability to pay more frequently or to split
payment in exceptional circumstances)
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Department for Work and Pensions
Simplifying a complex system
Current system
Income related JSA
Income related ESA
Income Support (including SMI)
Working Tax Credits
Child Tax Credits
Housing Benefit
Disability Living Allowance
Universal Credit
Personal Independence Payment
Pension Credit, Child Benefit, Carer’s Allowance (will remain)
Council Tax Benefit (Localised Council Tax Schemes)
Contributory JSA and ESA (still considering how these will work)
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Department for Work and Pensions
Universal Credit and housing
Universal Credit will be paid to claimants who are in work
and out of work.
As most businesses pay monthly, Universal Credit will also
be paid monthly. Claimants will be responsible for
managing all household costs, including rent payments.
• To help claimants prepare for Universal Credit, we will
test key elements of incorporating housing support into
Universal Credit whilst protecting the financial position
of social landlords
• Direct Payment Demonstration Projects will run for a
year in six local authority areas
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Department for Work and Pensions
Migration - key dates
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APRIL 2013
Pathfinder Go-Live
OCT 2013
New claims from unemployed claimants start
APRIL 2014
New claims from in-work claimants start
Managed migrations start
2017
Managed migration activity completed
Department for Work and Pensions
Universal Credit and Pension Credit
• As a result of the introduction of Universal Credit the following changes will
be made to Pension Credit:
– help with eligible rent. Support for eligible rent for customers over
Pension Credit qualifying age will be provided through a new component
of Pension Credit called Housing Credit
– help with dependent children. A new additional amount will be included in
the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit for dependent children.
• The earliest date that these changes will be incorporated into Pension Credit
new claims is currently 12 months after the go-live of Universal Credit e.g.
October 2014.
• The current planning assumption is that migration of Housing Benefit and
Tax Credit information for Pension Age customers will be completed by
October 2017.
• The intention is that the migration process for pension age customers will be
as intervention free as possible. The underlying principle of the migration
approach will be to ensure continuity of financial support.
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Department for Work and Pensions
Welfare Reform and
Housing/Council Tax
Benefit
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Department for Work and Pensions
Key Messages
Housing Support
• From April 2013 all tenants renting from a local authority, housing
association or other registered social landlord will receive housing
support based on household size criteria.
• These allow for one bedroom for each person or couple living as part
of the household. Both people in a couple must have to be of
working age to be affected. Two children under 16 of the same
gender will be expected to share a room, as will two children under
10 regardless of gender.
• Where a property is deemed ‘under occupied’ the eligible rent will be
reduced by a national percentage. Those with one spare bedroom
will lose 14% of their Housing Benefit, those with two or more spare
bedrooms will lose 25%.
• Council Tax Benefit will be abolished from April 2013 and replaced by
new localised Council Tax reduction schemes (CTRs).
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Department for Work and Pensions
ANY QUESTIONS?
THANK YOU
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Department for Work and Pensions
More information
• Information for support organisations and advisers is online at
www.dwp.gov.uk/pip. The site includes a quick guide to PIP for advisers, an
overview of the claimant journey and frequently asked questions.
• We’ll also include the latest news in the monthly Touchbase bulletin – sign up at
the DWP website
• Information aimed at claimants is available at gov.uk Please signpost to these
pages from your own sites or materials.
• Updated leaflets will be available too – generic information in existing leaflets
from the Autumn, and PIP specific leaflet from early next year.
• Contact your local DWP Partner Manager:Lorraine Cockell
- [email protected]
Sammy Hames-Pritchard - [email protected]
Bev Pearson
- [email protected]
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Department for Work and Pensions