Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs): R v. Sandwell MBC, ex parte Hardy.

The request was successful.

Dear Brighton and Hove City Council,

I would be grateful for any information held by Brighton and Hove City Council regarding action taken by the Council in regard to the decision of the High Court in R v. Sandwell MBC, ex parte Hardy.
Given there is no time limit on back payment of DHPs and the budget for Discretionary Housing Payments has been underspent every year please provide information on the amount awarded since 30 March 2015 as a result of the High Court decision.
Could you also confirm that income from disability-related benefits such as Disability Living Allowance or the Personal Independence Payment has not been considered as ‘assessed’ income since B&HCC changed its policy in light of the High Court decision of 30.3.15 and subsequent advice contained in the ‘DWP Discretionary Housing Payments Guidance Manual’?

Yours truly,

Steve Parry

Freedom Of Information, Brighton and Hove City Council

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Dear Freedom Of Information,

'Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs): R v. Sandwell MBC, ex parte Hardy.'

By law I should have received a response by now. Could you please advice when this is likely to be provided

Yours truly,

Steve Parry

Freedom Of Information, Brighton and Hove City Council

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Freedom Of Information, Brighton and Hove City Council

Dear Mr Parry,

We apologise for the delay in responding to your request. We have sent a reminder to the Council team collating this information for you.

For your information the request was allocated with reference FOI 8976.

Kind regards,

James McLaughlin
Information Governance Officer I Information GovernanceTeam I IT & D

01273 290369 I 01273 295959 I Wed-Fri 8am-4pm
Brighton & Hove City Council

Working in partnership
GDPR is coming…. To find out more click here.

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Freedom Of Information, Brighton and Hove City Council

Please find set out below the information in response to the above
request:

 

 

Request

I would be grateful for any information held by Brighton and Hove City
Council regarding action taken by the Council in regard to the decision of
the High Court in R v. Sandwell MBC, ex parte Hardy.

Given there is no time limit on back payment of DHPs and the budget for
Discretionary Housing Payments has been underspent every year please
provide information on the amount awarded since  30 March 2015 as a result
of the High Court decision.

Could you also confirm that income from disability-related benefits such
as Disability Living Allowance or the Personal Independence Payment has
not been considered as ‘assessed’ income since B&HCC changed its policy in
light of the High Court decision of 30.3.15 and subsequent advice
contained in the ‘DWP Discretionary Housing Payments Guidance Manual’?

 

 

Response

DLA and PIP, and all other disability benefits are not taken into account
when deciding to award a DHP.
This was highlighted to decision-makers at our monthly DHP review
meetings, following the high court decision.

 

We do not record specific awards made as a result of this decision, so it
is impossible to quantify the amount awarded as a result of the decision.
Prior to the decision an holistic approach was made on decisions to judge
the best use of the fund, but there would be many complexities around the
decision on any one case and disability benefits would only form a part of
the decision making process.

 

The DHP fund had a marginal underspend in 2014/15 (£263) and was overspent
in 2015/16 by £19k.

 

 

 

 

Should you have any further queries about this request, please contact us
via email to [1][Brighton and Hove City Council request email] quoting the
reference number given above.

 

If you are not satisfied with the handling of your request, you can appeal
(Internal Review) within 2 months of the completed FOI. Write to:

 

Freedom of Information Appeals

Brighton & Hove City Council

ICT 4th Floor

Bartholomew House

Bartholomew Square

Hove BN1 1JE

[2][Brighton and Hove City Council request email]

 

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investigated, you can escalate your complaint to the Information
Commissioners Office. The contact details are:

 

The Information Commissioners Office

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Wilmslow

Cheshire SK9 5AF

Helpline: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 (national rate)

e-mail: [3][email address]

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debbie left an annotation ()

Don't you find it strange then, that they charge Bedroom Tax to Disabled people. Who, HAVE to pay it out of DLA or PIP.
It is after all, to pay for their disability needs, not for paying rent!!

Dear Freedom Of Information,

Thank you for your "response" of 6 December to my request for information made 3.11.17.

I am grateful for confirmation that DLA and PIP have not been classified as assessed income for the purposes of Discretionary Housing Payments since some time in 2015.

However, I did request "any information held by Brighton and Hove City Council regarding action taken by the Council in regard to the decision of the High Court in R v. Sandwell MBC, ex parte Hardy. " to which you have not responded.

I also requested information on the amount awarded as a result of the High Court Decision. Are you stating in your response, admittedly in a roundabout way, that the amount awarded as a result of the Ruling is nil and, consequently, those who were refused DHPs due to their DLA/PIP being classified as assessed income have not been reimbursed.

I would be grateful if could correct your statement regarding the DHP budget as this has been underspent since the Local Authority took over responsibility. I refer you, for example, to the DWP Official Statistics on the Use of Discretionary Housing Payments for the Financial years 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16:

YEAR GOVERNMENT CONTRIBUTION LA BUDGET LIMIT ACTUAL SPEND
2013/14 £1,014,714 £2,536,785 £1,002,004
2014/15 £1,010.456 £2,526.140 £1,009,606
2015/16 £611,084 £1,527,710 £630,192

Yours truly,

Steve Parry

Freedom Of Information, Brighton and Hove City Council

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Council

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Dear Freedom Of Information,

Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs): R v. Sandwell MBC, ex parte Hardy. FOI8976

This request was submitted 3.11.17.

I hope you are not delaying a response in the same manner as the delayed (re)payments

Yours truly,

Steve Parry

Freedom Of Information, Brighton and Hove City Council

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Freedom Of Information, Brighton and Hove City Council

Please find set out below the information in response to the additional
questions relating to the above request:

 

1.    Action taken by the Council in regard to the decision of the High
Court in R v. Sandwell MBC, ex parte Hardy.

DWP Guidance manual Dec 2016 for reference: When deciding how to treat
income from disability-related benefits such as Disability Living
Allowance (DLA) or the Personal Independence Payment (PIP), you must have
regard to the decision of the High Court in R v. Sandwell MBC, ex parte
Hardy. This decision places an obligation on LAs to consider each DHP
application on a case by case basis having regard to the purpose of those
disability related benefits and whether the money from those benefits has
been committed to other liabilities associated with disability

 

 

This has already been raised as an e-petition to the council in 2015.
[1]https://present.brighton-hove.gov.uk/mgE...

 

The e-petition was specifically about Bedroom tax cases, but a review of
all cases was undertaken at the time, to identify where a DHP had been
turned down and DLA or PIP was known to be in payment. This review covered
the specific period from the date of the judgement until guidance was
issued to BHCC Benefit staff. It was found that, of 71 cases reviewed, no
cases had been adversely affected by taking into account DLA or PIP and
that the DHPs had been turned down for other reasons.

 

 

 

2.    I also requested information on the amount awarded as a result of
the High Court Decision. Are you stating in your response, admittedly in a
roundabout way, that the amount awarded as a result of the Ruling is nil
and, consequently, those who were refused DHPs due to their DLA/PIP being
classified as assessed income have not been reimbursed.

 

Please see response to Q1 – no cases were affected.

 

 

3.    Budget

I would be grateful if could correct your statement regarding the DHP
budget as this has been underspent since the Local Authority took over
responsibility.  I refer you, for example, to the DWP Official Statistics
on the Use of Discretionary Housing Payments for the Financial years
2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16:

 

YEAR                     GOVERNMENT CONTRIBUTION                 LA BUDGET
LIMIT                                         ACTUAL SPEND    
            

2013/14                 £1,014,714         
                                                £2,536,785             
                                         £1,002,004                

2014/15                £1,010.456                                       
                   £2,526.140             
                                         £1,009,606 

2015/16                £611,084                                          
                   £1,527,710             
                                         £630,192    

 

 

The figures referred to by the requestor are the DWP grant and the
maximum permitted spend (budget limit). The maximum permitted spend is a
multiplier (x2.5) of the DWP grant.

We have spent the DWP allocation as far as possible in each year. Any
payment in excess of the DWP grant would have to be met from the council’s
other funds.

 

 

 

 

Should you have any further queries about this request, please contact us
via email to [2][Brighton and Hove City Council request email] quoting the
reference number given above.

 

If you are not satisfied with the handling of your request, you can appeal
(Internal Review) within 2 months of the completed FOI. Write to:

 

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Freedom of Information Appeals

Brighton & Hove City Council

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Bartholomew Square

Brighton BN1 1JE

 

If you are still not satisfied after your Internal Review has been
investigated, you can escalate your complaint to the Information
Commissioners Office. The contact details are:

 

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Cheshire SK9 5AF

Helpline: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 (national rate)

e-mail: [4][email address]

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