Households affected by the household benefit cap

The request was partially successful.

Dear Charnwood Borough Council,

I am a researcher at the housing charity Shelter. We are seeking to understand the impact of the household benefit cap on local authorities in England. We would be incredibly grateful for your help.

I would like to request the following information under the Freedom of information Act 2000.

1. Please provide the most recent data available for your local authority:

All households
• The number of households who have their benefits reduced by the Household Benefit Cap introduced by the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 in your area. (Please include both households who were already subject to the previous benefit cap of £26,000/£18,200, and those newly affected by the lowered cap).
• The average reduction in these households’ benefit award, and the number of these households who have a reduction of £100 or more a week.

Homeless households in temporary accommodation
• The number of homeless households accommodated by your authority in temporary accommodation who have their benefits reduced by the Household Benefit Cap.
• The average reduction in these households’ benefit award.

2. If you have carried out an assessment of the impact of lowering the cap in your local authority, please provide this document.

Many thanks - I look forward to receiving your reply in the next 20 working days.

Yours faithfully,

Jenny Pennington

foi@charnwood.gov.uk, Charnwood Borough Council

NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED
===========================================

Thank you for your information request which is acknowledged.
Your request is being considered and you should receive the information within 20 working days. This is subject to it not being covered by an exemption or requiring the payment of a fee.

I have set out below further information regarding the Freedom of Information Act for your information.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact me.

Yours sincerely
Megan Bilton
Information Officer
Charnwood Borough Council
e-mail [Charnwood Borough Council request email]
Tel 01509 634711

The Council will provide the information requested wherever possible, however the Act does set out a number of exemptions that may prevent release of the information to you. If any of the exemptions do apply to the information that you have requested we will not be able to supply it. You will be notified if this is the case with the reasons why we are claiming an exemption and your rights to complain and appeal the decision.

If a fee is payable we will inform you of this and you must pay the fee before the information request can be processed further – the 20 working day timetable is suspended until receipt of the fee. The Act also sets out the amount of work that the Council can be required to undertake. If this limit is estimated to be exceeded by your request we can refuse to process the request. If your request exceeds this limit, we will let you know.

If any of the information requested concerns a third party they may be consulted prior to taking a decision whether to release the information to you or not.

We will aim to provide the information to you in the format that you have specified. If you require an alternative format please let me know. Where the format has not been specified the information will be provided by e-mail, or as a paper copy.

show quoted sections

foi@charnwood.gov.uk, Charnwood Borough Council

NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED

===========================================

 

Dear Ms Pennington

 

Following the above information request our Benefits team are able to
provide the following:
1) There are currently 102 cases affected by the benefit cap, the average
reduction is £39.31 per week. There have been no cases capped in temporary
accommodation.

 

2) N/A

If you would like to re-use the information provided, please see the
[1]re-use page on our website

If you have any questions or concerns please contact me.  I have outlined
our Freedom of Information Complaints Procedure below should you need to
make use of it.

Yours sincerely,

 

Megan Bilton

Information Officer

Charnwood Borough Council

[2][Charnwood Borough Council request email]

01509 634711

 

Charnwood Borough Council Freedom of Information and Environmental
Information complaints procedure

 

Informal Complaints Procedure

If you are dissatisfied with the way in which your request has been
handled please contact me, and I will try to resolve your complaint on an
informal basis within 15 working days.

If you are then still dissatisfied with the response, please follow the
formal complaints procedure below.

Formal Complaints Procedure

Put your formal complaint in writing, providing any supporting evidence,
to the Corporate Service Development Officer at the address noted below,
who will then investigate and respond to your complaint within 20 working
days.

If the Corporate Service Development Officer dealt with your initial
request for information your complaint will automatically be referred to
the Head of Service and / or one of our Strategic Directors for
independent consideration.

Write to: Corporate Service Development Officer
Charnwood Borough Council
Southfield Road
Loughborough
Leicestershire
LE11 2TU
Telephone: 01509 634596
E-mail: [3][Charnwood Borough Council request email]

If you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request or complaint,
you have a right to appeal to the Information Commissioner at:
The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane,
Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.  Telephone: 0303 123 1113.  Website:
[4]www.ico.gov.uk

There is no charge for making an appeal.

 

 

 

show quoted sections

Jenny Pennington

Dear Megan,

Thank you for your response.

The information you have provided does not include the number
of households who have faced a reduction of £100 or more a week.

Could you provide this as soon as possible?

Many thanks,

Jenny Pennington