DWP to Publish Early Findings from Direct Payment Projects

Welfare reform minister Lord Freud says the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will be publishing early findings from the direct payment demonstration projects at the end of October.  Early learning from the first month of the project has been:

engaging with and assessing the needs of tenants has taken longer than anticipated

Landlords do not have immediate access to the information needed to assess tenants’ readiness for direct payment

the role of support partners in the project is crucial

there is a general lack of awareness among tenants of wider benefit reforms

developing appropriate safeguards has helped to reassure landlords.

One of the housing associations involved in the demonstration projects revealed payment errors in the first two months of the project had seen tenants go overdrawn; while another said it was stepping up interventions on its project to collect unpaid rent.   Read more on the DWP website.