Freud Says Universal Credit Figures ‘Incomprehensible’

Lord Freud has defended Universal Credit, hitting back at research that shows more tenants are in arrears because of the policy. In direct response to figures produced by the National Federation of ALMOs, which found 86% of those on UC were in arrears, he said: “The figures at the moment are not particularly comprehensible. 79% of those 86% were already in arrears going into Universal Credit. What we are seeing is a population going in and out of work and finding it hard to have a payment going in. The ALMOs have a system of rent in advance but all benefits are paid in arrears. What we are trying to disentangle from that is how much of them are book arrears and how much are new arrears.” Read more on 24housing.

Supported Housing Announcement In Autumn

Vulnerable people living in social housing will know if they are to be included in benefit cuts later this year. The new DWP minister, Damian Green, has told MPs there will be an announcement on supported housing in the Autumn. Lord Freud was brought in by the previous government team to review the issue after heavy lobbying by the housing sector and charities.  The issue was brought up in an opposition debate on 'reductions in housing benefit for people in supported housing'. Read more on 24dash.

Freud Orders 'Urgent' Review Into Universal Credit Arrears

Lord Freud has commissioned an “urgent” review into the high rate of rent arrears owed by Universal Credit claimants. The welfare reform minister said the number of Universal Credit claimants in debt was higher than he had expected. He described the proportion of claimants already in arrears before they switched over to direct payment of benefit for housing costs under Universal Credit as “frightening”. Speaking in the House of Lords, Lord Freud revealed that he had “commissioned work from the department to help understand the true level and causes of these arrears”. Read more on Inside Housing.

NFA Floats Switch To Monthly Rent Collection

The National Federation of ALMOs (NFA) is gathering the views of its members on moving from weekly to monthly rent collection. This is in response to research which found more than a third of tenants on Universal Credit are in rent arrears. The six-week waiting period before a tenant receives their first payment was cited as “frequently a factor” for causing arrears. Although Universal Credit is paid monthly, most social landlords collect rent weekly. Following a meeting with Lord Freud, minister for welfare reform, the NFA has said it will consult its ALMO members to find out if they would support moving from weekly to monthly rent collection to bring Universal Credit and rent payments in line. Any final decision on changes to rent collection would be up to individual local authorities. Read more on Inside Housing.

Local Housing Allowance – Parliamentary Written Answer

Baroness Thomas of Winchester To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they will take to protect and enhance the amount of local housing allowance paid by local authorities in England in order to meet the accommodation and support needs of persons with learning disabilities.

Lord Freud: A Written Ministerial Statement was published on 1 March 2016 to announce that the effect of the Local Housing Allowance cap for those living in social sector supported housing, including those with learning disabilities, would be deferred by a year, pending the outcome of a review. We have done this because we understand the importance of ensuring that both those living in supported housing and those who provide this type of accommodation receive appropriate protections. This is why we are awaiting the outcome of a “Supported Accommodation” research project and subsequent policy review, to ensure support is focused on the most vulnerable and appropriate groups are safeguarded.

Update On Local Housing Allowance Caps On Social Housing Rents

David Orr wrote to Lord Freud and Brandon Lewis seeking urgent clarification on how supported and sheltered schemes will be protected, and pressing for long-term security. He stated that we would like to see the cap only applied to working age tenants in general needs housing, with provision for some highly vulnerable younger people to be excluded from the under 35s shared accommodation rate.

Lord Freud, Minister of State for Welfare Reform, has responded stating that:

‘the exact formation of this policy is currently under development. We will of course carefully consider comments regarding supported housing schemes, along with findings from the supported accommodation review that the Department has jointly commissioned with the CLG which looks at the size and scope of the supported housing sector. The results of this research will guide our consideration for future policy development.’ Read more on the NHF website.

Spending Review – Further Clarity On Plans To Limit Rents In The Social Rented Sector To LHA Rates

There are three key things which have been confirmed by Government officials and which will help in understanding what is set out in the Spending Review Blue Book.

·         Although the new rules will apply to affected individuals who sign their tenancy from April 2016 onwards, they will be entitled to full Housing Benefit until April 2018.

·         Supported housing is covered by the new rules

·         The Government are committed to exempting supported housing from the new rules by increasing Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) to local authorities.

As Universal Credit rolls-out Lord Freud has expressed a desire to find a “localised” solution to the funding of supported housing so this announcement needs to be seen in that context. Ministers are still working out the best approach to the funding of rents in supported housing in the context of Housing Benefit being phased-out. Read more on the Homeless Link website.

Universal Credit: Government Told Roll-Out Plans ‘Not Credible’

The Government has been warned that their plan to see Universal Credit implemented within five years is not “credible”. Lord Freud, who was being questioned by MPs on the Work and Pensions Parliamentary Select Committee, said he wants seven million people receiving UC by the “end of 2020” – despite only 146,000 people being on the system to date. He argued the project was following an “S-curve”, which meant a “careful start, big ramp, and then a tail at the end”. Labour’s Steve McCabe said: “If we’re at 146,000 and we’re at the bottom of the S as it begins to rise, and you want to get to 7 million by May 2020, that would suggest by any standard you’ve got to be near 3 million in less than 18 months time. You’ve got to have a massive escalation at some point. How is that credible?”  Read more on the Welfare Weekly website.

Freud Quotes Housing Associations to Defend Bedroom Tax

The impact of the bedroom tax on housing associations and their tenants has not been as severe as critics suggest, Lord Freud has told the House of Lords. The Minister for Welfare Reform said when assessing the impact of 'the removal of the spare room subsidy' it "was instructive to look at the reports and accounts put out by housing associations". “Looking at the position in the round, people move from low-cost social housing to higher-cost private housing, but that allows another family who may have come out of private housing to go into social housing. You have to look at the bill as a whole, and the saving on this particular part of the bill is running at £0.5 billion a year." Read more on 24dash.

Welfare Minister Apologises For Disability Pay Comments

Welfare minister Lord Freud has apologised for "foolish and offensive" remarks in which he suggested people with disabilities could be paid less than the minimum wage. Labour has called on the Conservative peer to resign after he said some workers were "not worth the full wage". David Cameron distanced himself from the comments, saying they "were not the views of anyone in government". Lord Freud said he was "profoundly sorry" and supported the minimum wage. Read more on the BBC website.

Freud Quizzed Over Bedroom Tax Report

A delayed interim review of the bedroom tax will be published by the summer recess, Lord Freud has said. Baroness Quin quizzed the welfare minister in the House of Lords as in October last year he had said the report would be published by spring. Lord Freud didn’t respond twice when challenged about why it was delayed, also by Lord Richard, however a spokesperson for the DWP said that the timeline for the report to be published had always been ‘in due course’. Kris Hopkins, housing minister, also said last November in a bedroom tax debate in Westminster Hall that the report would be published in April.  Read more on Inside Housing.

Freud Deliberately Misleads House of Lords Over Bedroom Tax…Again!

Did you know – according to the ignoble Lord Freud – that:

·         200,000 1 bed properties become available in social housing each year

·         There have been “a matter of more than 100 FTT (bedroom tax) appeals.”

That is what he told the House of Lords and he is yet again being totally disingenuous.

1)  200,000 one bed SRS properties each year?

The actual and universally accepted figure is 68,000 not 200,000 and so we see Lord Freud tripling the amount of the real figure as is his want.

2) “…a matter of more than 100 FTT appeals?”

Having personal knowledge of over 80 bedroom tax appeals myself just from one small part of Merseyside alone and further knowledge, some first-hand and some second-hand of a further few hundred bedroom tax appeals in Merseyside and hundreds more across the UK we again see Lord Freud knowingly misleading the House of Lords yet again. Read more on the Speye blog.

Freud: IDS Took Decision To 'Reset' Universal Credit

Lord Freud has reassured peers that the decision to 'reset' universal credit does not put the flagship policy in jeopardy. The Major Projects Authority revealed last month that the government's multi-billion pound reform of the benefits system had been 'reset' but there has been a lack of clarity about what the term means - until now. Speaking in the House of Lords, Lord Freud said the decision to "reorganise" universal credit had been taken by the Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith who had preferred to take a step back rather than "blundering on regardless". Read more on 24dash.

Peers Round On Lord Freud Over Bedroom Tax

Lord Freud withstood a barrage of questions about the bedroom tax in the House of Lords yesterday. Here are the highlights from the session, where he continued to extol the benefits of the controversial policy despite the mounting evidence against it. Read more on 24dash.

New DWP Proposal Will Trap People in Their Homes, and in Debt.

New DWP proposals to protect landlords’ rental incomes are in danger of trapping people in their homes, creating a modern day version of a debtor’s prison.  Last year Lord Freud committed to protecting landlords’ rental incomes under Universal Credit by proposing that tenants in rent arrears have 40% of their core benefits deducted until rent arrears are cleared – that’s 40% taken from JSA, Income Support or  Standard Allowance under Universal Credit. DWP have not put forward a rationale for the 40% rate. But the 40% rate should definitely ring a bell, because it’s the same punishing rate people are sanctioned by if Jobcentre Plus decide they aren’t trying hard enough to get a job. So is it the case that people in rent arrears simply aren’t trying hard enough to pay their rent? Read more on the Shelter website.

Does Freud Care About Bedroom Tax Evictions?

Welfare reform minister Lord Freud has been asked if he knows or cares about how many social housing tenants have been evicted as a consequence of the controversial bedroom tax. Questioned in the House of Lords, the minister repeatedly avoided answering if he knew how many tenants have been evicted because of the under-occupancy policy. Labour peer Lord McAvoy first asked Freud if he knew or cared what the number was. The minister didn't answer so the question was picked up by Baroness Taylor of Bolton, who asked: "Will the minister answer the question posed by my noble friend about the number of evictions? Does he know the number, and does he care?" Freud finally conceded that he was not sure of "the exact number" of evictions but that he thought that there weren't "very many at all, if any". Read more on 24dash.

Freud: “It's Very Hard To Know Why People Go To Food Banks”

A Tory welfare minister is under fire for claiming it is ‘very hard to know why’ people go to food banks. Lord Freud said nobody turned to charities for food parcels ‘willingly’ but could not understand what made them need help to feed their families. Campaigners blame benefits cuts and the impact of the economic crisis for a sharp rise in the number of people using food banks in recent years. More than half a million people across Britain have turned to food banks to stave off hunger, according to charities. Read more on the Daily Mail website.

Freud: Benefit Cap Is Helping People Back Into Work

More than 4,000 households subjected to the government's benefit cap have now found jobs, according to DWP figures.  Statistics from the DWP also show 3,340 households that had their benefits capped either reduced their housing benefit claim or stopped claiming it altogether, while 1,570 households reduced the amount they receive in other benefits. Lord Freud, said: "The benefit cap is rewarding families who want to work hard and get on, and already we are seeing thousands of people finding jobs and moving off benefits. Read more on 24dash.

Freud to Break Bedroom Tax Pledge

Lord Freud has backtracked on his pledge to protect vulnerable and disabled people from the bedroom tax, new government guidance has confirmed.  Currently, supported housing is classified as ‘exempt accommodation’ and not included in the bedroom tax, benefit cap or universal credit. But identical accommodation does not count as exempt if the landlord is a council or not the provider of care.  Previously, the minister has suggested the government had been successful in fulfilling a pledge to protect supported accommodation not meeting the current ‘exempt’ definition from the ‘unintended consequences’ of welfare reform. In a letter to housing groups, the DWP said: ‘We believe virtually all the provision previously at risk will now be protected by these changes.’ But new DWP has dashed housing providers’ hopes that more supported housing will be protected from the bedroom tax. Read more on Inside Housing.

Kris Hopkins Says Disabled People Hit By Bedroom Tax Need to Change Their Ways

Housing Minister Kris Hopkins said some disabled people were having difficulty adjusting to the “cultural change” of how they spend their money.  His comments to the Work and Pensions Select Committee were branded “shocking” by Labour MPs.  Lord Freud revealed that 23,000 disabled people who need to stay in their adapted homes have been hit by the tax. But Mr Hopkins said some of them were having difficulties with the tax because they were “set in their ways” in relation to their spending. “There are vulnerable individuals, there are people who are set in their ways about the way that they spend and use their money,” he said to gasps of astonishment from MPs on the committee. Read more on the Daily Mirror website.