Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit
Discretionary Payments
Section 69: Discretionary financial assistance with housing
819.Under these provisions local authorities will have discretion to provide people entitled to Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit (HB/CTB), or both, with additional financial assistance with their rent or Council Tax. These payments will help alleviate exceptional hardship people may incur where their rent is above that met by Housing Benefit, and to cater for unforeseen exceptional circumstances, such as non-payment of wages.
820.The provisions will provide for discretionary housing payments made by the local authorities to be paid in addition to benefit entitlement. The decision to make payments will be discretionary. The local authority will decide whether to make payment and the level of each payment based on the circumstances of each individual case. The total amount a local authority will be able to spend on the discretionary scheme in any one year will be part of the framework of the scheme determined by the Secretary of State but the decision to pay on any particular case will be for the local authority. People requesting help from the discretionary scheme will be able to ask local authorities to review their decision if for whatever reason they are dissatisfied.
821.Subsection (1) provides for regulations which will enable local authorities to make discretionary payments to people in receipt of HB/CTB.
Subsection (1)(a) and (b) provide for regulations to be made conferring powers on local authorities to consider making payments to people entitled to HB/CTB who appear, to the local authority, to need further financial assistance to meet their housing costs. It is also intended that the regulations will set out the information that will be required by local authorities to make decisions, and the provision for people to ask for decisions to be reviewed. Decisions about the people to help, the financial amount, and the period for which such help shall be given, will be for the local authorities to determine.
822.Subsection (2) provides for the regulation-making powers which will set out the conditions and circumstances under which these payments may be considered.
Subsection (2)(a) provides for regulations to be made for the circumstances under which discretionary housing payments may be made. It is intended that the regulations made under this power will enable local authorities to consider making payments to tenants (other than local authority tenants) entitled to HB, for example to alleviate exceptional hardship, and to claimants entitled to HB or CTB, for example, to cater for unforeseen exceptional circumstances.
Subsection (2)(b) enables regulations to be made to provide that decisions about whether to help any particular persons, the amount of the payments and the period for which the help should be given, will be (subject to what follows) for local authorities.
Subsection (2)(c) enables regulations to be made imposing a limit on the amount of the discretionary housing payment that may be made in any particular case. It is intended that the regulations will specify that the additional financial help given to any person should not exceed the eligible rent (contractual rent less ineligible charges) as prescribed by the HB scheme, or where the help is for the paying of council tax, not higher than the amount a person would otherwise be entitled to under the rules of the CTB scheme.
Subsection (2)(d) enables regulations to be made to restrict the period for which discretionary housing payments are made.
Subsection (2)(e) enables regulations to be made to set out the way in which people should apply for discretionary payments and the way in which local authorities should deal with those claims. The regulations may, for example, require local authorities to deal with the claims timeously and to notify their decisions within a set time.
Subsection (2)(f) enables regulations to be made to enable local authorities to gather such relevant information from the people as is reasonably required to enable them to make a decision.
Subsection (2)(g) enables regulations to be made in respect of the circumstances in which discretionary housing payments could cease, for example, where the person is no longer entitled to housing benefit or council tax benefit, and will enable the recovery of overpayments.
Subsection (2)(h) enables regulations to be made to provide for local authorities to review their decisions in particular circumstances.
823.Subsection (3) provides that regulations made under this section should be subject to negative procedure. Subsection (4) provides supplementary incidental powers to be used when making regulations under the provisions of this section. Subsection (5) enables regulations to be made for different areas or different local authorities should the need arise.
824.Subsection (6) amends section 176(1) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 to require consultation with representative organisations, for example, the Local Authority Associations, prior to the making of regulations under the above provisions.
825.Subsection (7) defines the terms used.
Section 70: Grants towards the cost of discretionary housing payments
826.Under these provisions, local authorities will have the power to make discretionary payments in certain circumstances. These payments will be cash-limited in order to ensure that the discretion is used prudently. Powers will allow Central Government to provide authorities with financial assistance with the scheme both in terms of the scheme’s administration and the payments made under it.
827.This section makes financial provision in respect of the housing discretionary payment scheme. It provides for the receipt and distribution of money by the Secretary of State to authorities in order to enable them to make discretionary housing payments, but with a ceiling on the total which they can spend.
828.Subsection (1) makes provisions for each authority to be given central Government funding towards their discretionary housing payments, and administrative expenditure.
829.Subsection (2) makes provision in respect of the calculation and payment of the amount of housing discretionary payments by applying certain provisions of section 140B and 140C of the Administration Act.
830.Subsection (3) enables the Secretary of State, by order, to make provision for an upper limit to be set, or to impose subsidiary limits, on the amount which authorities can spend on discretionary payments in any financial year. Subsection (4) provides that the order may specify those limits or provide for the way in which the limit should be determined. Subsection (5) provides for the Parliamentary control of the order made under this section, by providing for the negative procedure to be followed.
831.Subsection (6) provides supplementary incidental powers to be used when making Orders under the provisions of this section. Subsection (7) enables regulations to be made for different areas or different local authorities should the need arise.
832.Subsection (8) defines the terms used.
