Appealing a Non-Decision?

Owen_Kric

Thanks - MP - I may yet go down that line. I phoned them again this afternoon and they told me my appeal had been sent back to the assessment team and so there is no update. The telephone voice told me to call back early next week. She also said she wasn't in the HB office then put me hold while she 'had a word with the person who escalated the case' - in other words, I was talking to the Benefit Office.

When_the_going_gets_tough

If it is anything like our local council most of the housing benefit staff have been made redundant, the temporary workers have been let go as the council has no money, and the remaining front line staff are in a state of melt down from over work and an impossible situation for them to deal with.

Owen_Kric

When_the_going_gets_tough wrote: »

If it is anything like our local council most of the housing benefit staff have been made redundant, the temporary workers have been let go as the council has no money, and the remaining front line staff are in a state of melt down from over work and an impossible situation for them to deal with.

Noted with thanks, but is that any excuse for them not knowing their own HB guidance rulings, for stopping someone's rent to the landlord for 3 months - risking the bailiffs &/or eviction - and for stopping Council Tax relief so that the hapless claimant is issued with a court summons?

If the council workers in question want to know the meaning of 'melt down' I suggest they try swallowing some of their own medicine, which I notice they do not stint on handing out to others.

The sparsely sentenced email I received from the council at length dismissing the court proceedings contained no explanation, no apology, and contained a grammatical error so obvious a Year 6 school pupil would have spotted it. The signatory wasn't even a proper council employee but agency staff recruited by the council in question - a company with a name like 'Capital'. So while I cautiously accept your words, may I ask you where councils are finding the public money to engage agency staff please, thereby filling the pockets of private companies?

Housing_Benefit_Officer

Owen_Kric wrote: »

The signatory wasn't even a proper council employee but agency staff recruited by the council in question - a company with a name like 'Capital'. So while I cautiously accept your words, may I ask you where councils are finding the public money to engage agency staff please, thereby filling the pockets of private companies?

With Universal Credit Local Authorities won't need 20,000 Housing Benefit Officers to administer Housing Benefit. With the timetable of Universal Credit completely ballsed up and behind schedule then there is a general reluctance to employ full time Housing Benefit staff that might be made redundant at a greater cost in the very near future. Far better to get agency staff from Capita or employ someone on a 12 month contract. When Universal Credit is fully rolled out Local Authorities will no longer hands Housing Benefit but they will handle their Local Council Tax reduction schemes so they will still retain some but not all Housing Benefit staff.

dippy3103

Housing_Benefit_Officer wrote: »

With Universal Credit Local Authorities won't need 20,000 Housing Benefit Officers to administer Housing Benefit. With the timetable of Universal Credit completely ballsed up and behind schedule then there is a general reluctance to employ full time Housing Benefit staff that might be made redundant at a greater cost in the very near future. Far better to get agency staff from Capita or employ someone on a 12 month contract. When Universal Credit is fully rolled out Local Authorities will no longer hands Housing Benefit but they will handle their Local Council Tax reduction schemes so they will still retain some but not all Housing Benefit staff.

The creeping death has already started with LA fraud staff going over to the DWP.

Have read several reports recommending that HB be left out of UC. One wonders if it will be blindly full speed ahead and ignore the obvious problems.

In the interim stories like the o/p's will get more & more common place as experienced staff jump before they are pushed and are not replaced.

Housing_Benefit_Officer

dippy3103 wrote: »

The creeping death has already started with LA fraud staff going over to the DWP.

Have read several reports recommending that HB be left out of UC. One wonders if it will be blindly full speed ahead and ignore the obvious problems.

In the interim stories like the o/p's will get more & more common place as experienced staff jump before they are pushed and are not replaced.

I hope to be made redundant, but I doubt I will, as my redundancy package would be extremely large. My Local Authority gives one weeks wages for every years service plus another weeks wages so I would get 48 weeks pay We think they will get rid of all the fairly new staff and retain all the older more experienced staff as it will cost too much to make us all redundant. We think many will move to Council Tax, Business Rates or Housing so a year or so before it is likely to happen they will stop recruiting in these departments to create the vacancies to move staff across. We think we will have DWP computers so members of the public can complete their UC claims at the council offices.

dippy3103

dippy3103 wrote: »

The creeping death has already started with LA fraud staff going over to the DWP.

Have read several reports recommending that HB be left out of UC. One wonders if it will be blindly full speed ahead and ignore the obvious problems.

In the interim stories like the o/p's will get more & more common place as experienced staff jump before they are pushed and are not replaced.

Housing_Benefit_Officer wrote: »

I hope to be made redundant, but I doubt I will, as my redundancy package would be extremely large. My Local Authority gives one weeks wages for every years service plus another weeks wages so I would get 48 weeks pay We think they will get rid of all the fairly new staff and retain all the older more experienced staff as it will cost too much to make us all redundant. We think many will move to Council Tax, Business Rates or Housing so a year or so before it is likely to happen they will stop recruiting in these departments to create the vacancies to move staff across. We think we will have DWP computers so members of the public can complete their UC claims at the council offices.

As Pensioners claims will be staying with LA's, depending on demographics for each council this could be a significant chunk of work.

I can't help wondering if UC will be pushed forward if we have a new Government come 8th May next year.

Owen_Kric

My jaw drops - I had no idea :-| Are the general public aware of this chaos? I doubt it. They will rue it when they get to retirement age and find IDS's legacy round the corner waiting for them.

Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for HB to revise their decision which is now - by their own timing - three months in the waiting & two months overdue.

dippy3103

I suspect it's going to get much worse.

Housing_Benefit_Officer

dippy3103 wrote: »

As Pensioners claims will be staying with LA's, depending on demographics for each council this could be a significant chunk of work.

I can't help wondering if UC will be pushed forward if we have a new Government come 8th May next year.

I had forgotten that pensioners were going to be excluded from Universal Credit - my pet hate that pensioners are excluded from the Council Tax cuts and the Bedroom Tax and get above inflation benefit increases.

More madness that Housing Benefit will be paid to pensioners by Local Authorities but working age claimants will get Universal Credit! Why split a benefit between separate administrators depending on age! Perhaps they realised it would be impossible to get a 90 year old to complete an online form themselves!