Thank you for your Freedom of Information (FoI) internal review request received on 23 September You asked:

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1 Central FoI Team Caxton House 6-12 Tothill Street London SW1H 9NA Glenys Harriman Our Ref: IR 410 Date 11 October 2016 Dear Ms Harriman Thank you for your Freedom of Information (FoI) internal review request received on 23 September You asked: I am writing to request an internal review of Department for Work and Pensions's handling of my FOI request 'Proof of UC housing costs when requesting a Discretionary Housing Payment'. The answers given did not address the questions I asked. perhaps that was my fault for summarising what I was asking as the responder did not appear to take note of the issues I had pointed out prior to the summary. Question 1 Please could you confirm whether the message above* does only apply to requests for claimant UC details for LCTR, or if it also includes requests for UC claimant details for the purposes of determining if the claimant is eligible for a DHP? *The "message above" was: "Message to Local Authorities (Please ignore if not LA) As the automated LCTR process has now gone live, your LA will receive notifications via the Data Hub for new claims and relevant changes in circumstances. The new claim information will be shared when the UC claimant's identity has been verified and the payment information will be sent at the end of the claimant's assessment period when the payment has been made to the claimant. Going forward therefore we will only reply to any LA request for historical information received by " and I had explained that I was concerned this could mean LAs, in trying to ascertain if a UC claimant had a housing cost element, would now be unable to request this information from DWP if they did not have a LCTR award.

2 Instead the answer I received was telling me that "the information for LCTR can be used for DHP claims as stated in the guidance if the local authority wishes to do so". Which was not at all what I asked. In fact the "data sharing powers" which were referred to in the quoted guidance was what I was concerned had been removed. I had asked: "I am especially concerned about UC claimants who do not receive LCTR ( local Council Tax Reduction) - as this route for the LA to access proof would not be open to them. " and I had quoted the very guidance to which I had been referred. I had said : " The Discretionary Housing Payments Guide states: "If a claimant is in receipt of UC, any information held for local Council Tax support may also be used to process a DHP application. If you do not hold this information, data sharing powers introduced on 2 July 2012 (The Social Security (Informationsharing in relation to Welfare Services etc.) Regulations SI 2012 No. 1483) provide a gateway for LAs to obtain relevant information from the Department. " And said: "This also does not explain how the LA actually access this information in Full Service Areas." Please re-read my question and respond. Question 2. Please could you send me any documents/guidance describing the procedure for an LA to receive proof of UC and housing cost entitlement for the purposes of determining if the claimant is eligible for a DHP? Again I was referred to guidance which I had actually quoted in my FOI! G paragraphs I had asked: "HB Bulletin G8/2016 states: "In the full service, entitlement to housing costs in Universal Credit can be proved via access to a claimant s online account. " But this does not explain HOW. Is there any procedural guidance that explains how this happens- does it mean : (a) that the LA will have to have access to the claimant's online account? Or (b) that the claimant would need to log onto their account in the physical presence of the LA? Or (c) that the claimant would something from their account to the LA as proof? - because in the Full Service area the claimants do not receive paper notifications. " These paragraphs do not answer the question of procedure. Please re-read and respond. Question 3.

3 Again the fact sheet to which I was referred, and the answer about LAs having discretion, does not answer the question if HOW, procedurally, it is expected that a LA can go about checking whether or not a UC claimant has a housing cost element, especially if the claimant doesn't have ready online access and/or if they do not have a LCTR. (So often the problems we come across are not so much to do with the UC regulations but HOW THINGS ACTUALLY HAPPEN- procedural matters such as claimants having problems with online access, not having enough credit on the phone, not being able to keep communication lines open when at work (if in In Progression Pilots), landlords not receiving notifications, APAs stopping without apparent reason, not being able to get through on the phone, Job Centre staff saying different things... DWP Response In response to your request, I can confirm that the handling of your original request and response has now been appropriately reviewed by someone unconnected with the handling of your original request. As a result of this review I find that the original decision was not correct and as such your request for review is upheld. The information that you request is therefore noted below: Please could you confirm whether the message above* does only apply to requests for claimant UC details for LCTR, or if it also includes requests for UC claimant details for the purposes of determining if the claimant is eligible for a DHP? Question 2: Please could you send me any documents/guidance describing the procedure for an LA to receive proof of UC and housing cost entitlement for the purposes of determining if the claimant is eligible for a DHP? Question 3: Again the fact sheet to which I was referred, and the answer about LAs having discretion, does not answer the question if HOW, procedurally, it is expected that a LA can go about checking whether or not a UC claimant has a housing cost element, especially if the claimant doesn't have ready online access and/or if they do not have a LCTR. Live Service If a claimant makes a request for a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) from the Local Authority (LA), the LA will request Universal Credit (UC) data from DWP to support the claim. The LA will securely a completed Discretionary Housing Payments Request for Information template (UC 306) to the UC shared mailbox.

4 Relevant UC claim and UC award data will be shared with the LA on the DHP proforma (UC 395) along with a copy of the Secretary of State letter. This information will be ed to the designated secure account. If DWP is unable to supply the data, a DHP proforma (UC307) will be ed to the designated secure account. This may be because; A UC claim doesn t yet exist for the claimant ie. the DHP request was received prior to the first UC payment being made to the claimant The Housing Element is not part of the claimant s UC award UC can find no record of the claimant Full Service The process described above that exists in live service has not been replicated in full service. The claimant can access their own account online and can show, , or print their housing statement to their Local Authority. LAs do not have access to the claimant s account. If a claimant makes a request for a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP), the LA are advised to check the Customer Information System (CIS) to confirm UC entitlement and/or request the award details directly from the claimant. UC full service records each element of the UC award within CIS each month, including the housing element Data sharing DWP will share relevant Universal Credit claimant information electronically with the LAs, to support the processing of the Local Council Tax Reduction (LCTR) claims in Live and Full service LAs. The information will be shared when it has been established that the claimant has a liability to pay council Tax and that they wish to/or are already in receipt of a reduction in the council tax. If the claimant s circumstances change and they are no longer claiming LCTR, the data share will stop. If you have any queries about this letter please contact the Department quoting the reference number above. Yours sincerely, DWP Central FoI Team

5 Your right to complain under the Freedom of Information Act If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner s Office for a decision. Generally the Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted our own complaints procedure. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF