Benefits Training For Corporate Deputies

AVAILABLE FOR IN-HOUSE BOOKINGS ONLY

An introduction to Universal Credit, Housing Benefit, ESA and PIP for clients whose affairs are managed by local authority Social Care staff under a Corporate Deputyship Order.

This Workshop focusses on the issues affecting benefits claimants whose financial affairs are managed by Deputyship staff: Making a claim, managing a continuing award, and dealing with common situations such as migrating to UC or avoiding migration to UC.

Where a local authority is appointed as a deputy for an adult social care client (typically a person with a learning disability or acquired brain injury), the rights and responsibilities of the client in the social security system essentially pass to the Deputy. This means that deputies need to act promptly where there are time limits to claim benefits or submit appeals; and Deputies need to make sure that the person is claiming everything they can claim and at the correct rate.

This Workshop will provide an overview of the benefits most typically claimed on behalf of Deputyship clients, with a particular focus on the deputy’s role in setting up the claim and managing it effectively.

We will look at the means tested benefits available to working age deputyship clients: Universal Credit for living costs and, depending on the type of accommodation occupied by the client, some housing costs; and Housing Benefit which is still available for certain types of accommodation. Corporate Deputies are often hesitant to become in involved in appeals against their own authority’s HB and CTR decisions – we will consider when any potential conflict of interest does and does not arise.

Many Deputyship clients are exempt from paying Council Tax, or entitled to a discount on their bill, and we will look at how this works. For those not exempt, there is also the means-tested Council Tax Reduction scheme which we will also consider. 

As many Deputyship clients are young adults leaving care, we will look at the rules that are most likely to affect this group, including:

· Entitlement of people in education;

· Exclusion of certain care leavers from benefits.

Some people are still receiving income-related ESA for living costs and have not yet switched to UC. In the Deputyship client group, these are likely to be people who are entitled to a supplement known as the Severe Disability Premium which does not exist in UC. It will normally be in these clients’ interests to remain on ESA if they possibly can and so we will look at some tips to avoid accidentally or ill-advisedly switching to UC. The course also covers managed migration to UC, including transitional protection for those who would otherwise lose out

While on the subject of means tested benefits, we will touch on bereavement planning and how families of Deputyship clients can arrange for an inheritance to take a form that does not impact on means tested benefits as capital.

The day also looks at non-means-tested benefits: Mainly Personal Independence Payment (and sometimes in the case of younger clients Disability Living Allowance which is the predecessor of PIP for people aged 16+). The PIP assessment criteria rely on scoring points for inability, or impaired ability to perform various daily self-care and mobility tasks. We will discuss how to provide supporting information and evidence in a way that maps easily to the point-scoring criteria.

Presented by Peter Barker, a hugely experienced trainer, appeals presenter and submission writer. He started as a local authority appeals officer in the 1980s, and for many years he has represented local authorities in England, Wales and Scotland at both First-Tier and Upper Tribunal level. Tribunal Judges frequently comment on the high quality of Peter’s submissions. He combines a wealth of first-hand experience with expert knowledge of adjudication legislation and has a real enthusiasm for the topic.

 Contact us for In-House & 'Zoom/TEAMS' booking information  for this topic.