Benefits

• Council signs £65m deal with Capita

  Westminster City Council has renewed its contract with Capita in a deal worth around £65m over a decade.

  

• Disability benefit sanctions ‘arbitrarily punitive’, MPs say

  The existing regime of benefit sanctions for those with disabilities or other health conditions is ‘arbitrarily punitive’ and needs reassessing, MPs have warned.

  

• Councils cheated out of £1m by housing benefit assessors

  Lambeth, Kingston, and Barking and Dagenham councils were cheated out of £1m by a group of housing benefit assessors who used dummy claimants, court has heard.

  

• Charity to provide DWP-funded Universal Credit support

  The charity Citizens Advice is to start providing Government-backed support to help Universal Credit claimants navigate the new welfare system.

  

• What are councils spending on discretionary housing payments?

  Local authorities are spending record sums on emergency payments to households that otherwise face eviction by private or social landlords. Neil Merrick investigates.

  

• Court rules bereavement benefit restrictions breaches human rights

  Denying bereavement benefits to unmarried, cohabiting partners with children is incompatible with human rights law, court rules.

  

• Letting agents discriminate against tenants on benefits

  Several major letting agents are discriminating against tenants on housing benefit, according to campaigners.

  

• UC claimants lose ‘hundreds of pounds’ due to assessment timing

  Many Universal Credit claimants are losing hundreds of pounds each year because their payday falls too close to their assessment date, a charity has revealed.

  

• Universal Credit is a ‘flawed’ system, housing organisations warn

  A group of housing organisations yesterday warned that Universal Credit is ‘flawed’ and is causing debt, suffering and hardship for millions.

  

• Charity warns councils are depriving four million older people of benefits

  Nearly four million older people are being denied access to key benefits because they do not use computers, according to campaigners.