VE Day: Council duties under the Armed Forces Covenant
As we mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, Geoff Wild, Legal & Governance Consultant, looks at the duties of councils under the Armed Forces Covenant.
Growth alone won’t cut child poverty, research finds
29/01/2025 Labour will make no progress on child poverty by the end of this Parliament unless it invests in social security, new analysis has found. |
Tower Hamlets to introduce school uniform grants
10/01/2025 The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is set to introduce school uniform grants for families on low incomes. |
Scottish Government pledges to scrap two-child benefit cap
05/12/2024 The Scottish Government has announced plans to scrap Westminster’s ‘pernicious’ two-child cap on benefits. |
Councils step up to help pensioners hit by winter fuel scheme cuts
16/09/2024 Councils are working to help older people keep their homes warm after the Government axed winter fuel payments for about 10 million pensioners. |
LGA warns of ‘impending cliff-edge’ when support fund ends
15/08/2024 Council bosses are again urging the Government to extend the Household Support Fund (HSF) to avoid an ‘impending cliff-edge’ in support. |
Annual welfare spending to rise by £20bn
13/06/2024 Welfare spending is set to increase by £20.8bn a year by the end of the next parliament, a think-tank has found. |
Budget: Household Support Fund extended
06/03/2024 A scheme aimed at supporting the most vulnerable households will be extended for another six months, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has announced in the Budget. |
Finance chiefs join Household Support Fund plea
14/02/2024 Senior finance officers across London have urged the Government to extend the Household Support Fund (HSF) into the 2024-25 financial year. |
Household Support Fund doubt leaving councils ‘in limbo’
05/02/2024 Councils have urged the Government to commit to extending the Household Support Fund (HSF) at a time of ‘record demand’. |
Core Cities in Household Support Fund warning
01/02/2024 Failing to extend the Household Support Fund will be ‘catastrophic for many people in our poorest communities,’ Core Cities has warned Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. |
Welsh councils commit to improving benefits system
22/01/2024 All local authorities in Wales have signed up to a new charter, committing to work with the Welsh Government to develop a consistent benefits system. |
5,000 winter deaths caused by cold, damp homes
18/01/2024 Cold, damp homes caused an estimated 4,950 excess winter deaths in 2022-23, according to the End Fuel Poverty Coalition. |
DWP fails to commit to continuing Household Support Fund
08/01/2024 The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has failed to commit to making the Household Support Fund (HSF) available to councils in 2024-25. |
Seven in 10 councils struggling amid cost of living crisis
03/10/2023 Seven in 10 councils are struggling to support people hit by the cost of living crisis, according to new research published today. |
Millions of households struggle with rent payments
26/09/2023 Seven million households across the UK are struggling to keep up with their rent or mortgage payments, according to research published today by Which? |
Tech firm urges Government to overhaul welfare systems
30/08/2023 We Are Digital has called on the Government to tear up ‘outdated and siloed’ welfare models and implement an approach that could save councils millions. |
Fresh calls to raise local housing allowance
23/08/2023 Calls have been made for ministers to increase local housing allowance (LHA) after research revealed 85% of English councils are facing a rise in homelessness. |
Rent arrears surge
02/08/2023 Four in five council landlords have reported growing rent arrears over the past year, according to the findings of a new survey. |
Two-child benefit limit failure, study says
02/06/2023 There is no evidence that capping child benefits increases employment, a new study has found. |
Councils better placed to deliver welfare than DWP, leaders claim
26/04/2023 Sector representatives were brought before the Work and Pensions Committee to hear their experiences of delivering the Household Support Fund. |
Over 8m families receive cost-of-living support
25/04/2023 Over eight million low-income families are set to receive £301 cost-of-living payment from today. |
Council benefits teams struggling, auditors warn
14/02/2023 People are waiting longer for housing benefit claims while Scotland’s councils face soaring workloads, fewer staff and high absence levels, auditors warn. |
Council chiefs call for extra support for 13.4m in poverty
26/01/2023 Millions of people still face poverty despite recent support, council leaders warn as shocking new study that reveals four million children in poor households. |
DWP urged to devolve employment support to councils
02/12/2022 Local authority leaders have called for all employment support to be devolved to councils rather than contracted out to large providers. |
District warning over temporary accommodation shortage
02/11/2022 Four-fifths of district councils have warned of shortages of temporary accommodation to meet a rising tide of homelessness fuelled by the cost of living crisis, new research has found. |
Mini-Budget: Universal Credit sanctions tightened
23/09/2022 Tens of thousands of people on Universal Credit face sanctions and reductions if they do not show up at jobcentres, under plans unveiled by the chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng. |
Cost-of-living crisis to have ‘catastrophic’ impact
21/09/2022 The cost-of-living crisis is likely to have a ‘catastrophic’ impact on homelessness and so should be treated with the same level of urgency as the pandemic. |
Charity calls for suspension of UC deductions
30/06/2022 Suspending deductions from UC for Government debt would help over a million low income households struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, researchers say. |
Council chiefs urge pensioners to apply for cost-of-living benefits
15/06/2022 Local authority leaders today called on pensioners who are eligible for Pension Credit to apply for the top-up welfare payment to help with the cost of living. |
Value of benefit payments at 50-year low
11/04/2022 Today’s increase in benefit payments marks the greatest fall in the value of the basic rate of unemployment benefit since 1972, think tank says. |
Landlords call for ‘absurd’ housing benefit freeze to be lifted
01/04/2022 Landlords have called on the Government to unfreeze the Local Housing Allowance to cover the average rent. |
Nine million families will be £500 worse off from April, analysis reveals
25/02/2022 A real-terms cut to benefits could push 400,000 people into poverty by April, new analysis has warned today. |
Personal Independence Payment for people with mental health problems: Implications for local government
18/10/2021 Richard Machin outlines the findings of a new paper exploring the impact of welfare reform on local government services. |
Schools ‘propping up a failing welfare state’
15/10/2021 A 'failing' welfare system is forcing families to rely on schools for basic needs such as access to food, academics have said in a new report. |
Devolved governments express ‘grave concerns’ over welfare cuts
31/08/2021 The devolved governments have written to the UK Government expressing ‘grave concerns’ regarding plans to withdraw a £20-per-week increase to UC. |
Charities call for impact assessment of welfare cuts
17/08/2021 Charities have called on Government to publish an assessment of the impact on renters of decisions to freeze Local Housing Allowance and cut Universal Credit. |
Keep up COVID funding to end homelessness, says Kerslake
27/07/2021 Ending homelessness is possible, but the Government needs to keep up funding or face a post-pandemic surge, an independent commission concluded. |
London's 'triple whammy' risks homelessness crisis
20/05/2021 London Councils has warned there is a ‘triple whammy’ of impending risks that threaten to push homelessness to record levels this summer. |
Pre-paid card firms supplying councils acted ‘as a cartel’, regulator says
01/04/2021 Three out of five firms that issue councils with pre-paid cards have admitted to breaching competition rules and agreed to pay penalties totalling over £32m. |
Welfare state and social services had ‘serious weaknesses’ before COVID, study says
22/02/2021 A new study has revealed the extent to which the impact of COVID-19 has been exacerbated by pre-existing fault-lines in the welfare state and social services. |
Council chiefs call for restoration of local welfare funding
13/01/2021 Local authority leaders have called on the Government to restore local welfare funding as a study warns of the impact the pandemic is having on people who were already struggling with poverty. |
One million households face UC debt deductions
07/01/2021 More than one million households who were forced to claim universal credit (UC) when coronavirus struck are having debt deductions taken from their benefit payments, according to a child poverty charity. |
Think tank calls for a 'family stimulus' boost
28/10/2020 A 'family stimulus' would help support hard-hit families through the pandemic, a new report has said. |
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MPs call for ‘starter payment’ to support new UC claimants
19/10/2020 A starter payment should be made to people claiming Universal Credit (UC) for the first time to ensure that they have enough money for the basics, MPs say. |
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Failure to deliver pension credit costing care system £4bn a year
14/09/2020 Failure to deliver pension credit to a million older people who are entitled to it is costing the health and social care system £4bn a year, report reveals. |
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A third more families with children now claiming universal credit
12/08/2020 Over 400,000 more families with children started claiming universal credit since the start of the pandemic, a charity has said. |
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ADCS president calls for welfare overhaul
08/07/2020 The impact of the pandemic on children’s futures must not be underestimated, the president of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) has said. |
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Nearly two thirds of families on Universal Credit stuck in debt ‘nightmare’
18/06/2020 Two charities have called on the Government to increase the child element of UC by £20 to help struggling families ‘stay afloat’ during the Covid lockdown. |
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Councils call for suspension of No Recourse to Public Funds
12/06/2020 Council leaders have called on the Government to ensure vulnerable people can access support regardless of their immigration status during the pandemic. |
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Universal credit 'is key to hardship', says think tank
02/04/2020 Universal credit is the ‘key to many families avoiding real hardship’, the Resolution Foundation think tank has claimed. |
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Nearly 500,000 new Universal Credit claims made in nine days
26/03/2020 A think tank has warned that the UK is in the midst of an unemployment crisis as 477,000 new Universal Credit (UC) claims are made in nine days. |
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Over 20 charities call for inquiry into ‘welfare-related deaths’
12/03/2020 Twenty-one charities and mental health organisations have thrown their weight behind a campaign calling for an independent inquiry into the deaths of people relying on the welfare system. |
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Housing benefit reform a ‘false economy’
27/02/2020 Councils have been left carrying the financial burden of reforms to housing benefit, new research has revealed today. |
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Welfare overhaul driven ‘at least’ 69 people to suicide, auditors say
10/02/2020 Auditors have warned that the number of suicides relating to welfare reforms may exceed the 69 that the Government has investigated to date. |
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End housing allowance freeze to help 100,000 people, council chiefs say
05/02/2020 More than 100,000 people would be protected from financial hardship if Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates were lifted to cover the cost of renting, local authority leaders say. |
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Calls for urgent reform of Local Housing Allowance rates
03/02/2020 Changes to Local Housing Allowance rates will fail to protect people from homelessness, the Scottish housing minister has warned. |
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Universal Credit creating ‘a complex mix of winners and losers’
21/01/2020 The impact Universal Credit is having on different parts of the country is being ‘ignored’ a think tank has warned today. |
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Local housing allowance ‘freeze’ ended
14/01/2020 The Government has announced that it will end the four-year freeze on the local housing allowance (LHA) which charities blame for a rise in homelessness. |
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DWP ‘condemns’ 2,000 terminally ill people to die without benefits, charity says
13/01/2020 A charity has accused the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) of condemning 2,000 people in six months to die without benefits. |
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Lack of housing benefit forcing families to give up food to pay rent, charity warns
07/01/2020 Families are being forced to give up food shopping in order to pay their rent, a charity has warned today. |
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Benefits payments at lowest level since 1948, says think tank
19/11/2019 Social security payments are at their lowest level since the 1948, a new report from a think tank has found. |
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Welfare provision ‘overly centralised’, London council chiefs say
17/10/2019 Council leaders in London have called on Whitehall to give them the powers to deliver local welfare support to residents. |
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Local Housing Allowance 'inadequate' for family homes, research warns
07/10/2019 More than nine out of ten family homes for private rent are too expensive for people on housing benefit, new analysis has revealed. |
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Poverty result of ‘political decisions’, MPs say
31/07/2019 The poverty and destitution levels in the UK are the result of political decisions made since 2010, MPs have said. |
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Universal Credit appeals blocked by ‘error and failures’, charity finds
19/07/2019 Universal Credit claimants who suspect the Department for Work and Pensions has made a mistake in their award are too often blocked by ‘error and failures’ in the system, a new study finds. |
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Healing the divisions through local economic power
16/05/2019 The nation is becoming increasingly divided, but a think tank report on Britain post-Brexit provides a positive vision for the future, says Mark Whitehead. |
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Most councils warn benefit freeze will make more people homeless
15/05/2019 Nine out of 10 councils believe the housing benefit freeze will push more people into homelessness, a new survey has revealed. |
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Housing policy putting young women at risk, study warns
14/05/2019 Young women are being forced into unsafe housing due to the government’s housing benefit policy, a new study has concluded. |
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DWP pursues 80,000 carers for overpaid allowances
26/04/2019 The Government is pursuing thousands of carers for repayment of overpaid care allowances despite not knowing the impact this will have, auditors say. |
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Benefits system causing ‘serious psychological distress’
04/03/2019 The benefits system is causing people with mental health problems ‘serious psychological distress’, a charity has revealed. |
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Poor, urban areas see majority of homeless deaths
26/02/2019 Welfare cuts and a lack of social housing are driving the homelessness crisis which has resulted in hundreds of deaths, particularly in poor, urban areas. |
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Childhood poverty set to hit ‘record highs’
20/02/2019 The proportion of children living in poverty risks hitting a record high by the end of the parliament, a shocking new report has revealed. |
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Disabled Universal Credit claimants take DWP to court for ‘irrational’ decision
23/01/2019 Two households are challenging the Department for Work and Pensions in court after being forced to move to UC and losing hundreds of pounds as a result. |
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Greater Manchester’s reforms ‘as radical as the creation of the welfare state’
29/11/2018 Greater Manchester is radically overhauling the way it delivers public services in what is being billed as a ‘big test for devolution’. |
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Universal Credit claimants given more time to switch over
06/11/2018 Universal Credit claimants are to be given more time to switch to the new benefit after warnings from campaigners and MPs that payment delays were causing hardship for vulnerable people. |
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Budget 2018: Billion-pound Universal Credit pledge
29/10/2018 A billion pounds has been promised in an attempt to ease benefits claimants’ transition to Universal Credit. |
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Councils could generate £320bn with new housing powers
29/10/2018 Local authorities would be able to generate £320bn for the wider economy if they had the powers to build a ‘new generation’ of high-quality council housing. |
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Universal Credit driving welfare claimants to foodbanks, charity says
05/10/2018 The next stage in the change to Universal Credit could lead to a big increase in the use of foodbanks, anti-poverty campaigners have warned. |
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Universal Credit chief admits support is not working
01/10/2018 The civil servant in charge of the Universal Credit rollout has admitted support for claimants has not been effective, as responsibility was handed to the charity sector. |
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Welfare support has 'collapsed' for many in England
19/09/2018 One in six top-tier councils are not providing vital welfare services devolved to them just as the sector’s budget cuts hit hard. |
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Supported housing to be funded by welfare system
09/08/2018 Council leaders have welcomed the announcement that supported housing will be funded through housing benefit. |
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70% of councils struggle to house the homeless, figures reveal
12/04/2018 Over two thirds of local authorities surveyed said they had difficulties finding social housing for homeless people last year, new report reveals. |
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Research warns of 'design flaw' in Universal Credit
12/04/2018 A ‘design flaw’ in Universal Credit is leaving self-employed workers at a financial disadvantage, new research has warned today. |
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Homelessness statistics ‘national disgrace’, pressure group says
22/03/2018 The latest homelessness figures reveal the number of households in temporary accommodation is just under 79,000. |
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Million children to lose free school meals under Universal Credit
19/12/2017 One million children living in poverty in England will miss out on free school meals under Universal Credit (UC) proposals, a children’s charity has warned. |
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Pause the rollout of Universal Credit argues Welsh councils
26/10/2017 The rollout of Universal Credit (UC) must be paused, the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) has urged. |
