INTRODUCTION

This policy document puts into context the criteria to be used for the assessment of applications to UNISON Welfare for financial assistance. Having criteria ensures:

  • The purposes for which assistance can be given are properly defined
  • The charity’s funds are being effectively and efficiently deployed in ways that achieve the benefits intended
  • There is uniformity of treatment, thinking and especially continuity where there is a change on the Board of Trustees or staff
  • Legal compliance

UNISON Welfare’s money is limited and its casework budget has to go a long way. Applying strict criteria means that all decisions can be justified and the trustees cannot be accused of misusing the charity’s money.

Whilst having criteria sets a fairly rigid framework it is acknowledged that there will be occasions where recommendations do not fit with current policy. Such cases will be presented to the Board of Trustees or nominated trustees whose decision will be final.

The Trustees will review the criteria biennially (or sooner if necessary) to ensure that UNISON Welfare’s funds are spent most effectively in carrying out the purposes of the charity. As part of this process, rather than trying to spread the charity’s resources thinly among many members the trustees will consider whether it might be more effective to target funds by giving larger benefits to a smaller number of people who are most in need and thus make an appreciable difference. In so doing, the Trustees will take into account the changing needs of UNISON members, economic and social circumstances and changes in the nature of public provision and the vulnerability of members on low incomes.

At the same time, the Trustees will make every effort to ensure that the benefits given to individuals are no more than those actually required to relieve their need.

This main policy document is supported by additional policy statements and procedures dealing with specific areas of activity. All should be considered together to form an integrated guide to best practice and procedures.

WHO CAN APPLY

The Constitution and Rules of UNISON Welfare (the Governing document), states that the following persons are eligible to apply to UNISON Welfare:

  1. Members of UNISON
  2. Past members of NALGO
  3. Bona fide dependants or partners of members/past members
  4. A bona fide dependant or partner of a deceased member/past member at the date of such member’s death
  5. UNISON staff paying such contribution as determined by the Board of Trustees

Note:
  • Applications may only be accepted from those referred to in points 3 & 4 above where evidence of past membership has been provided by the applicant.
  • A member must be up to date with their subscriptions at the time of applying.
  • Eligibility to apply does not in itself confer entitlement to financial assistance.

DEFINITIONS

Partner – references to partners includes same-sex partners.

A past member of NALGO - is defined as someone who on retirement, either on the grounds of age or health, was a fully paid up member of the Association.

Dependant - a dependency relationship will exist where it can be shown that the member is or in the case of a deceased member:

  • Making a regular financial contribution necessary for the support of an individual e.g. in the case of a child in education or, in the case or convalescence, providing significant and necessary physical care for that individual and;
  • Where the individual concerned belongs to the immediate family and/or household of the member.
  • Where the individual concerned belongs to the immediate family and/or household of the member but resides outside of the United Kingdom (Proof of relationship or dependency is required together with documents showing monies sent for their support).

Note:

The Board of Trustees shall decide at its absolute discretion whether a dependency relationship exists between an individual.

RESTRICTIONS

  • Unemployed members are eligible to apply for assistance up to two years from the date their employment was terminated.
  • Members who apply for financial assistance:

In the first 4 weeks of membership will receive advice only*

Who have been in membership for less than 3 months may not be awarded more than £x in financial support*

Who have been in membership of between 3-6 months may not be awarded more than £x in financial supported.*

*Note: These restrictions do not apply to members who have no recourse to public funds

  • No more than two applications for financial assistance (excluding requests submitted through the small grants programme) will normally be considered in any 3 year period other than where there are exceptional circumstances.
  • Financial assistance is at the absolute discretion of the charity whose decision is final. There is no right of appeal.
  • In all circumstances, applicants must demonstrate that the ‘hardship issue’ that led to their request for help occurred after they joined UNISON.

DEFINITION OF FINANCIAL HARDSHIP AND WHO QUALIFIES

The Constitution and Rules of UNISON Welfare are expressed in general terms and the Trustees will decide how help of real value may be given to members in need.

The Trustees accept that “Poverty” is not an absolute term and applicants do not have to be destitute to qualify as experiencing hardship, nor have to be “poor” over a long period of time to qualify. Someone suffering a temporary period of financial hardship due to a sudden change in circumstances might also be eligible for assistance. Anyone who does not have the means to access the normal things of life which most people take for granted may qualify for help.

UNISON has many low paid members whose financial circumstances would render them eligible for assistance. Generally speaking, applications will be assessed having regard for ‘unforeseen hardship’ e.g.

  • A sudden loss of income
  • Abnormal increase in expenditure
  • Death of a partner/dependant/relative
  • Circumstances which have put an unreasonable financial burden on a household and which could not have been predicted, anticipated or expected
  • The need for an essential item which the applicant cannot afford or reasonably be expected to budget for

Every application will be assessed in consideration of the following:

  • Whether the nature of the application falls within current policy
  • The financial position of the individual or household (including all income, capital whether immediately accessible or not, household expenditure, outstanding debts and liabilities)
  • The personal circumstances e.g. health, domestic, work etc
  • The consequences for those involved
  • Whether it is a long or short-term problem
  • What the applicant has done or tried to do to improve matters
  • What practical help and/or advice can be given by UNISON Welfare to help improve matters e.g. income maximisation through benefit advice and/or sourcing help and assistance through other organisations.
  • Whether the request is outside current policy but exceptional and/or wholly unusualcircumstances indicate that special consideration should be given to assisting

ADMINISTRATION AND DECISION MAKING

APPLICATIONS

Applications for financial assistancewill be assessed by a caseworker and presented to the Casework Team Leader or Head of Welfare for review. Applications from UNISON staff will be assessed by the Casework Team Leader and presented to the Head of Welfare.

DELEGATED POWERS

  • A caseworker may agree financial assistance up to £x in those cases where a small amount of assistance will suffice and no other financial assistance is required (see also emergency payments).
  • A caseworker may agree grants for Funeral costs, Wellbeing Breaks and Bankruptcy/Debt Relief Order costs within the limits specified in the eligibility criteria.
  • The Casework Team Leader or Head of Welfare may refuse applications for financial assistance where the applicant has been dismissed on the grounds of gross misconduct.
  • A caseworker may agree total assistance on an individual case up to £x as delegated by the Casework Team Leader or Head of Welfare
  • The Casework Team Leader may agree financial assistance up to £x.
  • With the Head of Welfare the Team Leader may agree assistance up to £x.
  • Urgent applications of between £x- £x will be referred to the nominated trustees. In non-urgent matters and/or where Trustees are scheduled to meet within 2-3 weeks, cases will be referred to a full Board meeting.
  • Applications in excess of £x will be referred to a meeting of the Board of Trustees.

Urgent applications will be referred* to two trustees which in all cases will include either the Chair or Vice-Chair or in non-urgent matters to a Board meeting as follows:

  • Wholly unusual and/or exceptional circumstances** e.g. the request is outside the current scope for financial assistance or the level of assistance required exceeds the current grant limit.
  • Where a member applies more than twice and/or financial assistance up to £x has already been granted.***

Note 1*: The Head of Welfare and Casework Team Leader have discretionary powers not to refer a case where this would serve no useful purpose e.g. where it is evident that the request is outside of criteria, the applicant has not acted on advice given etc.

Note2**: Assistance granted under wholly unusual and/or exceptional circumstances does not in itself set a precedent for future cases. Each application will continue to be assessed on its own individual merits.]

Note 3***: Those living within the same household will be treated as one and the same even if they have applied under separate names other than where there are wholly unusual and/orexceptional circumstances.

Cases referred to a Board of Trustees meeting

  • A request to suspend or defer loan repayments or freeze interest (Note: This will apply whilst a small number of loans remain outstanding to the charity).
  • Non-urgent applications for financial assistance.

ESTABLISHING FINANCIAL HARDSHIP

With the exception of Emergency Crisis Grants and certain specific targeted grant programmes, any financial assistance will always be based on a full assessment of need. This requires the completion of the relevant application form for financial assistance and submission of supporting documents to substantiate all household income and expenditure.

Where there is significant excess income over expenditure; capital over debt; or unduly high expense in specific areas of spending these factors will be considered in the decision making and advice giving process.

INCOME

The financial assessment will take income from all sources into account including:

  • Earnings – including partner's and tax credits
  • Maintenance
  • Pensions and benefits – including partners
  • Interest on accessible savings and not linked to mortgage
  • Contributions from non-dependants e.g. children in work, other relatives, lodgers
  • Income from other charitable organisations
  • Disability living allowance
  • Personal Independence Payment

EXPENDITURE & DEBT

Applicants must account for all items of expenditure and, where necessary, prompted to consider any elements missing from the application form. In situations where there are complex financial arrangements, we may ask applicants to provide documentary evidence of greater than two months.

Information about any ongoing debt – level and frequency of repayments and outstanding sums needs to be included for all household members.

TREATMENT OF CAPITAL

Financial assistance will not normally be given in cases where the applicant has capital of £4,000.

The extent to which any capital is disregarded will depend on the nature of the assistance being sought, and the overall circumstances of the applicant.

A degree of discretion may need to be applied where for example an applicant has more capital than the threshold but is committed to funding major disability related adaptations having pursued all statutory assistance. Or, the applicant has taken a loan for the purpose of essential repairs, these amounts can be disregarded. Conversely, it is not envisaged that someone with £4,000 requiring low level financial assistance would be deemed to be experiencing ‘hardship’.In general terms, ‘capital’ includes:

  • Cash
  • Premium Bonds
  • ISA’s
  • Stocks and Shares
  • Unit Trusts
  • Credit balances in Bank and Building Society accounts
  • Capital belonging to any member of the applicant’s household
  • Property (wherever it is owned) that is not the normal residence of the applicant or members of the household except if their circumstances require them to live elsewhere due to illness, caring responsibilities, change of work location or temporary move with friends or relatives to reduce expenditure.
  • Buy to let properties will have been purchased as a commercial arrangement with the intention of making income and capital returns. As such they are a business venture and will be taken into account as a capital resource even if at the time of application they are in negative equity. In general, any financial obligation linked to ‘buy to let’ will not form part of the hardship assessment other than where there are wholly exceptional and unusual circumstances and a Board decision is required.

STATUTORY BENEFITS

It is accepted that applicants who are in receipt of means-tested benefits are on low income and therefore eligible to be considered for assistance. State benefits awarded to people who need help with personal care and/or getting around because of their illness or disability may be disregarded. However, each applicant’s actual needs and financial circumstances will be assessed individually and advice given regarding eligibility to benefits.

MEMBERSHIP OF THE HOUSEHOLD

It is an essential requirement to demonstrate that charitable funds have been appropriately directed in cases of financial need.

Whilst acknowledging that many couples and family groups may have organised their personal finances on an individual basis, most applicants to the charity are seeking access to charitable funds that will benefit the whole household. Therefore, the income, savings and capital resources of the applicant and all other members of the ‘household’ will be taken into consideration.

Complex household arrangements require sensitive investigation when exploring the financial interactions between household members. The household of the applicant is defined as one where a financially integrated couple or family group live together. Therefore, the following guidance should be taken into consideration when assessing whether it is reasonable to suppose that other adult residents living in the same property as the applicant are treated as members of the same household for the purposes of an application.

  • The default position for 2 related or unrelated adults living in the same property is that they will be considered to be part of the same household other than where further explanation justifies a decision to treat them as separately.
  • Where the applicant has adult offspring or other relatives living in their homes we will consider whether any arrangements made between family members would be reflective of a commercial arrangement e.g. if the contribution received to cover their use of utilities, housing costs, food etc would be reflective of a commercial arrangement then we will assume that they are not members of the household. However, if only token levels of payment are received we consider it to be inappropriate to utilise charitable resources where family members are being financially supported by the applicant. We consider refusal to charge a realistic contribution in the same way as refusal to claim a statutory benefit or allowance as it is a legitimate source of potential income.
  • Conversely, where an applicant does not have their own accommodation but lives within someone else’s home, we will consider whether the amount paid towards rent, utilities and other household bills, food and housekeeping etc is representative of the actual costs. If they pay an amount reflective of a commercial arrangement, they would not be treated as members of that household.
  • Tenants in multiple occupancy housing or lodgers who live entirely separately are excluded from being classified as part of the household.

SCALES OF ALLOWANCE & TREATMENT OF EXPENDITURE

Income will be compared against an acceptable standard of living given the applicant’s circumstances. The scales of allowance are used to assess this. The scales represent the income, considered necessary for a beneficiary to meet all costs other than:

  • rent/mortgage or secured loan, council tax, property insurances,
  • life insurance only where there are dependants
  • childcare or child maintenance
  • top-up fees for children in higher education.
  • private pension (where the applicant/partner has opted out of a workplace scheme or such a scheme does not exist)

Items that are excluded from the assessment but taken into account for the purposes of establishing a complete picture of an applicant’s finances are food, normal fuel costs and clothing as these are catered for in the scales. This includes loan/credit payments so that a view of whether payments can be reduced or suspended to ease the financial situation and/or free up income will form part of the assessment. This may result in ‘advice only’ where it is considered that advice on rescheduling debt payments will deliver the savings required to meet the need identified in full or part.

The scales will be reviewed annually. Figures for 2018/19 are:

  • Single person £x
  • Couple £x

(including adults jointly responsible for outgoings)

  • Child aged under-11 £x
  • Eleven to fifteen years £x
  • Sixteen to seventeen years £x

[Note: We are piloting the use of ‘trigger figures’ when compiling financial statements. Trigger figures are applied in circumstances where it is felt the applicant has under or over calculated spend on essential expenditure. These figures are based on money and debt advice industry standards and figures produced by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation]

Help that may be awarded to those who are in nursing/residential care is not calculated in this way. Lump sums for specific needs may be provided.

LOANS

Whilst there are provisions in the Constitution & Rules to offer loans to beneficiaries, the Board of Trustees has determined that the charity will no longer provide assistance through this means.

PAYMENT METHODS

Payments will be made having regard for equity, choice and dignity of the individual and their financial circumstances and the administrative resources of UNISON Welfare as well as due diligence.