Welfare Reform Act Event 24Th July 2012

Welfare Reform Act Event 24th July 2012

The new data sharing powers contained in the Welfare Reform Act will be brought into force on 29th June. This will provide a legal gateway allowing the following data sharing to take place without the need to obtain the claimant’s/service user’s consent.

• DWP will be able to share relevant information with qualifying persons (QPs) for welfare services or council tax purposes.

• QPs will be able to share welfare services information with DWP, for a social security benefit purpose.

• QPs will be able to share relevant information between and within themselves, and in some cases with Registered Social Landlords (RSLs), for a welfare service, council tax or housing benefit purpose.

To explain the above a little further, the following definitions might help:

Relevant information: information relating to any relevant social security benefit; or welfare service.

Qualifying persons: includes all types of LA and applies to LAs in England, Scotland and Wales. Regulations can prescribe additional qualifying persons, and this is being used to include RSLs in some cases.

Welfare service: includes services which provide accommodation, support, assistance, advice or counselling to individuals with particular needs, and for these purposes ‘assistance’ includes assistance by means of a grant or loan or the provision of goods or services.

Purposes for which data can therefore be shared are:

• Blue badge parking permits

• Discretionary housing payments

• Disability facility grants

• Residential and non residential financial assessments

• Homelessness

• Supporting people

Plus:

• Benefit cap, under occupancy rules

• Troubled families

iNetwork will be hosting an event to give LAs the opportunity to consider what these changes will mean to their authority and how they plan to use the new powers. Carol Foster-Middleton, the author of the legislation will be attending and key part of the day will be a Q&A session with Carol.

The event will take place on 24th July 2012 at Kings House Conference Centre, Manchester M1 7HB and will run from 9:30 am to 1:00 pm.

Please feel free to pass this email to any colleagues you feel may be interested in attending.

You can register your place by following this link: