Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.-(1) This Order may be cited as the Income-related Benefits (Subsidy to Authorities) Amendment Order 2019 and comes into force on 31st October 2019.

(2) Article 3(1) and Schedule 1 have effect for the purpose of determining subsidy payable for the relevant year beginning with 1st April 2018.

(3) Articles 3(2) and 4 and Schedules 2, 3 and 4 have effect for the purpose of determining subsidy payable for the relevant year beginning with 1st April 2019.

(4) In this Order-

"the 1998 Order" means the Income-related Benefits (Subsidy to Authorities) Order 1998(4);

"relevant year" means the period of a year beginning with 1st April in the calendar year in respect of which a claim for subsidy is made.

Amendment of the 1998 Order

2.  The 1998 Order is amended in accordance with articles 3 and 4.

The amount of an authority's subsidy

3.-(1) For Schedule 1 (sums to be used in the calculation of subsidy) substitute the Schedule 1 set out in Schedule 1 to this Order.

(2) For Schedule 1ZB (additional amount of subsidy: Verify Earnings and Pension Alerts Service substitute the Schedule 1ZB set out in Schedule 2 to this Order.

Rent rebate deductions from an authority's subsidy

4.-(1) Schedule 4A (rent rebate limitation deductions (housing revenue account dwellings)) is amended as follows.

(2) In Part 2 (England), in paragraph 3 (amount of deduction), for sub-paragraph (3) substitute-

"(3) The rebate proportion for 2019-20 is 0.726.".

(3) For Part 3 (weekly rent limits for purposes of Part 2: authorities in England), substitute the Part 3 set out in Schedule 3 to this Order.

(4) For Part 5 (amounts for purposes of Part 4, paragraph 4: authorities in Wales), substitute the Part 5 set out in Schedule 4 to this Order.

Article 3(1)

SCHEDULE 1Substitution of Schedule 1 to the 1998 Order

Article 12(1)(b)

"SCHEDULE 1Sums to be used in the calculation of subsidy

Article 3(2)

SCHEDULE 2Substitution of Schedule 1ZB to 1998 Order

Article 12(1)(bza)

"SCHEDULE 1ZBAdditional amount of subsidy: Verify Earnings and Pension Alerts Service

Interpretation

1.  In this Schedule-

"relevant activities" means activities carried out by authorities receiving VEP alerts to administer those alerts;

"VEP alerts" means alerts given by the Secretary of State enabling authorities to identify changes in earnings and pensions so as to help prevent fraud and error relating to housing benefit.

Additional amount: relevant year beginning with 1st April 2019

2.  The additional amount of subsidy for an authority for the relevant year beginning with 1st April 2019 is the amount specified for that authority in the Housing Benefit Circular HB S10/2019 published by the Department for Work and Pensions on 3rd May 2019(5).

Use of amount paid under paragraph 2

3.  An authority must use the additional amount received under paragraph 2 in connection with relevant activities."

Article 4(3)

SCHEDULE 3Substitution of Part 3 of Schedule 4A to the 1998 Order

"PART 3WEEKLY RENT LIMITS FOR PURPOSES OF PART 2: AUTHORITIES IN ENGLAND

Article 4(4)

SCHEDULE 4Substitution of Part 5 of Schedule 4A to the 1998 Order

"PART 5AMOUNTS FOR PURPOSES OF PART 4, PARAGRAPH 4: AUTHORITIES IN WALES

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order amends the Income-related Benefits (Subsidy to Authorities) Order 1998 (S.I. 1998/562) ("the 1998 Order") which provides for the calculation and payment of housing benefit subsidy to local authorities in England, Wales and Scotland which administer housing benefit. Section 140F(2) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 (c.5) authorises the making, revocation or varying of an Order before, during or after the year to which it relates.

Article 3(1) and Schedule 1 substitute Schedule 1 to the 1998 Order which prescribes the sums to be used in the calculation of subsidy for the year beginning with1st April 2018.

Article 3(2) and Schedule 2 substitute Schedule 1ZB to the 1998 Order which has effect for the purposes of determining additional amounts of subsidy payable for the year beginning with 1st April 2019. This Schedule prescribes a system for the making of additional payments of subsidy to authorities administering alerts relating to the earnings and pension entitlement of claimants for housing benefit ("the VEP Alert Service"), as notified by the Secretary of State to local authorities on 3rd May 2019. In the VEP Alert Service, authorities are given funding to carry out activities to enable them to verify earnings and pension information based on their use of real time information.

Article 4 has effect for the purposes of determining subsidy payable for the year beginning with 1st April 2019. Paragraph (2) amends paragraph 3 of Schedule 4A to the 1998 Order to provide that the rebate proportion figure for 2019/2020 is 0.726. Paragraph (3) and Schedule 3 substitute Part 3 of Schedule 4A to the 1998 Order in respect of weekly rent limits for authorities in England. With respect to authorities in Wales, paragraph (4) and Schedule 4 substitute Part 5 of Schedule 4A to the 1998 Order which sets out the specified amount "O" and the guideline rent increase "P" used when calculating deductions from subsidy under paragraph 4 in Part 4 of Schedule 4A.

Hard copies of the circular referenced in this Order are available from the Department for Work and Pensions, Local Authority Funding Team, Housing Delivery Division, Room B120D, Warbreck House, Warbreck Hill, Blackpool, FY2 0YE.

An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as it has no impact on the private sector or civil society organisations.