What Happened in Previous Years?

This page tells you about what was moving and shaking in previous years (starting from 2005).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sheffield City Council's Benefits Service has been award a 4 Star rating, the highest score possible, by the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI).  The independent classification of the service took place as part of the 2005  Audit Commission's Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) of the Council as a whole.

 

In 2004, the Benefits Service was judged to be 'Good' (equivalent to 3 Stars under the new 2005 scoring system) and so the latest, increased, rating is a welcome recognition that service standards for our customers are continuing to improve.

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From 5 December 2005, the law has changed.  Same sex couples can now gain legal recognition for their relationship. They do this by forming a civil partnership, a new legal relationship for two people of the same sex.

 

If same sex couples decide to form a civil partnership their benefits could be affected.  If they don't form a civil partnership, but live together as a couple this could also affect their benefits.

 

If two people are living together as a same sex couple, they must contact the office dealing with their benefit.  From 5 December 2005 a partner, for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit purpose is defined as -

 

 

 

As with other benefits, from 5 December 2005, the rules about claiming these Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit have changed:

 

 

 

From 5 December 2005 failure to inform us that you are forming a civil partnership or living together as a civil partners, could mean that your Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Benefit is overpaid and you may be asked to repay it.

 

If you would like to found out more about Civil Partnerships visit the Government’s Women and Equality Unit website.

 

The Department for Work and Pensions have produced a useful leaflet about Civil Partnerships and Same-Sex Couples called 'Getting It Right', this is available to download from their website.

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Research by the Government shows that many pensioners have a shortfall in their income due to their failure to claim Council Benefits - Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit.  It is estimated that Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit totalling £870 million remains unclaimed by pensioners.

 

One of the reasons that pensioners do not claim Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit is because of the complicated and lengthy claim form.  Around 70% of pensioners who receive a Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit claim form, fail to return the form.  In addition, many Pension Credit customers mistakenly believe that an award of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit will affect their entitlement to Pension Credit.

 

In an attempt to rectify this situation the Pension Service set up a project to increase the take-up of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit amongst Pension Credit customers.  The aim of the project was to contact and offer existing Pension Credit customers, who were not yet claiming Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit, a simplified process to enable them to claim these Council Benefits. 

 

The project, which was originally piloted in Nottingham, was introduced into all Local Authorities from September 2005.  A team from the Pension Service contacted Pension Credit customers by telephone to invite them to make a claim for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit, using the new 3-page claim form (PCA).

 

Throughout the duration of the project the Pension Service contacted more than 340,000 customers and completed over 58,000 3-page claim forms.  To date over 50% of these applications have been entitled to Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit, resulting in average weekly awards of £47.15 Housing Benefit and £13.14 Council Tax Benefit.

 

Although the project has now ended Pension Credit customers who wish to make a claim for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit will continue to use the 3-page claim form.

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