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Publication - Research and analysis

The Impact of Welfare Reform in Scotland - Tracking Study - Appendices to Sweep 3 Report

Published
1 June 2015
ISBN
9781785443862

Appendices to the Impact of Welfare Reform Tracking Study Sweep 3 Report

View supporting documents Supporting documents

APPENDIX 1 FURTHER INFORMATION ON WELFARE REFORM IN SCOTLAND

Figure A1.1 below shows the timetable by which key welfare reforms have been implemented in Scotland.

Figure A1.1: Timetable of key welfare reforms

April 2011

  • LHA set at 30th percentile of local rents instead of 50th, with national caps on rates
  • Child Benefit, and Working Tax Credits (basic and 30 hour elements) frozen for three years

Jan 2012

  • LHA cut to shared room rate for 25-34 year olds with no dependent children

May 2012

  • Contributory ESA time limited for those not in Support Group
  • Lone parents with youngest child aged five or over no longer entitled to Income Support solely as a lone parent

Oct 2012

  • New sanctions regime introduced for JSA claimants

Dec 2012

  • New sanctions regime introduced for ESA claimants

April 2013

  • Introduction of the ‘bedroom tax’ (Housing Benefit reduced for ‘under-occupying’ tenants of working age in the social rented sector)
  • Scottish Welfare Fund replaces DWP Crisis Loans and Community Care Grants
  • Replacement of DLA with PIP for new claimants
  • Replacement of Council Tax Benefit with Council Tax Reduction in Scotland
  • Uprating of working-age benefits and tax credits capped at 1 per cent for three years

July 2013

  • National roll-out of the Benefit Cap to Local authorities with under 275 households affected

Aug – Sept 2013

  • Completion of Benefit Cap roll-out for local authorities with over 275 households affected (Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland)

Oct 2013

  • Rollout of Universal Credit expanded to six Jobcentres including Inverness
  • New Claimant Commitment rolled out to all Jobcentres
  • ‘Mandatory reconsideration’ introduced

Jan 2014

  • Limited reassessment of DLA claimants for PIP in Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, Galashiels and Motherwell

April 2014

  • Child Benefit – uprated by 1 per cent for two years
  • Introduction of mandatory work-related activity for lone parents in receipt of Income Support with a youngest child aged three or four

Jan-Mar 2015

  • Limited reassessment of DLA claimants for PIP in Glasgow, Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee, Kilmarnock, Kirkcaldy, Perth and Falkirk

Source: Adapted from Scottish Government, 2014 – Box 1.1., p11

The number of claimants in Scotland affected by these changes (according to the most up to date statistics available at the time of writing), and the change in these levels since the statistics shown in the previous report, is shown in Table A1.1.

Table A1.1. Claimants in Scotland claiming key

benefits affected by welfare reform

Benefit

Number of claimants

Previous1

Current2

% change

JSA

106,800

96,310

-9.8

ESA

227,300

241,730

6.3

- WRAG

72,440

70,150

-3.2

- Support Group

102,320

116,810

14.2

Incapacity Benefit

22,040

11,230

-49.0

DLA (working age)

200,310

194,820

-2.7

PIP

5,015

22,345

345.6

Universal Credit

330

630

90.9

Carers Allowance (working age)

56,020

57,880

3.3

Income Support

76,150

70,940

-6.8

- Incapacity benefit claimants

19,410

14,460

-25.5

- Lone parents

38,350

37,940

-1.1

- Carers

15,180

15,640

3.0

LHA

98,744

94,813

-4.0

Housing Benefit

377,352

369,220

-2.2

- Affected by bedroom tax

69,916

70,443

0.8

Benefit Cap

909

825

-9.2

1 Figures refer to the most recent data available at publication of the previous report (November 2013 to March 2014 depending on the benefit.
2 Figures are most up to date available at the time of publication (May to December 2014 depending on the benefit).

Source: DWP Tabulation Tool, http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/tabtool.html and DWP StatXplore, https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/

The JSA claimant count has fallen, as has the number in the ESA WRAG, although there was an increase in the number in the ESA Support Group. The PIP caseload more than tripled but was still only a tenth of the size of the DLA caseload. The Universal Credit caseload almost doubled, but remained small in absolute terms. There was a slight drop in the number receiving support for housing costs, which is likely to reflect people moving into work.

Sanctions have had a far larger impact on JSA claimants than they have on ESA claimants. Figure A1.2 shows that the proportion of the JSA caseload receiving a sanction in a given month is subject to considerable fluctuation, although a slight upward trend can be detected over the period shown. Typically between 3 and 6 per cent per month of the JSA caseload receives an adverse sanction decision. Although this percentage is relatively small at a monthly level, Webster (2015) notes that a sanction rate of 5 or 6 per cent per month equates to almost 1 in 5 claimants receiving a sanction at some point during the year. The sanction rate for ESA WRAG claimants is lower and more consistent, remaining below 0.5 per cent over the duration of the period shown.

Figure A1.2: Number of adverse sanction decisions applied to JSA and ESA claimants in Scotland, November 2011-May 2014

Figure A1.2: Number of adverse sanction decisions applied to JSA and ESA claimants in Scotland, November 2011-May 2014

Source: Caseload data from DWP Tabulation Tool, http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/tabtool.html, Sanction data from StatXplore, https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/

Contact

Email: Alison Stout

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