Roundup of recent DWP announcements
Second Cost of Living Payment update
From this week, millions of households across the UK will receive the second of up to three Cost of Living Payments, totalling up to £900 through 2023/24. The payments made will be staggered over the next couple of weeks, running up to and including 19 November.
The payment will be made to people on these means-tested benefits: Universal Credit; Pension Credit; income-based Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA); income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA); Income Support, and tax credits: Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit.
People need to have been entitled to payment during the qualifying period 18 August to 17 September or a payment for an assessment period ending within the qualifying period.
These payments are entirely tax-free, will not count towards the benefit cap, and will not have any impact on existing benefit awards. Those who are eligible will be paid automatically meaning people do not need to apply or contact DWP or HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
We would be grateful if you could share this information across your networks and channels. The Cost of Living Toolkit contains assets which may help to share this message such as a downloadable poster, suggested newsletter copy and an Easy Read guide.
You can read more about the second Cost of Living Payment on GOV.UK.
A further Cost of Living Payment is due to be made to eligible households by Spring next year.
In addition to this, Pensioner households will also receive £300 which will be paid as a top up to those eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment in November and December.
Read more about the range of support available as part of Help for Households
Get around for £2 - bus fare cap extended
Millions of people across England are set to receive significant cost of living support ahead of winter, with the Government freezing bus fares.
The bus fare cap had been due to rise to £2.50 but will remain at £2 until the end of next year to help millions of people make significant savings on their travel costs. The fare cap has helped cut bus fares in England outside London by 7.4% between June 2022 and June 2023, with even bigger savings in rural areas where fares have dropped by almost 11%.
This extension is only possible due to the redirected HS2 funding as part of the Network North plan and takes the total government investment to keep bus fares down to nearly £600 million - with over 140 operators signing up to continue offering the cap across more than 5,000 routes.
Reminder for bereaved parents to check eligibility for financial support
Bereaved parents who lost their partner between 9 April 2001 and 8 February 2023 may be eligible for a backdated government payment even if they no longer have dependent children.
The Government extended eligibility for Bereavement Support Payment (BSP) and Widowed Parent's Allowance (WPA) to cohabiting parents with dependent children in February. These payments can be backdated to 30 August 2018.
These benefits were previously only available to bereaved parents who were married or in a civil partnership. Therefore, anyone who had dependent children when they lost their cohabiting partner and who thinks they may be eligible should check GOV.UK for more information.
DWP opened a 12-month window for cohabiting parents to backdate their claims. Parents whose partner died before 9 February 2023 have until the end of 8 February 2024 to do so. After this, it will not be possible to claim WPA and they will not get their full entitlement to backdated BSP.
Talk Money Week 2023: 6-10 November
Designed to break the taboo of talking about money and in doing so connect people with the guidance they may need, Talk Money Week is an annual campaign from the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS).
This year, MaPS are asking organisations across the UK to encourage their audiences to 'Do One Thing' that could help improve their financial wellbeing – and inspire others to do the same.
It could be asking them to check if they're eligible for Pension Credit, to talk to a child about money, or to try one of the free tools on the government-backed MoneyHelper website.
You can find ideas on the MaPS website.
Move to Universal Credit update
During December 2023 we will further expand the Move to Universal Credit (UC) into Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire. Our expansion for October through to December includes a smaller number of Jobcentre Districts than previous months, as we bring in Couple Tax Credit claims and will be issuing migration notices to areas already within Move to UC activity.
For migration notices that would have had a deadline date that fell between 11 December 2023 and 5 January 2024, 30 days has been automatically added to the claimant's deadline date.
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