Research Briefing
Draft Care and Support Bill 2012-13
This note provides general information on the draft Care and Support Bill that was announced in the Queen’s Speech on 9 May 2012 and published by the Government on 11 July 2012.
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Research Briefing
Draft Universal Credit Regulations 2013
Starting in selected “Pathfinder” areas from April 2013, Universal Credit (UC) will begin to replace a range of means-tested benefits and tax credits for working age families. The Draft Universal Credit Regulations set out the detailed rules for the new benefit.
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Research Briefing
Draft Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations 2013
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is to replace Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for people of working age, starting from April 2013. Part 4 of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 provides the framework for PIP, but the detailed rules for the new benefit – including the assessment criteria – are to be set out in regulations.
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Research Briefing
Welfare Benefits Uprating Bill
Social security legislation requires the Secretary of State to review benefit levels each year to determine whether they have retained their value relative to prices. For most benefits annual uprating is not mandatory, but historically governments have exercised their discretion by increasing the principal means-tested working-age benefits each April in line with prices. In his 2012 Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced that increases in most working-age benefits would be limited to 1% a year for three years from 2013-14, as part of a package to deliver additional welfare savings of £3.7 billion a year by 2015-16. The Bill amends primary legislation to enable the decisions on uprating in 2014-15 and 2015-16 to be implemented.
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Research Briefing
2013 Benefit Uprating
State pension, benefits and tax credits increase in April 2013 - this note sets out how the new rates are calculated
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Research Briefing
The Work Capability Assessment for Employment and Support Allowance
The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) was introduced in October 2008 to assess entitlement to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). Between now and 2014, 1.5 million incapacity benefits claimants will also undergo the WCA. The WCA has however proved controversial and remains so, depsite changes to the test itself and how it is applied as a result of Government an independent reviews.
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Research Briefing
Localisation of the Social Fund
As a result of measures in the Welfare Reform Act 2012, certain elements of the discretionary Social Fund scheme will be replaced by new locally based provision delivered by local authorities in England and the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales.
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Research Briefing
Personal Independence Payment: an introduction
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is to replace Disability Living Allowance for people of working age, between April 2013 and March 2016. The changes will affect existing working age DLA claimants, as well as those making a new claim. For those existing DLA claimants found not to satisfy the conditions for PIP on reassessment, their DLA will stop.
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Research Briefing
Universal Credit: an introduction
Starting from next year, Universal Credit (UC) will begin to replace a range of means-tested benefits and tax credits for working age families. The intention is to simplify and streamline the benefits system for claimants, making it easier for people to understand; to reduce the financial and administrative barriers to work; to tackle in-work poverty; and to bear down on fraud and error.
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Research Briefing
European Union (Croatian Accession and Irish Protocol) Bill [Bill 76 of 2012-13]
Croatia is expected to join the EU in July 2013. This Bill would allow the UK to ratify Croatia’s accession treaty and would also cover the Protocol to the Lisbon Treaty put forward by the Irish Government.
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Research Briefing
Cold Weather Payments for winter 2012/2013
Cold Weather Payments of 25 pounds a week are made to certain recipients of Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance or Pension Credit during periods of very cold weather. To ‘trigger’ the payments, the average temperature at a specified weather station must be recorded as, or forecast to be, zero degrees or below for seven consecutive days.
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Research Briefing
Winter Fuel Payments for “off-gas grid” households
Four million (15% of) households in the UK are not connected to the mains gas grid and their average fuel costs are signifiantly higher than those with a mains gas supply. A Private Members Bill presented by Mike Weir MP aims to help older off-grid households by bringing forward the timing of Winter Fuel Payments to enable them to purchase fuel at a time of year when prices are likely to be lower.
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Research Briefing
ESA and Incapacity benefit statistics
A summary of statistics relating to Employment and Support Allowance and other incapacity-related benefits.
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Research Briefing
ESA and incapacity benefits – constituency statistics for Great Britain
Statistics on working-age claimants of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and its predecessor incapacity-related benefits in each constituency in Great Britain. In November 2011 there were 2.57 million claimants of these benefits in Great Britain.
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Research Briefing
Local Government Finance Bill 2012-13
This paper summarises the Second Reading and Committee of the Whole House stages of the Local Government Finance Bill 2010-12, which has been carried over into the 2012-13 session. Library Research Paper 12/01, Local Government Finance Bill 2010-12, published for Second Reading on 10 January 2012 in the 2010-12 session, is relevant.
Total results (page 23 of 28)