Issue - meetings

The Cabinet Member for Customer Service, Welfare, and the Public Realm considered the report which noted that, each year, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) made grants available to local authorities for Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) purposes. The report was brought to the Cabinet Member with an updated DHP policy to reflect the new funding allocation.

It was noted that the main objective of the DHP policy was to prevent homelessness and to sustain existing tenancies where possible.

The Head of Service Delivery reported that, on 24 February 2022, the DWP had issued subsidy circular S1/2022. This stated that:

·         The total amount of DHP funding for England and Wales for FYE March 2023 was £100 million.

·         £98 million of funding would be allocated in April 2022 for the FYE March 2023. Haringey had a funding allocation of £1,168,397.

·         DWP was reserving £2 million of DHP funding until later in the year. DWP would provide further information about how this funding would be allocated in due course.

The Cabinet Member noted that the allocation was reducing fairly significantly each year and expressed concerns about the reduction in welfare spending. It was noted that Cabinet was still due to be notified of the figure in the Quarter One budget monitoring report.

The Cabinet Member RESOLVED

1.    To approve Haringey’s Discretionary Housing Payments Policy 2022/23 (see Appendix A) as the methodology to determine the award of individual Discretionary Housing Payments during the financial year 2022/23 having regard to the Equalities Impact Assessment (set out in Appendix B).

2.    At the time of writing this report, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have not confirmed the Discretionary Housing Payment allocation to Haringey for 2022/23. If notification arrives after this Cabinet meeting, Cabinet will be notified of the figure in the Quarter One budget monitoring report.

3.    It was noted that, after the report had been published, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) had issued subsidy circular S1/2022. This stated that:

·         The total amount of Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) funding for England and Wales for Fiscal Year End (FYE) March 2023 was £100 million.

·         £98 million of funding would be allocated in April 2022 for the FYE March 2023. Haringey had a funding allocation of £1,168,397.

·         DWP was reserving £2 million of DHP funding until later in the year. DWP would provide further information about how this funding would be allocated in due course.

Reasons for decision

The DHP Policy must be reviewed and approved every year in line with the changing funding allocated by the DWP.

Alternative options considered

None.