Welfare Rights course notes online at http://afraser.com/welfare/
May 5 2009 10:37
Edinburgh Coalition Against Poverty at the Autonomous Centre of Edinburgh recently ran a series of Welfare Rights training courses.
The course notes are now all online at http://afraser.com/welfare/.
They cover the following topics:
1. Community Care Grants and the Social Fund
2. Debt (also Electricity and Gas Guide)
3. Disability Living Allowance
4. Employment and Support Allowance (formerly Incapacity Benefit)
5. Local Housing Allowance and Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit
6. Job Seekers Allowance
7. Carers Allowance and To Claim or Not To Claim.
8. Premiums for Income Support and other benefits.
May 6 2009 11:51
#2
Common benefit rates and rules throughout the UK, so notes apply UK wide except for debt:
UK = 1. Community Care Grants and the Social Fund
Scotland (although England and Wales similar) = 2. Debt (also Electricity and Gas Guide)
UK = 3. Disability Living Allowance
UK = 4. Employment and Support Allowance (formerly Incapacity Benefit)
UK (although administered by Local Government) = 5. Local Housing Allowance and Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit
UK = 6. Job Seekers Allowance
UK = 7. Carers Allowance and To Claim or Not To Claim
UK = 8. Premiums for Income Support and other benefits.
Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit are administered by particular local governments (in London I think by the Borough councils) . But is the same benefit with common rules and rates decided by the UK Government, so same course notes will work for all (references to Edinburgh City Council would need to be read instead as the relevant local government area).
Local Housing Allowance rates are set differently by local government, based on prevailing market rents. London is split into separate "Broad Rental Market Areas" all with different LHA rates. Smaller cities like Edinburgh only have one LHA rate city-wide.
Debt is different for Scotland, because of different legal systems. Scots law on debt is controlled by the Scottish Parliament rather than by the UK Parliament. England has supposedly unpleasant things called baliffs which don't exist in Scotland. But at the summary level of my little introductory course notes most of the differences would be fairly minor. http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/ should be used instead of http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/scotland/.
How much of this would be applicable in England and Wales?