S1/2021: 2020 to 2021 Housing Benefit administration subsidy additional £20.175 million funding for English, Scottish and Welsh local authorities
Updated 17 June 2022
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Who should read
All Housing Benefit (HB) managers and staff in England, Scotland and Wales. Officers preparing subsidy claims and estimates.
Action
For information
Subject
2020-21 Housing Benefit administration subsidy additional £20.175 million funding for English, Scottish and Welsh local authorities.
Guidance Manual
The information in this circular does not affect the content of the HB Guidance Manual.
Queries
If you
- want extra copies of this circular/copies of previous circulars, they can be found on Housing Benefit for local authorities: subsidy circulars
- have any queries about the:
- technical content of this circular, contact lafunding.enquiries@dwp.gov.uk
- 2020 to 2021 HB administration subsidy additional payment arrangements, contact hb.nonsubsidy@dwp.gov.uk
- distribution of this circular, contact lawelfare.correspondence@dwp.gov.uk
Introduction
1. This circular contains details of an additional £20.175 million Housing Benefit (HB) administration subsidy funding for 2020-21. This funding is in addition to the HB administration subsidy funding announced in HB Circular S1/2020.
2. Provision for the 2020 to 2021 HB administration subsidy additional funding will be made by an Amendment Order to the Income-related Benefits (Subsidy to Authorities) Order 1998, which will be subject to consultation with the Local Authority Associations (LAAs) prior to being laid in Parliament.
3. LAAs and local authority (LA) representatives have been consulted regarding the distribution methodology.
Background
4. This additional HB administration subsidy is a one off funding payment to reflect additional work LAs have undertaken in maintaining their HB services during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to 2021. It also acknowledges the impact the pandemic has had on the cost of HB service delivery throughout this period.
5. The additional 2020 to 2021 HB administration subsidy funding allocation by country is:
- English LAs - £17.355 million
- Scottish LAs - £1.807 million
- Welsh LAs - £1.013 million
Distribution methodology
6. To allocate this additional funding to LAs, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) developed an allocation methodology to reflect the varying COVID-19 related impacts and costs across LAs.
7. The allocation methodology takes into account the:
- Working Age HB caseload in February 2020, pre-pandemic, weighting for the relative size of an LA’s HB caseload
- relative uptake in Universal Credit housing element between August 2019 and August 2020, a proxy indicator for how the local labour market has been affected by the pandemic, accounting for changing levels in unemployment
- indices of Multiple Deprivation, correlating with how an area has been adversely affected during the COVID-19 pandemic by providing a proxy indication of poverty, by area, in the UK. This takes into account income, employment, education, health, crime, barriers to housing services and living environment
8. This additional, one off funding, will not form part of future baselines.
9. Allocations are rounded to the nearest pound.
Funding and payment details
10. LAs will receive their allocation as a single one-off payment. The expected date of payment is week commencing 15 March 2021. The additional funding available to support HB administration is cash-limited and so there is no provision for any adjustments to be made to individual LA allocations.
11. A breakdown of each LA’s funding is detailed in Annex A (England), Annex B (Scotland) and Annex C (Wales).
Annex A: LA allocations – England
| LA | Additional 2020 to 2021 DWP HB administration subsidy allocation (£) |
|---|---|
| Adur | 14,390 |
| Allerdale | 11,800 |
| Amber Valley | 21,312 |
| Arun | 33,451 |
| Ashfield | 46,143 |
| Ashford | 23,567 |
| Babergh | 9,138 |
| Barking and Dagenham | 147,260 |
| Barnet | 157,511 |
| Barnsley | 60,407 |
| Barrow-in-Furness | 25,354 |
| Basildon | 41,273 |
| Basingstoke and Deane | 19,445 |
| Bassetlaw | 19,765 |
| Bath and North East Somerset | 13,433 |
| Bedford | 26,795 |
| Bexley | 64,596 |
| Birmingham | 686,995 |
| Blaby | 6,964 |
| Blackburn with Darwen | 44,936 |
| Blackpool | 117,354 |
| Bolsover | 18,704 |
| Bolton | 112,762 |
| Boston | 23,148 |
| Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 81,343 |
| Bracknell Forest | 12,900 |
| Bradford | 197,668 |
| Braintree | 18,442 |
| Breckland | 23,460 |
| Brent | 354,452 |
| Brentwood | 4,863 |
| Brighton and Hove | 122,412 |
| Bristol | 236,495 |
| Broadland | 13,805 |
| Bromley | 71,376 |
| Bromsgrove | 8,160 |
| Broxbourne | 19,723 |
| Broxtowe | 16,316 |
| Buckinghamshire | 59,006 |
| Burnley | 28,067 |
| Bury | 41,407 |
| Calderdale | 38,672 |
| Cambridge | 35,035 |
| Camden | 176,833 |
| Cannock Chase | 27,393 |
| Canterbury | 32,187 |
| Carlisle | 23,909 |
| Castle Point | 13,434 |
| Central Bedfordshire | 38,821 |
| Charnwood | 21,133 |
| Chelmsford | 33,096 |
| Cheltenham | 17,391 |
| Cherwell | 16,212 |
| Cheshire East | 35,750 |
| Cheshire West and Chester | 45,820 |
| Chesterfield | 29,787 |
| Chichester | 17,605 |
| Chorley | 16,975 |
| City of London | 2,019 |
| Colchester | 45,583 |
| Copeland | 11,483 |
| Corby | 13,251 |
| Cornwall | 158,243 |
| Cotswold | 5,583 |
| Durham | 135,384 |
| Coventry | 144,852 |
| Craven | 2,563 |
| Crawley | 36,946 |
| Croydon | 99,352 |
| Dacorum | 31,555 |
| Darlington | 29,672 |
| Dartford | 21,028 |
| Daventry | 4,349 |
| Derby | 101,628 |
| Derbyshire Dales | 7,623 |
| Doncaster | 79,249 |
| Dorset | 45,232 |
| Dover | 18,707 |
| Dudley | 54,508 |
| Ealing | 190,025 |
| East Cambridgeshire | 10,149 |
| East Devon | 20,306 |
| East Hampshire | 10,880 |
| East Hertfordshire | 14,498 |
| East Lindsey | 40,174 |
| East Northamptonshire | 9,498 |
| East Riding of Yorkshire | 39,823 |
| East Staffordshire | 27,631 |
| East Suffolk | 33,406 |
| Eastbourne | 29,252 |
| Eastleigh | 7,721 |
| Eden | 6,011 |
| Elmbridge | 16,681 |
| Enfield | 233,693 |
| Epping Forest | 27,959 |
| Epsom and Ewell | 8,834 |
| Erewash | 15,635 |
| Exeter | 40,054 |
| Fareham | 10,091 |
| Fenland | 29,269 |
| Folkestone and Hythe | 32,581 |
| Forest of Dean | 9,968 |
| Fylde | 13,686 |
| Gateshead | 52,739 |
| Gedling | 23,642 |
| Gloucester | 35,875 |
| Gosport | 27,817 |
| Gravesham | 25,489 |
| Great Yarmouth | 20,881 |
| Greenwich | 190,451 |
| Guildford | 19,219 |
| Hackney | 457,744 |
| Halton | 28,272 |
| Hambleton | 4,270 |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 67,097 |
| Harborough | 3,147 |
| Haringey | 358,530 |
| Harlow | 23,478 |
| Harrogate | 7,280 |
| Harrow | 81,917 |
| Hart | 4,627 |
| Hartlepool | 25,139 |
| Hastings | 34,749 |
| Havant | 28,125 |
| Havering | 60,460 |
| Herefordshire | 33,183 |
| Hertsmere | 20,056 |
| High Peak | 18,545 |
| Hillingdon | 111,534 |
| Hinckley and Bosworth | 6,650 |
| Horsham | 12,124 |
| Hounslow | 55,143 |
| Huntingdonshire | 23,225 |
| Hyndburn | 23,050 |
| Ipswich | 51,495 |
| Isle of Wight | 45,317 |
| Isles of Scilly | 693 |
| Islington | 211,859 |
| Kensington and Chelsea | 87,939 |
| Kettering | 22,129 |
| King’s Lynn and West Norfolk | 40,950 |
| Kingston upon Hull | 234,321 |
| Kingston upon Thames | 30,802 |
| Kirklees | 89,924 |
| Knowsley | 84,967 |
| Lambeth | 205,219 |
| Lancaster | 17,021 |
| Leeds | 343,837 |
| Leicester | 174,821 |
| Lewes | 22,043 |
| Lewisham | 217,431 |
| Lichfield | 8,322 |
| Lincoln | 37,150 |
| Liverpool | 388,361 |
| Luton | 138,000 |
| Maidstone | 37,952 |
| Maldon | 9,948 |
| Malvern Hills | 11,721 |
| Manchester | 350,368 |
| Mansfield | 45,139 |
| Medway | 80,385 |
| Melton | 2,616 |
| Mendip | 10,314 |
| Merton | 40,201 |
| Mid Devon | 12,507 |
| Mid Suffolk | 7,418 |
| Mid Sussex | 10,901 |
| Middlesbrough | 108,373 |
| Milton Keynes | 104,360 |
| Mole Valley | 10,584 |
| New Forest | 20,060 |
| Newark and Sherwood | 20,927 |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 79,722 |
| Newcastle-under-Lyme | 31,732 |
| Newham | 389,699 |
| North Devon | 22,678 |
| North East Derbyshire | 15,559 |
| North East Lincolnshire | 43,650 |
| North Hertfordshire | 19,072 |
| North Kesteven | 10,472 |
| North Lincolnshire | 24,302 |
| North Norfolk | 26,796 |
| North Somerset | 28,039 |
| North Tyneside | 46,429 |
| North Warwickshire | 7,867 |
| North West Leicestershire | 9,801 |
| Northampton | 93,642 |
| Northumberland | 81,907 |
| Norwich | 89,127 |
| Nottingham | 254,323 |
| Nuneaton and Bedworth | 23,768 |
| Oadby and Wigston | 5,827 |
| Oldham | 57,171 |
| Oxford | 32,785 |
| Pendle | 30,801 |
| Peterborough | 63,222 |
| Plymouth | 85,523 |
| Portsmouth | 125,855 |
| Preston | 45,396 |
| Reading | 39,161 |
| Redbridge | 131,912 |
| Redcar and Cleveland | 63,782 |
| Redditch | 14,083 |
| Reigate and Banstead | 20,232 |
| Ribble Valley | 3,252 |
| Richmond upon Thames | 21,156 |
| Richmondshire | 1,966 |
| Rochdale | 83,708 |
| Rochford | 6,319 |
| Rossendale | 16,888 |
| Rother | 11,173 |
| Rotherham | 85,029 |
| Rugby | 5,749 |
| Runnymede | 13,722 |
| Rushcliffe | 8,057 |
| Rushmoor | 22,771 |
| Rutland | 1,464 |
| Ryedale | 2,939 |
| Salford | 148,831 |
| Sandwell | 170,650 |
| Scarborough | 33,170 |
| Sedgemoor | 11,017 |
| Sefton | 66,833 |
| Selby | 6,874 |
| Sevenoaks | 15,649 |
| Sheffield | 279,306 |
| Shropshire | 41,699 |
| Slough | 58,238 |
| Solihull | 27,283 |
| Somerset West and Taunton | 16,431 |
| South Cambridgeshire | 13,020 |
| South Derbyshire | 15,077 |
| South Gloucestershire | 35,743 |
| South Hams | 11,747 |
| South Holland | 13,891 |
| South Kesteven | 13,401 |
| South Lakeland | 11,209 |
| South Norfolk | 16,897 |
| South Northamptonshire | 5,860 |
| South Oxfordshire | 7,472 |
| South Ribble | 11,287 |
| South Somerset | 17,425 |
| South Staffordshire | 9,180 |
| South Tyneside | 65,902 |
| Southampton | 70,980 |
| Southend-on-Sea | 48,401 |
| Southwark | 120,203 |
| Spelthorne | 20,119 |
| St Albans | 9,515 |
| St. Helens | 58,674 |
| Stafford | 18,558 |
| Staffordshire Moorlands | 10,235 |
| Stevenage | 26,989 |
| Stockport | 62,246 |
| Stockton-on-Tees | 56,645 |
| Stoke-on-Trent | 121,108 |
| Stratford-on-Avon | 8,336 |
| Stroud | 9,365 |
| Sunderland | 113,709 |
| Surrey Heath | 8,581 |
| Sutton | 20,508 |
| Swale | 35,443 |
| Swindon | 26,562 |
| Tameside | 69,544 |
| Tamworth | 11,866 |
| Tandridge | 8,115 |
| Teignbridge | 24,830 |
| Telford and Wrekin | 78,449 |
| Tendring | 50,159 |
| Test Valley | 11,009 |
| Tewkesbury | 6,958 |
| Thanet | 41,991 |
| Three Rivers | 7,876 |
| Thurrock | 29,593 |
| Tonbridge and Malling | 19,915 |
| Torbay | 66,420 |
| Torridge | 14,256 |
| Tower Hamlets | 260,046 |
| Trafford | 26,188 |
| Tunbridge Wells | 20,168 |
| Uttlesford | 4,801 |
| Vale of White Horse | 7,721 |
| Wakefield | 152,209 |
| Walsall | 113,461 |
| Waltham Forest | 208,117 |
| Wandsworth | 138,294 |
| Warrington | 23,956 |
| Warwick | 18,555 |
| Watford | 21,064 |
| Waverley | 10,584 |
| Wealden | 13,686 |
| Wellingborough | 24,953 |
| Welwyn Hatfield | 16,104 |
| West Berkshire | 11,486 |
| West Devon | 9,295 |
| West Lancashire | 13,754 |
| West Lindsey | 16,910 |
| West Oxfordshire | 6,090 |
| West Suffolk | 23,436 |
| Westminster | 187,033 |
| Wigan | 68,441 |
| Wiltshire | 41,994 |
| Winchester | 9,836 |
| Windsor and Maidenhead | 12,578 |
| Wirral | 93,986 |
| Woking | 15,962 |
| Wokingham | 5,027 |
| Wolverhampton | 97,170 |
| Worcester | 30,587 |
| Worthing | 26,760 |
| Wychavon | 20,114 |
| Wyre | 26,673 |
| Wyre Forest | 27,069 |
| York | 17,357 |
| England | 17,355,162 |
Annex B: LA allocations – Scotland
| LA | Additional 2020 to 2021 DWP HB administration subsidy allocation (£) |
|---|---|
| Aberdeen | 66,115 |
| Aberdeenshire | 25,626 |
| Angus | 16,117 |
| Argyll and Bute | 20,217 |
| Clackmannanshire | 11,877 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 31,328 |
| Dundee | 58,017 |
| East Ayrshire | 30,995 |
| East Dunbartonshire | 7,834 |
| East Lothian | 10,470 |
| East Renfrewshire | 9,279 |
| Edinburgh | 220,375 |
| Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | 5,782 |
| Falkirk | 32,425 |
| Fife | 77,802 |
| Glasgow | 604,600 |
| Highland | 30,510 |
| Inverclyde | 20,986 |
| Midlothian | 14,575 |
| Moray | 13,249 |
| North Ayrshire | 44,931 |
| North Lanarkshire | 111,386 |
| Orkney | 2,868 |
| Perth and Kinross | 21,184 |
| Renfrewshire | 73,879 |
| Scottish Borders | 20,620 |
| Shetland | 3,031 |
| South Ayrshire | 26,703 |
| South Lanarkshire | 67,856 |
| Stirling | 12,257 |
| West Dunbartonshire | 64,388 |
| West Lothian | 49,931 |
| Scotland | 1,807,213 |
Annex C: LA allocations – Wales
| LA | Additional 2020 to 2021 DWP HB administration subsidy allocation (£) |
|---|---|
| Blaenau Gwent | 37,625 |
| Bridgend | 47,554 |
| Caerphilly | 74,019 |
| Cardiff | 142,880 |
| Carmarthenshire | 66,036 |
| Ceredigion | 21,901 |
| Conwy | 30,867 |
| Denbighshire | 29,721 |
| Flintshire | 19,906 |
| Gwynedd | 34,972 |
| Isle of Anglesey | 23,840 |
| Merthyr Tydfil | 27,439 |
| Monmouthshire | 14,188 |
| Neath Port Talbot | 48,285 |
| Newport | 49,905 |
| Pembrokeshire | 36,784 |
| Powys | 26,971 |
| Rhondda Cynon Taf | 120,019 |
| Swansea | 67,952 |
| Torfaen | 24,591 |
| Vale of Glamorgan | 37,723 |
| Wrexham | 29,447 |
| Wales | 1,012,625 |