Guidance

LA Welfare Direct 8/2025 lite

Updated 18 August 2025

LAWD8/2025 lite 15 August 2025

Crown Copyright 2025 

Recipients may freely reproduce this bulletin.

Content

Queries about the: 

• technical content of this bulletin, contact details are given at the end of each article 

• general content of this bulletin and distribution of this bulletin, contact  lawelfare.correspondence@dwp.gov.uk

Who should read

All Housing Benefit colleagues and wider if appropriate

Action

For information

Supporting claimants who are homeless or have no fixed abode to move to Universal Credit

1. We need your help in supporting claimants who are homeless or have no fixed abode and are claiming Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). You can do this by sharing the following important information: 

• Those claiming ESA will have their benefits end if they do not make the move to Universal Credit.

• Migration Notice letters are being sent to their correspondence address. This provides all information required to make a claim. They should not make a claim without it. 

• If they have not received this letter, they should ring the helpline (0800 169 0328) for support to make a digital claim. 

2. More information can be found at Move to Universal Credit

Publication of Housing Benefit speed of processing statistics for January 2025 to March 2025

3. The department published the Housing Benefit (HB) speed of processing statistics and associated data for quarter 4 (Q4) of the financial year ending (FYE) March 2025 on Wednesday 30 July 2025.

Some key points

• During the latest quarter there were 110,000 new claims processed. This comprises:​ 

  • 77,000 (72%) for Working Age claimants​ 

  • 31,000 (28%) for Pension age claimants​

• Overall, this is an increase of 3,800 (4%) since last quarter and an increase of 5,600 (5%) when compared to a year earlier.​

• During the latest quarter there were 2.9 million changes of circumstances for existing HB claims processed. This comprises:

  • 1.3 million (44%^{[footnote 1]}) for Working Age claimants​ 

  • 1.5 million (53%^{[footnote 1]}) for Pension age claimants​​

• Overall, this is an increase of 1.9 million (187%) since last quarter and a decrease of 390,000 (12%) when compared to a year earlier​ (Q4 - includes high volumes of one-day changes, including the likes of annual rent increases).

New claims

• The average time taken to process an HB new claim during the latest quarter was 20 calendar days. This is the same as last quarter and 1 day higher than a year earlier and comprises an average time of:​
  • 19 days for Working Age claimants​
  • 24 days for Pension age claimants

Change of circumstances

• The average number of days taken to process a change of circumstances to an existing HB claim during the latest quarter was 3 calendar days. This is 4 days lower than last quarter and the same as a year earlier and comprises an average time of:​ 

  • 2 days for Working age claimants​ 

  • 4 days for Pension age claimants

Secondment opportunities in the Local Authority Partnership, Engagement and Delivery division’s Performance Development Team

4. Working with local authorities (LAs) as one of our major stakeholders in Welfare Reform, continues to feature heavily, and for this reason we value the expertise and knowledge that those administering HB within LAs can bring.   

5. The Local Authority Partnership Engagement and Delivery (LA-PED) division has had a very successful programme of bringing HB experts from LAs in to work alongside data sharing, subsidy, change and performance teams on secondment. We are now looking for LA secondees to join our Performance Development Team (PDT).   

6. PDT comprises of business consultants and Performance Relationship Managers (PRMs), who have many years of experience and expertise of working with central and local government to deliver sustainable improvements in performance.​   

7. The consultancy and PRM roles offer a wide variety of working experiences, which complement each other and come together when supporting HB performance. We work collaboratively with LAs to help them evaluate their processes, identify efficiencies and improve service delivery. Continuous improvement is central to the work we deliver, and our aim is to transfer our skills and knowledge to our clients.​

Desirable skills

• Strong stakeholder engagement and management with the ability to build and maintain effective working relationships with LAs and other stakeholders.  

• Good drafting and communication skills. 

• Competent excel skills – enjoys working with and analysing management information.  

• Managing competing priorities.

8. Through our long history of secondees joining our team we have gained a deeper understanding of what life is like within an HB service. This has helped us shape how we deliver our performance management offer and best support all 349 LAs. In turn, LA secondees have seen their own knowledge of the HB landscape widen.

9. We do not want to stop there. We understand the fast-paced, ever-changing environment LA secondees come from and we want to continue this exciting learning journey together. These opportunities are ideally suited to those with a good understanding of HB procedures and who want to gain an insight into central government whilst learning new skills in a busy and supportive workplace.

Further information

10. Secondment posts would be offered for either 12 months or 24 months dependant on the role offered. Both the consultancy and PRM roles require some travel and overnight stays, this is more frequent for the consultancy role. The posts would usually be full time and based across the country. To give you an idea, we have hub locations in the following places:

• Blackpool  

• Glasgow  

• Leeds  

• London  

• Manchester  

• Newcastle upon Tyne  

• Sheffield

11. Moves at public expense would not be considered.

12. As a guide the:

• PRM role is at the Higher Executive Officer grade in the civil service with a broad salary range of £38,772 to £44,335  

• the consultancy role is at the Senior Executive Officer grade in the civil service with a broad salary range of £44,447 to £50,044

13. If you are keen to register your interest, check with your LA  you can be released and then send your CV to laped.businesssupportteam@dwp.gov.uk by 12 September 2025.

1. Do note, the volumes for Working Age and Pension age cases do not sum to the total volume for processed cases. The remaining 3% could not be matched to Searchlight to extract missing date of birth and sex of claimant information. ↩ ↩²