Guidance

LA Welfare Direct 3/2026

Updated 10 March 2026

© Crown copyright 2026

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/la-welfare-direct-bulletins-2026/la-welfare-direct-32026

Contact

If you have queries about the:

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

  • general content 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.

Articles in paragraph 1 to 5, 11 to 17 and 42 to 46 are for the attention of county councils.

Editorial

In this edition, you’ll see the normal set of updates on a whole range of topics. However, I wanted to briefly focus on some major milestones in the Universal Credit (UC) data sharing space, covered in 3 separate articles. Firstly, the formal closure of the project that delivered the series of improvements to the UC Local Council Tax Reduction data share. Secondly, the completion of the third and final phase of the UC improvements to Searchlight. And thirdly, the progress towards formally moving to the delivery phase of the new strategic UC data share called Identifying Local Vulnerability.

These are crucial and long awaited changes. I’ve known since mid-2020 that the 3 sets of improvements have been the top ask of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in terms of our data sharing with local authorities (LAs). Aligning the stars and ensuring data sharing projects happen in DWP is very hard work. It has taken a long time but I’m proud that we have now completed two parts out of the three improvements we made a commitment to LAs to do.

A huge part of the success of the work done so far, and to come, is as a result of co-design of the improvements with the LA volunteers in our project working groups. Thanks so much for that support.

Paul Selby

Head of Data Sharing and Security

Local Authority Partnership, Engagement and Delivery division

Changes to entitlement for Statutory Sick Pay

1. As announced on 5 March 2025, from 6 April 2026 the Employment Rights Act 2025 brings in 2 changes for entitlement to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP).

Removal of the lower earnings limit

2. From 6 April all eligible employees will be entitled to SSP regardless of their income. SSP will be paid at 80% of normal weekly earnings or uprated to a weekly flat rate of £123.25.

Removal of the waiting period

3. SSP will be paid from the first full day of sickness absence, not from day 4.

4. Do note, absences starting before 6 April 2026 will use the old rules concerning eligibility and payment. Absences starting on or after 6 April 2026 will use the new rules.

5. If you have any questions about this article, contact housing.policyenquiries@dwp.gov.uk.

Post Office compensation schemes

6. The new Capture Redress Scheme announced in June 2025 will provide compensation to postmasters who suffered financial shortfalls due to the Capture software between the years 1992 and 2000.

7. Circular HB A1/2024 provided details of amendments to the disregard provisions in both sets of Housing Benefit (HB) regulations so that payments made from a Post Office compensation scheme are disregarded as capital. The Capture Redress Scheme is a Post Office compensation scheme which means no amendments were needed to include a new disregard for this new scheme.

8. If you have any questions about this article, contact us at housing.policyenquiries@dwp.gov.uk.

Changes to the HB overpayment recovery good practice guide

9. Following a query raised regarding the use of social media as a source of information for the recovery of HB debt, a decision has been taken to remove any reference to this practice from the pursuing Housing Benefit overpayment recovery effectively: Good practice guide. Whilst LAs may determine that this approach remains appropriate within their own operational frameworks, authorities must ensure that any such activity is undertaken in strict accordance with their internal policies, governance arrangements and all relevant legal and regulatory requirements.

10. If you have any queries, contact lawelfare.pdt@dwp.gov.uk.

Update: removal of the Public Service Network for DWP and call for volunteers for the new internet-based solution to access Searchlight and Verify Earnings and Pensions

11. You were reminded in the LAWD2/2025 bulletin that 2 of DWP’s data shares, namely Searchlight and Verify Earnings and Pensions (VEP), are still accessed through the Public Service Network (PSN). As the PSN is expected to be decommissioned in early 2027 for DWP, we are currently working to migrate Searchlight and VEP from the PSN routeway so they can be accessed through the internet instead. Unfortunately, the implementation of the proposed solutions are taking longer than anticipated due to the complexity of the work involved but we are making progress.

Call for LA test volunteers for the Searchlight solution

12. We are now in the second phase of testing, where we are working with a small number of LAs who will be assisting with the testing of the new solution for Searchlight in early 2026, ahead of rollout to all LAs later in 2026. To conclude our testing, we are looking for a small number of additional volunteer LAs to adopt the new internet routeway to access this service ahead of national rollout, which is anticipated around late spring or early summer. Note: At this point, we are only looking for LAs who do not outsource their HB work to a third party.

13. Volunteer LAs will need to have a current PSN certificate and agree to some additional terms and conditions in relation to the Memorandum of Understanding between DWP and LAs. The testing will include requesting a new certificate specifically for the internet-based ingress, installing the certificates, safelisting a new URL and then testing that users can access the new link.

14. The testing is straightforward in the majority of cases and guidance will be provided. We have had previous LAs manage to complete this work in around 10 working days end-to-end with support from their IT team and DWP.

15. To become involved in the testing, please contact lawelfare.ladsdeliveryteam@dwp.gov.uk with ‘PSN Private Beta Testing volunteer’ used in the subject header.

The VEP solution

16. The VEP solution is also being progressed alongside the Searchlight solution and we are currently planning when we will test this.

National rollout

17. We aim to progress the national rollout of the new internet-based solutions in tranches and will be in contact with each LA in advance to discuss next steps.

A new online HB subsidy Hub is coming

18. As your subsidy leads are aware, the Local Authority Partnership, Engagement and Delivery (LA-PED) division is working towards replacing the PDF subsidy estimate and claim forms, as well as the audit workbooks (HB Assurance Process Module 3), with new online versions accessed through a browser-based application, namely the HB Subsidy Hub.

19. The Hub will be used by LAs to submit subsidy estimates and final claims and auditors will be able to access it directly to complete HB audit work.

20. Further details on how to access the Hub, along with guidance on how to use it, will be shared with LAs over the next few months. We will also support LAs to use it as we move closer to go-live in late 2026.

Next steps

21. To support the onboarding of authorities to the Hub, we will need to gather information from you to facilitate setting users up. The first information gather will be issued directly to LA single inboxes in the next few days, so do look out for this and respond as soon as possible.

22. Following this, please look out for further updates over the following weeks and months in our regular bulletins and other additional direct requests for information to help us set up users.

Update: searchlight Phase 3 Universal Credit data enhancement delivery

23. We are pleased to report that the issues that were affecting the delivery of the latest series of Searchlight improvements have been fixed and the final iteration of Searchlight improvements was implemented on the evening of 26 February 2026.

24. In this final iteration, Searchlight has been enhanced to include UC data on:

  • housing costs
  • service charges
  • self-employed

25. Some of the data presented can be difficult to interpret, such as how UC considers any previous self-employed loss. To help you understand the data, you’ll see we have produced the ‘Universal Credit - Searchlight enhancements 2025-2026 Guidance for Phases One, Two and Three’ pack which is available on Glasscubes. We recommend that you refer to this when you are viewing the data.

26. We would like to thank our LA Working Group members who played a key role in the design of the new data and screens that you now see and for their help developing the guidance that supports the changes.

27. If you have any queries, contact lawelfare.datasharingtransformation@dwp.gov.uk.

Update: UC Local Council Tax Reduction enhancements project closure

28. As advised in January’s LAWD1/2026 bulletin, we stopped sending the UC Local Council Tax Reduction data feed Version 1 (V1) file to the remaining 35 LAs on 12 January 2026. That means that from 13 January 2026, all LAs only received the V2 file.

29. Although we stopped issuing the V1 file, it was still being produced. This meant we could still issue the file if it was needed. However, from 19 February 2026, the V1 file is no longer generated so the project is now officially closed.

30. The Local Government Data Sharing Transformation team always welcomes feedback and can be contacted at lawelfare.datasharingtransformation@dwp.gov.uk.

Update: identifying Local Vulnerability progress towards a Minimum Viable Product

31. Since our last update in LAWD1/2026, we have been heavily engaged with DWP’s Digital teams to pass initial governance processes.

32. The positive news is that we have taken counsel from digital architects to ensure we are building a robust solution (from the back-end architecture to the front-end product) and have successfully cleared the first governance hurdle.

33. We are now preparing for the next governance hurdle, where we will be presenting our high-level solution and discussing strategic approaches. This will enable us to commence with Alpha phase of building a Minimum Viable Product (MVP).

34. As we move through building the MVP, we will continue to work closely and collaborate with LAs in the Identifying Local Vulnerability (ILoV) Working Group to ensure we’re delivering on LA requirements.

35. If you have any queries about ILoV, contact lawelfare.datasharingtransformation@dwp.gov.uk.

New additions to the published HB statistics

36. The published Housing Benefit statistics now include 4 additional data tables showing breakdowns of:

  • customer type (Working Age or Pension age)
    • the tables show the numbers of new claims and changes and average speed of processing times for Working Age claimants and Pension age customers.
  • accommodation type (supported-exempt or temporary)
    • the tables show the numbers of new claims and average speed of processing times in supported exempt accommodation and temporary accommodation.

37. These 4 data tables have been available since January 2026 and will be updated on a quarterly basis going forward.

What this data could tell you about your authority’s HB performance

38. We would encourage LAs to make use of this information as part of their internal HB performance management arrangements. LA-PEDs Performance Development Team (PDT) are finding these 4 data tables useful in identifying disparity in processing times between different customer and accommodation types. Whilst we are still in the process of analysing this new management information (MI), PDT colleagues are using this MI to support LAs to help ensure all customers in all accommodation types receive an excellent HB service. Our recent engagement records also suggest that LAs are welcoming new MI that can inform how they improve the customer experience.

What’s next

39. Following internal analysis of these new data tables and collation of the anecdotal intelligence gathered from LAs, we will share findings in an upcoming edition of this bulletin which will include some frequently asked questions and the good practices we have learned from our LA partners.

In the meantime, if these new data tables have highlighted any performance issues your LA may have with specific customer and or accommodation types, do speak with your Performance Relationship Manager. Through our free consultancy service, PDT are here to offer support to LAs to make improvements for our customers. If you would like more information about the support we offer, please contact lawelfare.pdtprm@dwp.gov.uk.

HB Debt Recoveries statistics for April 2025 to September 2025

40. The Housing Benefit debt recoveries statistics were published on 4 March 2026.

41. The statistics show that for the first 2 quarters (April to June 2025 and July to September 2025) of the financial year ending (FYE) March 2026:

  • LAs identified £205 million of overpaid HB – £15 million less than the first 2 quarters of the FYE March 2025
  • LAs recovered £210 million overpaid HB – £12 million less than the first 2 quarters of the FYE 2025
  • LAs wrote off £43 million overpaid HB – £9 million more than the first 2 quarters of the FYE 2025
  • at the start of quarter 2 (Q2) of the FYE 2026, there was £1.45 billion of outstanding overpaid HB – £127 million less than at the start of Q2 of the FYE 2025

Invitation to the next data sharing and IT consultation and engagement forum

42. The next forum will be held on Tuesday 21 April 2026 from 11am to 12 noon.

Joining instructions

The MS Teams link to this meeting has been shared in the version of the LAWD3/2026 that was sent directly to each LA’s single inbox. Note: It is more difficult to ask questions through dial-in so, if you anticipate having questions, we recommend joining through MS Teams where possible.

Aim to join the event 2 or 3 minutes before the start time, as we intend to start promptly.

43. Speakers will be muted by default but instructions will be given during the event if you want to ask a question.

Forum agenda

A 15-minute introduction from DWP, covering projects recently delivered, projects currently in delivery, insight into future planned projects, as well as the most recent common issues that have been reported to us.

30 to 45 minutes of questions from LAs on the call about the projects and matters covered in the introduction and any other IT and data sharing questions and issues LAs may have.

If time allows, 15 minutes focused on suggestions from LAs about future data sharing, data matching or automation projects that DWP could consider funding and delivering.

44. The call will be recorded and the recording will be placed on Glasscubes.

45. The forum is open to all LAs and it would be beneficial for every LA to have at least one representative dial into the forum to help us maximise feedback. Each LA representative should:

  • seek input and feedback from as many of their colleagues as possible prior to dialling in, for example, questions they might want answering
  • have knowledge, at least at a high level, about data sharing, data matching and current IT topic areas
  • feedback to their colleagues about how the conference call went, including the answers to the questions we asked

46. We look forward to your participation on the call. However, if you have any questions in the meantime, please contact paul.selby@dwp.gov.uk.

Update: move to UC

47. We are approaching the final stages of moving claimants from legacy benefits to UC. To date we have issued over 1.8 million Migration Notices to those in scope to move. Our focus continues to be support for those still in the migration journey yet to move. Most claimants will have completed their move by the end of March 2026. Ministers remain committed to closing the migration process in the coming months and have placed high priority on ensuring citizens move safely and securely.

48. The migration of Income Support and Job Seeker’s Allowance claimants is almost complete and these benefits will end on 31 March 2026. However, ministers have granted a brief extension to allow the department to focus on a safe transfer of the remaining Employment and Support Allowance cases, many of which are complex.

49. As we head towards this significant milestone, the department would like to thank all stakeholders who have supported this activity and shared their insight and expertise to make this process work for those we are supporting and realise this transformation fully.

Help us spread the word: check your State Pension age campaign

50. We’re asking partners to support our current campaign activity by encouraging your residents and service users to check their State Pension age.

Why it matters 

51. The State Pension age is rising from 66 to 67 between April 2026 and March 2028. If you were born between 6 April 1960 and 5 March 1961, your State Pension age won’t simply be 66; it could be 66 plus a number of additional months, depending on your exact date of birth.

52. Crucially, State Pension doesn’t arrive automatically. People need to apply and the Pension Service sends invitation letters around 4 months before someone reaches their State Pension age.

53. It’s important that everyone understands when they will receive their State Pension and how quick and easy it is to check as all they need to do is enter their date of birth.

How you can help 

54. We have social media assets and free posters (packs of 10) and flyers (packs of 50) available.

55. If you’d like these assets and materials to share, contact chiltonmannion.jobshare@dwp.gov.uk.

Practitioners’ Operational Group and Local Authority Welfare Steering Group

56. The last Practitioners’ Operational Group meeting took place on 19 February 2026. Agenda items included the Crisis and Resilience Fund, supported housing, LA funding, bringing the administration together for HB and Pension Credit, policy exploration focused on legacy HB (particularly for those in temporary accommodation and supported accommodation), the HB Award Accuracy Initiative, the Joint Working and Collaboration Framework Delivery Group and Move to UC.

57. Both groups’ meetings are held bi-monthly (and alternately), so the next Local Authority Welfare Steering Group meeting is scheduled to take place on 19 March 2026.

58. If you have any questions regarding topics raised at these consultation groups, email  lawelfare.correspondence@dwp.gov.uk.

HB decisions by the Upper Tribunal

59. Decision Making and Appeals (DMA) Leeds is not aware of any cases that have been decided by the Upper Tribunal (UT).

60. A selection of decisions of the UT are published on their website. Do be aware that there is an undefined time lapse between decisions being issued and their appearance on the website.

61. If you have any queries about cases before the UT Judges or courts, contact quarryhouse.dmaleedscustomersupportservices@dwp.gov.uk.

HB cases awaiting decision by the UT

62. DMA Leeds has not been made aware of any HB case that is awaiting decision by the UT.

New legislation

63. The following Statutory Instruments (SI) have been laid:

64. Copies of SIs can be downloaded from legislation.gov.uk

What’s new on our HB pages on GOV.UK

65. The following items can be found on the website link shown:

LAWD bulletin

Link: LAWD2/2026.

Subject:

  • editorial
  • reminder: pension Strategy Computer System Application Programming Interface uprating solution
  • all LA HB Award Accuracy Initiative conference call on 5 March 2026
  • publication of HB speed of processing statistics for July 2025 to September 2025
  • practitioners’ Operational Group and Local Authority Welfare Steering Group
  • HB Decisions by the Upper Tribunal
  • new legislation
  • what’s new on our HB pages on gov.uk
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