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Guidance

LA Welfare Direct 8/2026 lite

Updated 24 August 2026

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/la-welfare-direct-bulletins-2026/la-welfare-direct-82026-lite

HB LAWD 08/2026 lite dated 18 August 2026

Crown Copyright 2026 

Recipients may freely reproduce this bulletin.

Contact

Queries about the:

  • technical content of this bulletin, 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.

Reminder: Correct use of the ‘Do Not Redirect’ Royal Mail service

1. The ‘Do Not Redirect’ (DNR) service is a critical safeguard service available to all local authorities (LAs). Its correct management is essential to maintaining the security and confidentiality of personal data. It is designed to ensure that sensitive correspondence is delivered only to the intended recipient address and is not subject to any redirection arrangements.

2. This reminder is issued to reinforce the requirements associated with the correct use of a service, as this prevents the unauthorised disclosure, loss or misuse of personal data.

Mandatory compliance requirements

3. Compliance with the following requirements is mandatory:

  • DNR-marked envelopes must only contain Housing Benefit (HB) related correspondence. Under no circumstances should unrelated documents be included within a DNR envelope.
  • the inclusion of mixed or additional content is considered a breach of the process
  • each item must contain only the intended recipient’s HB information, with no exceptions

4. Failure to correctly apply the DNR service or the misuse of DNR envelopes may result in data breaches.

LA compliance and accountability

5. LAs are expected to implement and maintain robust controls to ensure compliance. This includes:

  • staff adherence to DNR handling procedures
  • routine quality assurance checks and audits of outbound mail
  • clear accountability at team and management level for compliance failures
  • immediate reporting and escalation of any misuse or identified risks

6. Where non-compliance is identified by an LA, corrective action must be taken without delay.

LA action

7. LAs should now:

  • review current DNR mailing processes
  • reinforce staff training and awareness of the service, if needed
  • implement monitoring processes to ensure ongoing compliance

8. Any breaches of the correct use of the DNR service may lead to further investigation and notification to the Information Commissioner’s Office by the Department for Work and Pensions.

9. If further clarification is required or for any other information about this article, please contact lawelfare.datamatching@dwp.gov.uk

Final publication of HB speed of processing statistics for January 2026 to March 2026

10. The department published the HB speed of processing statistics and associated data for quarter 4 of the financial year ending March 2026 on Wednesday 29 July 2026.

Some key points

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

Overall, this is an increase of 4,700 (4%) since last quarter and an increase of 2,300 (2%) when compared to a year earlier.

During the latest quarter there were 1.9 million changes of circumstances to existing HB claims processed. This comprises:​

Overall, this is an increase of 1.1 million (145%) since last quarter and a decrease of 1.1 million (37%) when compared to the same quarter a year earlier.

New claims

The average time taken to process an HB new claim during the latest quarter was 21 calendar days. This is 1 day higher than last quarter and 1 day higher than a year earlier, and comprises an average time of:​

  • 20 days for working age claimants​
  • 23 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 4 calendar days. This is 4 days lower than last quarter and 1 day higher than a year earlier, and comprises an average time of:​

  • 6 days for working age claimants​
  • 3 days for pension age claimants

11. As advised in LA Welfare Direct 7/2026, this publication is the final release of HB Speed of Processing statistics. Following a recent public consultation, the department reviewed feedback on the value and frequency of the publication. The consultation did not identify an ongoing public need for these statistics to continue to be published.

12. Work is continuing to consider future approaches to performance reporting and engagement with LAs. Further information will be communicated in due course as these arrangements are finalised.

  1. Volumes for working age and pension age cases may not sum to the total volume for processed cases sometimes. This is caused by records that could not be matched to Searchlight to extract missing date of birth and sex of claimant records. For information on the matching process and reasons for unmatched records, see the HB speed of processing methodology note. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

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