The Impact of Welfare Reform in Scotland - Tracking Study Sweep 4 Report - Appendices

The aim of this study was to explore the impact of ongoing welfare changes on a range of working age households in Scotland. The study consisted of four interview sweeps over a three year period (2013-16). This report presents the findings from the final


Annex 1: Further Information on Welfare Reform in Scotland

Figure A1.1 below shows the timetable by which key welfare reforms have been implemented in Scotland.

Figure A1.1: Timetable of key welfare reforms

Apr 2011

  • LHA set at 30 th percentile of local rents instead of 50 th, with national caps on rates
  • Child Benefit, and WTC (basic and 30 hour elements) frozen for three years

Jan 2012

  • LHA cut to shared room rate for 25-34 year olds with no dependent children

May 2012

  • Contributory ESA time limited for those not in Support Group
  • Lone parents with youngest child aged five or over no longer entitled to IS solely as a lone parent

Oct 2012

  • New sanctions regime introduced for JSA claimants - with three levels of fixed-term sanctions with increasing penalties for repeat sanctions

Dec 2012

  • New sanctions regime introduced for ESA claimants

Apr 2013

  • Introduction of the 'bedroom tax' ( HB reduced for 'under-occupying' tenants of working age in the social rented sector)
  • SWF replaces DWP Crisis Loans and Community Care Grants
  • Replacement of DLA with PIP for new claimants
  • Replacement of CTB with CTR in Scotland
  • Uprating of working-age benefits and tax credits capped at 1 per cent for three years

July 2013

  • National roll-out of the Benefit Cap to Local authorities with under 275 households affected

Aug - Sept 2013

  • Completion of Benefit Cap roll-out for local authorities with over 275 households affected (Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland)

Oct 2013

  • Rollout of UC expanded to six Jobcentres including Inverness
  • New Claimant Commitment rolled out to all Jobcentres
  • 'Mandatory reconsideration' introduced

Jan 2014

  • Limited reassessment of DLA claimants for PIP in Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, Galashiels and Motherwell

Apr 2014

  • Child Benefit - uprated by 1 per cent for two years
  • Introduction of mandatory work-related activity for lone parents in receipt of IS with a youngest child aged three or four

Jan-Mar 2014

  • Limited reassessment of DLA claimants for PIP in Glasgow, Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee, Kilmarnock, Kirkcaldy, Perth and Falkirk

June 2014

  • UC claims from couples and single people taken in Inverness

July 2014

  • UC claims for couples in all areas where UC is rolled out

Jan 2015

  • UC available to couples or lone parents with children in Inverness.
  • Limited reassessment of existing claimants of DLA for PIP in Glasgow and Inverness

Feb 2015

  • Limited reassessment of existing claimants of DLA for PIP in Aberdeen, Dundee, Kilmarnock, Kirkcaldy and Perth
  • UC available for single newly unemployed people without children in Highland jobcentres

Mar 2015

  • Limited reassessment of existing claimants of DLA for PIP in Falkirk
  • UC available for single newly unemployed people without children in West Dunbartonshire, North Lanarkshire, Edinburgh City

Apr 2015

  • UC available for single newly unemployed people without children in Midlothian, North Ayrshire, East Lothian, Borders, Dumfries and Galloway

May 2015

  • UC available to new single claimants in Orkney, Shetland Isles, Western Isles, Aberdeenshire, Falkirk, Stirling
  • Limited reassessment of existing claimants of DLA for PIP in Paisley

June 2015

  • UC now introduced into 49 jobcentres across Scotland for new, single jobseekers without children except in Inverness where couples and parents can claim UC

July 2015

  • Start of final phase of PIP reassessment to existing DLA claimants (due to be completed end 2017)

Oct 2015

  • Further introduction of UC to new single claimants into 9 jobcentres across Scotland

Nov 2015

  • Further introduction of UC to new single claimants into 8 jobcentres across Scotland

Dec 2015

  • Further introduction of UC to new single claimants Kirkintilloch

Source: Adapted from Scottish Government, 2014 (including Box 1.1., p11) and Scottish Government, 2015 (including Box 1.1., p 12) with additional information from Turn2Us (n.d.) and Department for Work and Pensions (2015).

The number of claimants in Scotland affected by these changes (according to the most up to date statistics available at the time of writing), and the change in these levels since the statistics shown in the previous report, is shown in Table A1.1.

Table A1.1. Claimants in Scotland claiming key benefits affected by welfare reform

Benefit

Number of claimants

May 2014

May 2015

% change

JSA

96,310

73,770

-23.4

ESA

241,730

254,500

5.3

- WRAG

70,150

66,460

-5.3

- Support Group

116,810

138,430

18.5

Incapacity Benefit

11,230

7,060

-37.1

DLA (working age)

194,820

179,100

-8.1

PIP

8,390

48,399

476.9

Universal Credit

345

2381

590.1

Carer's Allowance (working age)

57,880

63,310

9.4

Income Support

70,010

62,630

-10.5

- Incapacity benefit claimants

15,590

10,380

-33.4

- Lone parents

37,980

34,980

-7.9

- Carers

16,440

17,270

5.0

Housing Benefit

475,358

464,747

-2.2

- Private rented sector

98,221

94,804

-3.5

- Social rented sector

377,135

369,951

-1.9

- Affected by bedroom tax

71,292

72,026

1.0

Benefit Cap

948

773

-18.5

Source: DWP Tabulation Tool, http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/tabtool.html and DWP StatXplore, https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/

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