English authorities could be forced to return £26 million to government if they don’t start spending
Millions of pounds of unspent emergency housing funding could be returned to the government, after councils used just a fraction of their combined £155 million pot in the first half of the year.
Figures show 161 of the 212 English councils that responded to an Inside Housing freedom of information request spent less than half their discretionary housing payment funds in the first half of the financial year.
Of these, 33 councils spent less than a quarter of their DHP allocation, while six spent less than 15 per cent.
The government made £155 million in DHPs available to UK councils in April to mitigate the impact of welfare reforms. Authorities are not allowed to roll unspent money over at the end of the year, meaning £26 million of a total £87.5 million in unspent cash will be handed back by the survey respondents if their current spending is maintained.
Barking and Dagenham Council said it expected to use all of its £1.3 million DHP allocation, despite spending less than £170,000 by October, as money was being held in reserve to deal with the effects of the benefit cap, which began being phased in from August.
Sam Lister, policy and practice officer at the Chartered Institute of Housing, said the impact of the benefit cap on DHP was only a major concern in London. He suggested a bigger reason for the slow spend was a lack of council resources.
A spokesperson for the Local Government Association said it was ‘overly simplistic’ to suggest the money would not be spent as welfare reforms are being phased in gradually.
South London authority Wandsworth Council is the smallest spender, having used just £150,000 of its £1.8 million pot. The council declined to comment.
Laurna Reid, head of the welfare benefits team at Islington Law Centre, said the slow spend was a result of tenants not being aware they could claim DHP, and councils struggling to make successful allocations without legal advice.
Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: ‘People are crying out for help and although resources may be scarce, support must be given to people where it’s available.’
Of the total £155 million DHP pot, £65 million is designated to help people hit by the benefit cap and £30 million for those hit by the bedroom tax, although councils were left with discretion over how to use their allocation. Many have warned the DHP funding is insufficient.
A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions said it was confident the DHP pot was sufficient.
Source
