Brighton and Hove Benefits News and Resources
It’s not always easy to spot scams. Scammers are coming up with new ways to manipulate people, which is why it’s important you know which signs to look out for and what steps you can take to protect yourself. Use our online tool to check if something might be a scam and find out more…
Local Housing Allowance rates have been realigned to market rents in just two of the last 13 years. Current Government policy, reflected in the official forecasts, is for them to remain frozen for another four years. https://x.com/resfoundation/status/1982024694099280302?s=19 When LHA is frozen, rent rises soon wipe out increases in other income https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/housing-outlook-q4-2025/
The Renters’ Rights Bill has been APPROVED by the House of Commons! This is the final step before the Bill receives Royal Assent, which we expect shortly. No more amendments, no more debate – renters’ rights are coming.
CPI inflation has held steady at 3.8% in September. This means the Universal Credit standard allowance will be uprated by at least 6.2% in April – a boost worth nearly £6 per week. Had inflation hit 4% in Sept, as widely forecast, UC would have got a lightly bigger 6.4% boost next spring.
https://www.ft.com/content/ee67c643-01bc-41f6-a4e2-c738deef129e Britain is in the grip of a moral panic over welfare benefits. The preferred adjective for the costs of social security benefits to those not yet at pension age is “spiralling”, and it is used as much by Labour ministers as by the opposition. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has expressed horror at 6.5mn working-age…
https://wearecitizensadvice.org.uk/work-capability-assessment-delays-are-leaving-disabled-people-in-limbo-a1deb1e457cb Disabled people can get extra support under Universal Credit (UC) if they’re found eligible after a Work Capability Assessment (WCA). But many of those who come to Citizens Advice are waiting months, if not over a year, for this assessment. In the meantime, many struggle to afford essential costs and risk being pushed into…
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/job-advisers-to-be-embedded-in-gp-surgeries-as-tens-of-thousands-more-sick-and-disabled-people-offered-help-into-work Connect to Work delivery area Lead authority Included authorities (^ indicates lead) Funding (rounded down to nearest £0.1) Number of people set to support (rounded down to nearest 50) West Sussex and Brighton West Sussex County Council ^West Sussex County Council, Brighton and Hove City Council £15.6m 3,950 – Funding includes putting specialist employment…
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/millions-more-families-to-get-150-off-energy-bills-this-winter 2.7 million extra households will receive £150 off their energy bills next winter as the Warm Home Discount is expanded – putting money directly into people’s pocketsthis increases the number of households who are eligible to over 6 million in total – including 900,000 families with children and a total of 1.8 million households…
https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/money-on-my-mind/ Key findingsBritish households are carrying far lower levels of consumer debt than in the past. Among the poorer half of families, average debt has fallen from £2,617 in 2006-08 to £2,256 in 2020-22 – a 14 per cent real-terms drop. Higher-income households have seen an even larger fall of 21 per cent over the…
https://policyinpractice.co.uk/publication/missing-out-2025/ “The scale of unclaimed support in Britain is still staggering. Over £24 billion is left on the table at a time when many are struggling to stay afloat. But this isn’t a failure of the public. It’s a failure of a social security system that is still too complex, too fragmented and too passive….