Responses to your questions about support for Ukrainians arriving in the UK

From: DWP Operational Stakeholders <OPERATIONAL.STAKEHOLDERS@DWP.GOV.UK>
Sent: 25 March 2022 12:08
To: DWP Operational Stakeholders <OPERATIONAL.STAKEHOLDERS@DWP.GOV.UK>
Subject: Responses to your questions about support for Ukrainians arriving in the UK

Hi all,

At the most recent OSEF call we promised to share updates on DWP support for Ukrainians as soon as we have them, and we asked you to let us know if there was any information that organisations would particularly need. We now have answers to a range of questions raised about the £350 payment to households who accommodate Ukrainian refugees (originally raised by Gary), plus information on PIP and AA applications for Ukrainian refugees (raised by Hari). I hope this is useful.

Kind regards,

Helen

Helen Dorward (she/her) | Customer Orientation and External Stakeholder Engagement | Customer Experience Improvement Team | Customer Experience Directorate | Service Excellence Group | Department for Work and Pensions

£350 payment

Q: Where the sponsor is on housing benefit, how will the payment be treated?

A: Payment of the £350 thank you payment can be disregarded for Housing Benefit as income and capital because it is a payment of local welfare provision made by local authorities.

Q: Where the sponsor is on universal credit, how will the payment be treated?

A: The payment will be treated as unearned income and disregarded for the purposes of calculating Universal Credit.

Q: Where the sponsor is on pension credit, how will the payment be treated?

A: The payment can be disregarded for the purposes of calculating State Pension Credit.

Q: Where the sponsor is on income support or income-related ESA, how will the payment be treated?

A: The payment will be disregarded for the purposes of calculating ESA.

Q: Where the sponsor still has a severe disability premium or element within their legacy benefit or pension credit, will that be protected in any way if they accommodate a refugee?

A: As the Ukrainian national and their family members, if applicable, are living temporarily with the host they are not considered to be normally residing with them. This means that the host will not lose their entitlement to the severe disability premium.

Q: Will a sponsor getting a 25% council tax reduction as a single-occupier lose that discount if they accommodate a refugee?

A: Our understanding is that entitlement to the council tax single person discount should not be impacted by an individual's participation in the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

Q: Where the sponsor is affected by the LHA limit or RSRS, how will the refugee be considered?

A: As the Ukrainian national and their family members, if applicable, are to be treated as not normally residing with their host, there is no change to the number of bedrooms which the claimant is entitled to under the removal of the spare room subsidy. We have always been clear that a host will be no better or worse off in terms of their benefit entitlement.

Q: If the landlord wishes to charge additional rent to the £350 a month (which is lower than the SAR rate of LHA, and far below the 1-bed rate for those aged 35+), how will the refugees universal credit be calculated?

A: The DLUHC guidance for sponsors is clear that the accommodation offer is rent free. However, if a rent liability is created, the UC award will treat any rent liability in the usual way and it will be subject to any LHA restrictions.

Q: Will payments be made where the sponsor is related to the refugee and if so, will they be treated as a non-dependent with the NDD or HCC applied?

A: We think the two schemes are getting confused here. The Homes for Ukraine Scheme which is a DLUHC led scheme is separate to the Home Office fast track visa scheme for family members. Any Ukrainian national who arrives in the UK through the family visa scheme and moved in with a family member will be treated as a non-dependant.

Q: If a sponsor accommodates 2 or 3 refugees, will the payments be treated as earnings from self-employment for benefit purposes?

A: No, they will be disregarded as unearned income in Universal Credit.

PIP and AA applications for Ukrainian refugees

Q: Regarding PIP and AA applications for Ukrainian refugees – will the requirement to be in the UK for 104/156 weeks be waivered?

A: On 22 March DWP introduced new legislation exempting certain cohorts from having to meet the Past Presence Test for Disability benefits (104 weeks residence in the UK out of the previous 156) and exempting the same cohorts from having to meet the Habitual Residence Test for income related benefits which can take up to 3 months.

The following cohorts will be exempt from the Habitual Residence Test (for income related benefits) and the factual habitual residence test and Past Presence Test (for Disability benefits).

• Those with a right of abode in the UK, including British nationals and non-British nationals with pre-existing leave in the UK who left Ukraine in connection with the Russian invasion on 24 February 2022 and were resident in Ukraine immediately before 1 January 2022.

• Anyone granted leave either under or outside the Immigration Rules who left Ukraine in connection with the Russian invasion on 24 February 2022 and were resident in Ukraine immediately before 1 January 2022.

Here is a link to the Social Security (Habitual Residence and Past Presence) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 No. 344 on legislation.gov.uk: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/uksi/2022/344.