Dataset: Benefit Cap (Point in Time Caseload)
Description
Age is taken from Housing Benefit (HB) data. As HB can be claimed by a household as well as an individual, age refers to the age of an individual claimant within a capped household or, if claiming as a couple, the eldest age within that couple.
Age is derived from the source data collected on date of birth of the main claimant and, where applicable, from the partner of the claimant.
Age is recorded in years as at the reference date (second Thursday of the month).
Classification
Age is available as either single year of age, or as age bands.
Applicable to: All capped households:
- Single year of age is available for all ages between 16 and 89 inclusive, with ages of 90 and above presented as a single category.
- Age bands: Under 25, 25 to 34, 35 to 44, 45 to 49, 50 to 54, 55 to 59, 60 to 64, 65 to 69, 70 and over
- 999 Unknown / Missing
Total number of categories:
by single year of age: 75
by age band: 10
Quality Statement
The age of claimant (and age of partner of main claimant, if applicable) on the reference date (second Thursday in the month) is derived from date of birth. Date of birth is recorded as part of the HB claim process. In support of the claim, proof of identity must be provided - for example, birth certificate. It is possible that errors can occur in the recording of date of birth (both on the form and inputting onto the computer system within the local authority processing the claim). Some limited data cleansing takes place when age is derived from date of birth. An age derived from date of birth which is under 16 is recoded to Unknown / missing.
Field: Amount of Benefit Capped (bands) (£)
Description
From April 2013, a Benefit Cap field was added to the Single Housing Benefit Extract (SHBE) which provides the weekly amount that the Housing Benefit (HB) of a household is capped by.
Classification
Applicable to: All capped households:
Weekly amount of benefit capped (in bands)
- Up to £25
- £25.01 to £50
- £50.01 to £75
- £75.01 to £100
- £100.01 to £150
- £150.01 to £200
- £200.01 to £250
- £250.01 to £300
- £300.01 to £350
- £350.01 to £400
- £400.01 and above
Total number of categories: 11
Field: National - Regional - Admin LA
Description
Administrative location information is taken from Housing Benefit (HB) data.
The benefit cap is administered to HB claimants by a single Local Authority (LA). It is possible for a HB claimant to reside in a different LA to the one administering their HB, and therefore, their benefit cap. LA and region information reflect the initial LA in which the cap was applied to that household.
LA boundaries build up exactly into regions, for example, North East Region is built up from data collected from the following 12 LAs / unitary authorities (UA):
County Durham, Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Northumberland, Redcar and Cleveland, Stockton-on-Tees, Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Sunderland.
Regions then build up exactly into countries.
LA, region and country level information refers to administrative boundaries. These boundaries represent a hierarchy of areas relating to national / local government in the UK.
Classification
Applicable to: All capped households
Region
E12000001 - North East
E12000002 - North West
E12000003 - Yorkshire and the Humber
E12000004 - East Midlands
E12000005 - West Midlands
E12000006 - East
E12000007 - London
E12000008 - South East
E12000009 - South West
W92000004 - Wales
S92000003 - Scotland
99ZZXXXXXXX - Unknown / Missing
Total number of categories:
By Region: 12
By LA: 380
A full list of codes and names relating to local authority areas can be obtained from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) website: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/geography/products/names--codes-and-look-ups/names-and-codes-listings/names-and-codes-for-administrative-geography/index.html
Quality Statement
It is possible that errors can occur in the recording of geography when inputting onto computer system within the local authority processing the claim. Some data from local authorities has been carried forward due to incomplete or missing data. Information on which data has been substituted can be found here.
Description
Housing tenure (Detailed Housing Type) is taken from Housing Benefit (HB) tenancy information, which is recorded as part of the HB claim process.
Tenure describes the type of tenancy of the capped household and is recorded as at the reference date (second Thursday of the month). Tenures are grouped under Sectors, as described below.
Definitions
The Private Rented Sector (PRS)
Accommodation that is privately owned and rented out:
-Private regulated tenant
-Private deregulated tenant
The Social Rented Sector (SRS)
Housing rented from local authorities and housing associations:
-Local authority tenant
-Registered social landlord tenant
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) was introduced on 7 April 2008 for private sector tenants. LHA is an alternative way of calculating entitlement under the existing Housing Benefit scheme (note: it does not replace Housing Benefit). Under LHA, a standard allowance is used to decide the eligible rent of all claimants with similar sized households in a broad rental market area. This eliminates linking the level of benefit to each individual property.
Owner Occupier
Accommodation that is owned outright by the claimant.
Classification
Tenure is Applicable to: All capped households
Sector Type:
- Private Rented Sector (PRS)
- Single Rented Sector (SRS)
99 Unknown / Missing
Tenure (within sector):
- LA tenant (SRS)
- Registered social landlord tenant (SRS)
- Private regulated tenant (PRS)
- Private deregulated tenant (LHA) (PRS)
- Private deregulated tenant (non-LHA) (PRS)
99 Unknown / Missing
Total number of categories:
by sector type: 3
by tenure (within sector): 6
Further Information:
The sum of individual PRS tenures will not add up exactly to the PRS total. The PRS total includes Owner Occupiers that are not listed separately due to their small numbers.
Quality Statement
Tenure is recorded as part of the housing benefit claim process (see image of question above). In support of the claim, proof of identity must be provided, for example, birth certificate.
Proof of household address, such as a recent electricity bill, must be provided by the claimant.
Proof of household rent and tenancy must also be supplied by the claimant, for example, a rent book or tenancy agreement.
It is possible that errors can occur in the recording of tenure (both on form and inputting onto computer system within the local authority processing the claim).
Description
Family type is taken from Housing Benefit (HB) data and refers to the household subject to the benefit cap. It is derived from source data collected on partner status of the HB claimant and number of children in the household at the reference date (second Thursday of the month).
A partner is defined as: - A person you are married to or a person you live with as if you are married to them, or - A civil partner or a person you live with as if you are civil partners.
Children are defined as:
- Aged under 16
- Aged 16 or 17 and registered for work or youth training, or
- Aged 16, 17, 18 or 19 and in education doing a course not higher than GCE A-level, SCE Higher or GNVQ (advanced).
Classification
Applicable to: All capped households
- Single, no child dependant
- Single with child dependant(s)
- Couple, no child dependant
- Couple with child dependant(s)
- 99 Unknown / Missing
Total number of categories: 5
Quality Statement
Partner status and number of children are recorded as part of the Housing Benefit claim process. In support of the claim, proof of identity must be provided for both claimant and partner, for example, birth certificate.
Proof must be provided on who claims Child Benefit for each child in the household.
Proof of Child Benefit receipt must also be supplied, for example, award notices from the Jobcentre Plus office.
It is possible that errors can occur in the recording of partner status and/or number of children (both on the form and inputting onto the computer system within the local authority processing the claim).
Field: Gender of claimant (single claimants only)
Description
Gender is taken from Housing Benefit (HB) data.
As HB can be claimed by a household as well as an individual it is not possible to assign only one gender to a household subject to the benefit cap. Therefore, gender refers to the gender of single claimants only, or is registered as “couple” to denote that HB is being claimed by a couple rather than an individual.
Gender is not specifically asked for on the Housing Benefit claim form. Information is collated by the local authority based on titles provided on the form (for example Mr, Mrs) and claimant proof of identity.
Partner status is recorded as part of the Housing Benefit claim process.
Classification
Applicable to: All capped households:
- Single - Male
- Single - Female
- Couple - not applicable
- 99 Unknown / Missing
Total number of categories: 4
Quality Statement
In support of the claim, proof of identity must be provided for the both the claimant and partner, for example, birth certificate.
It is possible that errors can occur in the recording of gender (both on the form and inputting onto the computer system within the local authority processing the claim).
Field: Housing Benefit Weekly Award (£)
Description
Housing Benefit is paid weekly to the claimant or directly to their landlord.
Payment information is sourced from the administering local authority once a decision has been made on amount of Housing Benefit awarded. The decision is based on details entered on the on the Housing Benefit claim form and supporting evidence.
Data refers to the second Thursday of the month.
Classification
Housing Benefit weekly award is applicable to: All capped households
Weekly award amounts (£25 bands)
Up to £25
£25.01 to £50
£50.01 to £75
£75.01 to £100
£100.01 to £125
£125.01 to £150
£150.01 to £200
£200.01 to £225
£225.01 to £250
£250.01 and above
999 Unknown / Missing
Total number of categories:
By weekly award amounts (£25 bands): 11
Quality Statement
In support of the claim, several sources of evidence must be supplied by the claimant and/or partner, including:
-Proof of address, for example, an electricity bill
-Proof of private rent and tenancy, for example, a tenancy agreement
It is possible that errors can occur in the recording of weekly award (both on a form and inputting onto a computer system within the local authority that is processing the claim).
In particular, it is possible that, for some claimant records, the monthly award may be recorded instead of the weekly award. Therefore, care should be taken when looking at high weekly award bands broken down by local authority or parliamentary constituency.
Any claimant records with weekly award recorded higher than the Central London maximum Local Hosing Allowance (LHA) rate have the weekly award set as missing.
A minimum of 50p weekly award (where weekly award is recorded) must be present for a record to be included in these Housing Benefit caseload statistics.
Description
Local Authorities extract and return their data to DWP over a four week rolling period based on an extraction schedule for each Local Authority. For example, the "November" data has typically been collated between 27th October and 20th November 2014. Each Local Authority may extract their data up to a week before the date it is scheduled to be returned to DWP. Consequently, the statistics do not directly relate to a particular date but rather show the position of capped cases over a monthly cycle.
Classification
Applicable to: all months from May 2013 to the latest available month.
The number of categories will increase each release with the addition of the latest monthly data.
Description:
The number of children is taken from Housing Benefit (HB) data and refers to the number of child dependants resident in the household subject to the benefit cap on the extract date (second Thursday of the month).
Children are defined as:
- Aged under 16
- Aged 16 or 17 and registered for work or youth training, or
- Aged 16, 17, 18 or 19 and in education doing a course not higher than GCE A-level, SCE Higher or GNVQ (advanced).
Classifications:
Applicable to: All capped households:
- No child dependants
- 1 child dependant
- 2 child dependants
- 3 child dependants
- 4 child dependants
- 5 child dependants
- More than 5 dependants
- Unknown or missing number of dependants
Total number of categories: 8
Quality Statement
Number of children is recorded as part of the HB claim process. It is possible that errors can occur in the recording of the number of children (both on the form and inputting onto the computer system within the local authority processing the claim).
Description
Housing Sector is taken from Housing Benefit (HB) tenancy information, which is recorded as part of the HB claim process.
Tenure (Detailed Housing Type) describes the type of tenancy of the capped household and is recorded as at the reference date (second Thursday of the month). Tenures are grouped under Sectors, as described below.
Definitions
The Private Rented Sector (PRS)
Accommodation that is privately owned and rented out:
-Private regulated tenant
-Private deregulated tenant
The Social Rented Sector (SRS)
Housing rented from local authorities and housing associations:
-Local authority tenant
-Registered social landlord tenant
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) was introduced on 7 April 2008 for private sector tenants. LHA is an alternative way of calculating entitlement under the existing Housing Benefit scheme (note: it does not replace Housing Benefit). Under LHA, a standard allowance is used to decide the eligible rent of all claimants with similar sized households in a broad rental market area. This eliminates linking the level of benefit to each individual property.
Owner Occupier
Accommodation that is owned outright by the claimant.
Classification
Tenure is Applicable to: All capped households.
Sector Type:
- Private Rented Sector (PRS)
- Single Rented Sector (SRS)
99 Unknown / Missing
Tenure (within sector):
- LA tenant (SRS)
- Registered social landlord tenant (SRS)
- Private regulated tenant (PRS)
- Private deregulated tenant (LHA) (PRS)
- Private deregulated tenant (non-LHA) (PRS)
99 Unknown / Missing
Total number of categories:
by sector type: 3
by tenure (within sector): 6
Further Information:
The sum of individual PRS tenures will not add up exactly to the PRS total. The PRS total includes Owner Occupiers that are not listed separately due to their small numbers.
Quality Statement
Tenure is recorded as part of the housing benefit claim process (see image of question above). In support of the claim, proof of identity must be provided, for example, birth certificate.
Proof of household address, such as a recent electricity bill, must be provided by the claimant.
Proof of household rent and tenancy must also be supplied by the claimant, for example, a rent book or tenancy agreement.
It is possible that errors can occur in the recording of tenure (both on form and inputting onto computer system within the local authority processing the claim).
Field: Westminster Parliamentary Constituency
Description
Westminster Parliamentary Constituency is taken from Housing Benefit (HB) data. It is based on the address of the HB claimant, and therefore the capped household.
It is possible for the claimant to reside in a different Local Authority (LA) to the one administering their HB claim. Therefore it is important to note the distinction between residence-based and administration-based geographies, which are not always directly comparable. Care should therefore be taken to distinguish whether a residence-based or administrative-based geography has been used when creating tabulations.
Classification
A full list of codes and names relating to local authority areas can be obtained from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) website: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/geography/products/names--codes-and-look-ups/names-and-codes-listings/names-and-codes-for-administrative-geography/index.html
We classify Unknown / Missing as ZZXXXXXXX
Total number of categories: 650
Quality Statement
Parliamentary constituency is derived from the postcode of the claimant’s address.
Postcode is present for over 99 per cent of claimants but, for some claimants, the postcodes are incomplete or missing. To improve the quality of postcode information, the claimant’s address is processed through address cleansing software.
For postcodes that are still incomplete after address cleansing, Parliamentary constituency has been assigned where possible using postcode district.
It is possible that errors can occur in the recording of address / postcode (both on form and inputting onto computer system within the local authority processing the claim).