FOI request (FOIR-441169847)

Discretionary Housing Payments

Requested Mon 01 August 2022
Responded  Fri 13 January 2023

I am requesting the following information regarding Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs):

1. How many applications for DHPs did the council receive in 2020/21?

2. How many of the applications in question 1 did the council approve? That is, where the council decided to award DHP in response to the application, either in full or in part.

3. How many of the applications in question 2 were awarded in full? That is, where the council decided to award the full amount applied for in the DHP application.

4. How many of the applications in question 1 did the council refuse? That is, where the council decided not to award any DHP in response to the application.

5. How many applications for DHPs did the council receive in 2021/22?

6. How many of the applications in question 5 did the council approve? That is, where the council decided to award DHP in response to the application, either in full or in part.

7. How many of the applications in question 6 were awarded in full? That is, where the council decided to award the full amount applied for in the DHP application.

8. How many of the applications in question 5 did the council refuse? That is, where the council decided not to award any DHP in response to the application.

9. Please provide any data the council holds on reasons for DHPs being refused in 2020/21 and 2021/22.

10. What was the average amount of DHP awarded in response to successful DHP applications in 2020/21? This is the amount awarded for each application, not to each household (that is, three successive awards to one household count as three separate awards). Successful applications in this question are those that were awarded any money.

11. What was the average amount of DHP awarded in response to successful DHP applications in 2021/22? (See notes accompanying question 10.)

Please note that these questions treat each application for DHPs separately, regardless of whether more than one such application was made by the same household in a financial year, or whether they were made to renew previous awards.

For example, if in 2020/21 one household applied for DHP and was awarded it in full for a fixed period, and then applied again and was awarded it in full again, then applied a third time and was awarded fifty percent of the requested amount, and then applied a fourth time and was refused with no money awarded, then in relation to this household:

• the question 1 figure is four (four separate applications)

• the question 2 figure is three (three applications were awarded in full or in part)

• the question 3 figure is two (two applications were awarded in full)

• the question 4 figure is one (one application refused with no award)

I wish to emphasise that if a council did not award any money to a DHP applicant but signposted the applicant elsewhere or provided support outside DHPs, this counts as a 'refusal' for the purposes of questions 4 and 8.

If the figures for questions 3, 7, 10 and/or 11 cannot be provided within the section 12 cost limit, please mark these questions as 'information not held'. This is not asking the council to provide all the information it can up to the section 12 cost limit (if I was asking that, I would ask it).

Response

Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding, the department that held the requested information have been dealing with all government grants which has taken priority over day to day duties.

1. 709

2. 677

3. Information not held - There is no requirement to hold this data

4. 72

5. 744

6. 677

7. Information not held - There is no requirement to hold this data

8. 67

9. Information not held - There is no requirement to hold this data

10. Average Payment £633.72

11. Average Payment £484.04

There is no requirement to hold any signposting referral data for DHP.