FOI request (FOIR-414150113)

I am interested in understanding more about how your local authority manages its provision of “Exempt Accommodation”.

Exempt Accommodation in these questions is defined in legislation, namely accommodation which provides Housing Benefit claimants with exemption from the main HB rent restriction schemes that have been introduced from January 1996 ie:

• the local reference rent rules; and

• the local housing allowance rules.

The legal definition of ‘Exempt Accommodation’ can be found in paragraph 4(10) of Schedule 3 to the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (Consequential Provisions) Regulations 20061 specifically:

Accommodation which is provided by a non-metropolitan county council in England within the meaning of section 1 of the Local Government Act 1972, a Housing Association, a registered charity or voluntary organisation where that body or a person acting on its behalf also provides the claimant with care, support or supervision.

For ease, a Freedom of information was sent to you last year with the same questions as 1) and 2) but covering the years 18/19, 19/20 and 20/21. See: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/user/victoria_mcdermott

If you responded to the above FOI last year, could you provide me with comparable data for this year.

1) Please complete the following questions below about the cost of exempt provision in your local authority in 2021/22.

A) How much did you spend on the provision of “exempt accommodation”?

B) How many HB claims did you receive under the exempt rules?

2) Please complete the following questions below about the providers of exempt accommodation in your local authority for each of the following years: 2021/22

a) Total number of providers who received exempt HB funding

Of which were:

i) Registered Providers (registered with the Regulator of Social Housing).

ii) Registered Charities (Organisations registered with Charity Commission but not with Regulator for Social Housing)

iii) Community Interest Companies (registered as a CIC on the Companies House register, but not registered with the Regulator of Social Housing or the Charity Commission).

iv) Local Authority (including those where the Authority is also registered with the Regulator of Social Housing).

v) Other

b) Total number of units provided that received exempt HB funding for each of the following years: 2021/22

i) Registered Providers (registered with the Regulator of Social Housing).

ii) Registered Charities (Organisations registered with Charity Commission but not with Regulator for Social Housing)

iii) Community Interest Companies (registered as a CIC on the Companies House register, but not registered with the Regulator of Social Housing or the Charity Commission).

iv) Local Authority (including those where the Authority is also registered with the Regulator of Social Housing).

v) Other

3a) Could you provide a list of all providers that have provided exempt accommodation and, if possible, the number of claims they are/were responsible for? Could you please provide this data for the years 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2021/22

As an example, this is the type of format I’m looking to get this info in

4) a) Please can you provide links to or copies of any policy/procedure or guide for the following?

b) Please could you confirm if you have a dedicated team looking into exempt accommodation or exempt accommodation claims? If so, how many people in this team?