Data file for Discretionary Housing Payments Determinations
Number of determinations (decisions to make or not make an award) made by Local Authorities on Discretionary Housing Payments applications.
Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are administered in Scotland by the 32 Scottish Local Authorities. DHPs may be awarded when a Local Authority considers that a housing benefit or universal credit (including the housing element) claimant requires further financial assistance towards housing costs. DHPs can be used to provide support to claimants affected by some of the key welfare reforms, including the introduction of benefit cap, the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy in the social rented sector ('RSRS', also known as the 'bedroom tax') and reductions in Local Housing Allowance. As of April 2017, full responsibility for DHPs has been transferred to the Scottish Government and the Department for Work and Pensions no longer provides any funding. Scottish Government allocates funding for DHPs to each Local Authority, and Local Authorities are also free to provide additional funding from their own resources. These [annual DHP statistics](https://www.gov.scot/collections/sg-social-security-scotland-stats-publications/#discretionaryhousingpaymentstatistics) cover the period from 1 April to 31 March each financial year. A determination is the decision taken on a Discretionary Housing Payment application to either make an award, or not to make an award.
Discretionary Housing Payments Determinations
For some local authorities, the number of awards is higher than the number of determinations is made on applications. These Local Authorities may have reporting systems and processes set up so that a single application can have multiple determinations or awards attached to it, because a new application or determination is not required for every financial year. This typically reflects Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy ('RSRS', also known as the 'bedroom tax') cases where awards have been extended from the previous year, but for which no new applications have been required by the Local Authority. In the 2013/2014, 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 publications, the number of determinations was adjusted upwards for local authorities where there were fewer determinations than awards. From the 2016/2017 DHP publication onwards, we have reported the original number of determinations submitted to the statistics branch by each Local Authority, even if there are fewer applications than decisions and awards. This way of reporting is more reliable as it does not require an estimate of the number of applications rolling on from the previous year. Further, it enables these Local Authorities to more accurately check their figures. East Renfrewshire cannot provide data on number of determinations, because their system does not record determinations which are 'unsuccessful'. In this publication we assume that the number of determinations was the same as the number of applications.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) publishes [statistics on Discretionary Housing Payments](https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/discretionary-housing-payments-statistics). The most recent statistics cover DHPs in England and Wales only. Previous versions of the statistics up until March 2017 cover DHPs in Great Britain.
To check the quality of the data we receive, we compare the responses to the above questions with the responses given the month before. We would normally expect the number of applications, determinations, awards and total value of awards to increase each month. Where this is not the case, we contact the Local Authority and query their responses.
Annual statistics are updated once a year in May following the end of the financial year in March. We also publish statistics in November covering the [first half of the financial year](https://www.gov.scot/collections/sg-social-security-scotland-stats-publications/#discretionaryhousingpaymentstatistics).
Economic Activity, Benefits and Tax Credits