Departments Directions Social Fund Guide

Part 2 - Community Care Grants

General
Purpose of Community Care Grants
The Law, Directions and Guidance
Applications
Joint Claims for Jobseekers Allowance

General

Purpose of Community Care Grants

2000Community Care Grants are primarily intended to help vulnerable people live as independent a life as possible in the community. Although Health & Social Care Trusts have major responsibility for community care, there are many different ways in which community care grants can complement care provided by Health & Social Care Trusts and by other Government and voluntary agencies

2001The aim in considering applications for Community Care Grants should be to ensure that Community Care Grants:

do not take over the role of other agencies
are used in ways which contribute to the overall aims of care in the community

2002The prime objectives of Community Care Grants are to:

help people to establish themselves in the community
help people remain in the community
help with the care of a prisoner or young offender on release on temporary licence
ease exceptional pressures on families
help people setting up home as a part of a resettlement programme
assist with certain travelling expenses

2003The objectives of Community Care Grants differ from those of loans. Community Care Grants are intended to assist people on Income Support (IS), income-based Jobseekers Allowance (JSA(IB)), income related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA(IR)), State Pension Credit (SPC) or payment on account of such benefits facing difficulty arising from special circumstances, and in particular to support the policy of care in the community.

2004A flexible approach is most important when deciding an application for a Community Care Grant.
The discretionary nature of the scheme gives considerable scope to consider individual needs within the broad objectives of the scheme.

2005It is important to consider carefully all the circumstances of an application before deciding whether or not to award a Community Care Grant. No two cases will be the same. The flexibility of the Social Fund and the wide variety of individual circumstances covered mean that a decision in one case does not constitute a precedent for others.

The Decision Maker's power to award Community Care Grants

2006Although Community Care Grants and Crisis Loans may be applied for in their own right, because applications for both are determined on a similar discretionary basis, directions provide that, in certain circumstances, an application for a Community Care Grant may be treated as an application for a Crisis Loan and vice versa. This involves treating the Crisis Loan application as though it was an application for a Community Care Grant. It will not be possible to consider a Budgeting Loan application and award either a Community Care Grant or a Crisis Loan.

2007In deciding whether to award a Community Care Grant, you:

are bound by the law and the Department’s directions
must take account of the guidance issued by the Department and the Area Decision Maker

2008-2019

Principles of Community Care Grant decision making

The law, directions and guidance

2020You are bound by law to have regard to all the circumstances of each case, in particular:

the nature, extent and urgency of the need
the existence of resources from which the need may be met
the possibility that some other person or body may wholly or partly meet the need
the District Social Fund Community Care Grant allocation

Department's directions

2021The Department has issued directions which qualify your power to make Community Care Grants by reference to:

the eligibility of the applicant
repeat applications
exclusions
the effect of capital
the minimum amount to be awarded
the budget allocation to the District

These directions are binding.

Department's guidance and Area Decision Maker guidance

2022In reaching a decision take account of the guidance issued by the Department. This guidance is intended to give an indication of:

the circumstances in which a Community Care Grant may be awarded
the items and services for which a Community Care Grant may be payable
the way in which priority of need should be assessed

2023Also take account of the Area Decision Maker's guidance. This guidance is intended to:

specify the level of priority which may currently be met from the District grants budget, taking into account local factors

Decision Maker's discretion

2024The guidance should help you to reach a decision, but you should:

Clearly and fully document the reasons for your decision
always use discretion
use discretion sensitively and with imagination to ensure that the objective of community care is promoted
avoid a rigid interpretation of the guidance
consider circumstances which appear to be outside the scope of the guidance
remember that for Community Care Grants the absence of guidance applying to a particular circumstance, item or service does not mean help should be refused
consider all the circumstances of a case when you determine an application

2025Guidance on the circumstances in which Community Care Grants may be awarded is divided into the following main areas:

people moving out of institutional or residential care
helping people to remain in the community. This includes people moving to more suitable accommodation and improving living conditions of vulnerable groups
easing exceptional pressures on families
caring for a prisoner or young offender on release on temporary licence
people setting up home as a part of a resettlement programme
travelling expenses

2026In order to decide whether to make an award of a Community Care Grant or the amount to be awarded the questions, in order, which you should consider are:

eligibility criteria:
- does the application meet the qualifying benefit conditions? - Direction 25 and 26
- is it a repeat application? - Direction 7
- do any of the exclusions apply? - Direction 29
qualifying conditions:
- does the applicant satisfy the requirements of Direction 4?
priority of need - what is the priority of each item or service included in the application? Consider Departmental guidance and all the circumstances of the case, including:
- the nature, extent and urgency of the need
- the possibility that some other person or body may wholly or partly meet the need
budget - in addition to taking account of Area Decision Maker guidance on levels of priority you are bound by:
- section136(1)(e) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 to have regard to the budget allocation
- Direction 42 to give priority to high priority needs throughout the period of the allocation and not exceed the relevant allocation
having decided whether to make an award and if so the amount to be awarded go on to consider the following:
- does the applicant's capital affect the amount of the award? - Direction 27
- can the award be made or the minimum award that can be made? - Direction 28

Guidance on all of these questions is given in this section of the guide covering Community Care Grants

Showing how the decision is reached

2027Ensure that all the evidence used in your decision is documented on the clerical decision sheet or clearly available from Social Fund Computer System (SFCS) records where appropriate. Document clearly you have used or weighed the evidence to decide the questions above. The basis of the decision should always be available for future scrutiny if necessary.

2028When you have obtained all the necessary information, make the decision without delay. Never deliberately delay a decision until the need has passed.

2029-2059

Applications

2060The Social Fund (Applications and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008 prescribe the form and manner in which applications are to be made, and the time at which an application is to be treated as made, for discretionary payments from the Social Fund.

2061The date of an application to the Social Fund is the date it is received in an office of the department, including the office of an agent acting on behalf of the department, provided the application is in writing and:

on a form approved by the Department or
is acceptable as sufficient in the circumstances of the case, e.g. there is sufficient information in a letter and
if an application is made on behalf of a person, by someone other than an appointee, that person must give their consent in writing to the application being made on their behalf

2062An application which does not meet the requirements of the The Social Fund (Applications and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008 as described in para 2061 is termed defective. However, you can treat the application as made on the date it was originally received, provided the applicant complies with a request to supply in writing or at an interview any further particulars which may reasonably be necessary.

2063Normally allow an applicant up to one month to correct a defect in an application, but extend this period if it seems reasonable to do so.

2064Although Community Care Grants and Crisis Loans may be applied for in their own right, because applications for both are determined on a similar discretionary bases, directions provide that, in certain circumstances, an application for a Community Care Grant may be treated as an application for a Crisis Loan and vice versa. Further guidance on this subject can be found at paragraph 3800 et seq of this guide.

2065However, Decision Makers are not required to consider a Community Care Grant in every case of a Crisis Loan application or vice versa. Such consideration is appropriate where the information declared by the applicant in support of a Crisis Loan application alerts the Decision Maker to the possibility of a Community Care Grant being appropriate, and where

an application for a Crisis Loan or Community Care Grant to meet the same need is not being considered by an Decision Maker or Social Fund Inspector at the date of application; and
the Decision Maker considers that a Community Care Grant may be awarded in respect of the need specified in the application.

Similarly, an application for a Community Care Grant may be treated as an application for a Crisis Loan where the reverse circumstances apply.

Investigating the application

2066You will normally be able to decide whether to make an award from the information on the application form. But further investigation may be necessary if:

there is insufficient information
there is any reason to doubt the validity of the application
the application is for a new item and it is likely that there is already an item which might be repaired at less cost

Supporting evidence

2067It is the applicant's responsibility to provide all the evidence necessary to determine an application.

2068Sometimes it may be necessary to seek further information or clarify an aspect of the application. You can usually resolve this by either:

contacting the applicant or
checking Departmental records

2069Where the applicant provides third party details and further enquiries are needed as per para 2068 above, it would be appropriate to contact the third party, particularly a social worker or probation officer, if they are likely to be able to provide more detail.

2070If the applicant or third party gives any information over the telephone, this is acceptable as corroborating evidence.

2071Exceptionally, it may be appropriate to ask the applicant for any corroborating evidence they may have, such as:

estimate of cost of repair
estimate of cost of replacement
relevant evidence of a medical condition, e.g. an existing doctor's note, a letter from a hospital.

2072You should ask for as much supporting evidence from the applicant for corroboration as is reasonable and necessary to substantiate the application, but do not:

ask for evidence which would incur any expense to the applicant
insist that the applicant provides supporting evidence, particularly from a third party

If the applicant does not produce the evidence, make a decision based on the completed application and any other evidence you already hold.

2073Do not ask for further evidence if it is unlikely that the application will succeed.

2074Any information on which you base your decision must be made available to the applicant either on request or at the review stage. If necessary, you may take reasonable steps to protect the identity of the source, see paras 1090 and 2077.

2075With this in mind you should investigate the validity of any information provided either anonymously or in confidence and which casts doubt on other evidence held.

2076You may be able to obtain evidence from another source or clarify the matter by obtaining further evidence from the applicant thus avoiding the need to use the confidential information as evidence. Corroboration will not generally be necessary where information is from a professional source which is not in question.

2077If corroboration of confidential information is necessary but not reasonably obtainable you should seek the consent of the third party source to use the information as evidence. You should however make it clear that, if they agree, the source of the evidence may be made known to the applicant.

2078If exceptionally you nevertheless use as evidence any information provided in confidence without the consent of the person who has provided the information you may take reasonable steps to protect the identity of the source, e.g. by:

deleting the name and any references from which the source might be traced or
summarising the content of the information

2079You must fully document the evidence used and the weight you have given to such evidence bearing in mind the need to ensure the facts on which you base your decision are correct.

2080Investigate in the normal way any allegations of fraud which may suggest that:

entitlement to benefit is in doubt or
misrepresentation has occurred

2081-2089

Joint Claims for Jobseeker's Allowance

2090Certain childless couples making new or repeat Claims for Jobseekers Allowance are required to make their claim jointly. The group of claimants who are affected by this requirement are defined by age: at least one of the couple ("joint-Claim couple") must be over 18 and born on or after 28th October 1957.

2091Under the Jobseeker's Order and associated Regulations both members of a joint claim couple will be required to meet the Jobseekers Allowance entitlement conditions and will each have equal rights and responsibilities. In effect, they will both be claimants. Where one member of the couple does not meet the Jobseekers Allowance conditions the "innocent" member of the couple will be able to get Jobseekers Allowance at the single person's rate. If the entitlement conditions are met, the couple will receive joint claim Jobseekers Allowance (which is income based Jobseekers Allowance(JSA(IB)).

2092The couple will have to nominate which of them will receive Jobseekers Allowance for them both. In the event of the nominated person being sanctioned, then payment of joint claim Jobseekers Allowance will be automatically paid to the member of the couple who is not subject to sanction.

2093In order to ensure that only the person who is being paid joint claim Jobseekers Allowance is eligible for a Community Care Grant, a provision has been introduced which defines how "in receipt of" should be interpreted in directions. This provision can be found at the beginning of the Department's directions in Part 8. This means that the member of a joint claim couple who is being paid Jobseekers Allowance on behalf of the couple is the only member who can be eligible to apply for a Community Care Grant.

2094Decision Makers must therefore ensure that when dealing with applications from a member of a joint claim couple that they identify that the applicant is the member of the couple who is being paid Jobseekers Allowance(IB).

2095-2099