Benefits data and information requests

We get many requests under the Freedom of Information Act for information on how our DHP fund is spent, our caseload, exempt accommodation cases and so on.

Before you make your request, you may be able to find what you are looking for here.

Claims caseload

Housing Benefit

Claims caseload for housing benefit
Year	Pension age claims	Working age claims	Total
2023/2024	2564	2060	4624
2022/2023	2610	2280	4890
2021/2022	2665	2685	5350

Council Tax Reduction

Claims caseload for council tax reduction
Year	Pension age claims	Working age claims	Total
2023/2024	4331	4562	8893
2022/2023	4372	4727	9099
2021/2022	4482	4757	9239

For more information on our Council Tax Reduction scheme, visit our Council Tax Reduction page.

Performance

Our average processing times in 2023/24 were:

Day per claim: 12.1

Days per change of circumstances: 1.4

We were well within the government guidelines for processing times.

Exempt accommodation

For claims treated as exempt accommodation, the portion of our caseload is as follows:

Exempt accommodation claim numbers and payments
Year	Number of claims	Annual payments
2023/2024	768	£56,59427
2022/2023	804	£47,73701
2021/2022	718	£41,93217

We are not required to, nor do we split out costs between supported and exempt.

Discretionary Housing Payments

Discretionary housing payments and years
	2021/22	2022/23	2023/24
Awarded	158	231	281
Refused	151	299	359
Repeat application	21	34	43
Reconsidered	0	37	6
Rent shortfall	22	37	37
Under 35 restrictions	0	0	0
Universal Credit	88	133	155
Removal costs	8	17	28
Benefit cap	6	6	3
Bedroom tax	3	6	10
Rent in advance	26	22	40
Other	5	10	8
Average one-off	£852.14	£870.99	£443.83
Average ongoing per week	£67.20	£54.90	£45.83
Average duration	89 days	79 days	78 days

The main reasons for refusing DHP are claimants failing to provide evidence and information to support their applications or not meeting the eligibility criteria which can be found on our Discretionary Housing Payment webpage.