1. 1
Protecting the Most
Vulnerable
Karamjit Singh
NI Social Fund Commissioner

2. OSFC’s Experiences of Social Fund
Customers in NI Report
Of the 225 cases examined by OSFC:
 67.6% (46.4% in GB) involved working age
people experiencing multiple disadvantages
as defined in the State of the Nation Report
 39.1% (27% in GB) involved an adult with
both mental and physical health problems
 20.9% (19.8% in GB) involved somebody
who had experienced a period of
homelessness

3.  35.1% (14.8% in GB) involved people with
two or more of the following social
disadvantages: learning difficulties;
physical or mental health problems;
homelessness; drug or alcohol problems;
ex-offenders; children leaving care, or
where there were ongoing custody issues
 49.3% (14.6% in GB) had a Social Fund
debt of more than £1,000. In 16.2% of
these cases the Social Fund debt was in
addition to other debts to third parties

4.  Social Fund introduced in 1988 and comprises
two parts; one regulated and one
discretionary.
 OSFC is concerned solely with the cash
limited discretionary part, a scheme of
payments consisting of grants; crisis loans
and budgeting loans.
 The Department for Social Development
(DSD) is responsible for policy and legislation
and its Social Security Agency (SSA)
responsible for day-to-day operations.
 OSFC is an independent statutory body that
carries out the independent review service for
the scheme.

5. The Application Process
 Customer: makes an application to SSA in
writing (or by telephone for Crisis Loans).
 SSA decision maker: gathers any additional
evidence & makes decision.
 Dissatisfied customer: requests review in writing.
 SSA Reviewing Officer: gathers any additional
evidence & makes their Review Decision.
 Dissatisfied customer: writes directly to OSFC
and requests an independent review.
 Inspector in OSFC: gathers any additional
evidence and makes their decision.

6. Customer led review
The Inspector can:
 refer the case back to Review Officer to
correct a defect (<1% cases)
 proceed straight to decision if there are no
crucial gaps in evidence / natural justice issues
(c. 30% of cases); or
 Contact the customer to gather more
information (c. 70% of cases).
– In 70% of these cases customers provide
evidence by telephone.
– Relatively few representatives involved
(15%).

7. 7
Clearance times (working days)
Time targets for Inspectors:
12 days for grants
5 days for Budgeting Loans
1 day for urgent Crisis loans
2013/14 Performance:
6.7 days for a Grant
1.3 days for a Budgeting Loan
less than 1 day for urgent crisis loans

8. Independent reviews in 2013/14
 1,641 cases registered with OSFC
 78 requests from customers for
further independent reviews
 5 complaints received
 31% of decisions reviewed by
Inspectors were changed
 Unit cost per decision was £157.48

9. The GB Social Fund Scheme
 Abolished in April 2013
 Remaining casework completed by
July 2013
 Funding provided to English local
government, Scottish and Welsh
governments
 No consistency

10. The GB Social Fund Scheme:
2012/13
 48,368 decisions
 78 staff
 Unit cost was £73 per decision (in 2009/10 it
was £154)
 39.8% decisions changed
 72% of respondents satisfied / very satisfied
 2,552 complaints about decisions resulting
in 135 being changed (0.3%)

11. Critical Issues
 Public confidence
 Timeliness
 Efficiency
 Quality

12. 12
The Future
 A Northern Ireland Discretionary
Support Fund?