diff --git a/changelog.d/466-bereavement-support-corrections.changed.md b/changelog.d/466-bereavement-support-corrections.changed.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..8aab9cc63c --- /dev/null +++ b/changelog.d/466-bereavement-support-corrections.changed.md @@ -0,0 +1 @@ +Corrected the bereavement support plan (docs/book/programs/gov/dwp/bereavement-support-plan.md): Microcosm UK as the certified default and its split of FRS code 9, the BSP claim-time limits and higher-rate test, the cohabitee rules after the 2023 Remedial Order, and the WPA dates, continuation and uprating, including that WPA is closed to deaths from 6 April 2017 but still takes new claims for earlier deaths. diff --git a/docs/book/programs/gov/dwp/bereavement-support-plan.md b/docs/book/programs/gov/dwp/bereavement-support-plan.md index 1d06731a45..0cb8887915 100644 --- a/docs/book/programs/gov/dwp/bereavement-support-plan.md +++ b/docs/book/programs/gov/dwp/bereavement-support-plan.md @@ -12,8 +12,9 @@ the related historical-WPA ask in [#465](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/policyengine-uk/issues/465). Updated October 2026: still reported-only; the facts below were checked against GOV.UK and legislation.gov.uk. The data notes cover both the -certified Enhanced FRS (policyengine-uk-data) and Microcosm UK, the -dataset being built to replace it. +Enhanced FRS (policyengine-uk-data, which policyengine-uk's own tests +still pin at 1.58.1) and Microcosm UK, which replaced it as the certified +default UK dataset in policyengine.py 6.10.0 (21 October 2026). ``` ## What's currently modelled @@ -36,20 +37,31 @@ That means: - Reform analyses changing BSP rates have no household-level surface. - Anyone bereaved after the FRS reference week never appears as a BSP recipient even if eligible. -- Both the Enhanced FRS +- The Enhanced FRS ([`frs.py`](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/policyengine-uk-data/blob/main/policyengine_uk_data/datasets/frs.py)) - and Microcosm UK fill `bsp_reported` from FRS benefit codes 6 and 9 - ([`frs_spine.py`](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/microcosm/blob/75167a68/packages/microcosm-build/src/microcosm/build/uk_runtime/frs_spine.py#L825)), - and Microcosm's own + fills `bsp_reported` from FRS benefit codes 6 and 9, and so did + Microcosm UK up to its certified 19 October 2026 build + ([`frs_spine.py`](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/microcosm/blob/75167a68/packages/microcosm-build/src/microcosm/build/uk_runtime/frs_spine.py#L825)); + Microcosm's own [source notes](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/microcosm/blob/d1fda720/packages/microcosm-build/src/microcosm/build/uk/spec/sources.yaml#L1870) - say code 6 mixes benefits and code 9 is tax-free War Widow's Pension. So the reported "BSP" also carries legacy - widow's benefits and War Widow's Pension. + say code 6 mixes benefits and code 9 is tax-free War Widow's Pension. + The FRS labels code 6 "Bereavement Support Payment / Widowed Parent's + Allowance" and code 9 "War Widow's/Widower's Pension", so wherever both + codes are summed the reported "BSP" also carries Widowed Parent's + Allowance and War Widow's Pension. Microcosm's main branch now puts + code 9 in `war_widows_pension_reported` and keeps only code 6 in + `bsp_reported` + ([microcosm#1333](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/microcosm/pull/1333)). - Since [#2382](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/policyengine-uk/pull/2382) (2.135.7), War Widow's Pension has its own variables, `war_widows_pension_reported` and `war_widows_pension`. `bsp_reported` keeps CPI uprating only until the datasets move FRS code 9 out of it - ([policyengine-uk-data#578](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/policyengine-uk-data/issues/578), - [microcosm#1222](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/microcosm/issues/1222)); + and WPA into `widowed_parents_allowance_reported` (code 9 is done on + Microcosm's main branch in microcosm#1333; still open for the + Enhanced FRS in + [policyengine-uk-data#578](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/policyengine-uk-data/issues/578), + and [microcosm#1222](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/microcosm/issues/1222) + is still open); [#2381](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/policyengine-uk/issues/2381) tracks freezing it after that. - Since [#2572](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/policyengine-uk/issues/2572), @@ -74,18 +86,27 @@ The BSP under the [Pensions Act 2014, Part 5][pa-2014-5] and the pays: - A **lump sum** of either £2,500 (standard rate) or £3,500 (higher - rate, with a dependent child). -- **18 monthly payments** of £100 (standard) or £350 (higher), for a - death on or after 6 April 2017 - ([GOV.UK](https://www.gov.uk/bereavement-support-payment/what-youll-get)). - -The higher rate applies if, when the partner died, the claimant was -getting (or entitled to) Child Benefit for a child living with them, or -was pregnant. The + rate), paid only if the claim is made within 12 months of the death + (SI 2017/410 reg 3(2) and (5)). +- Up to **18 monthly payments** of £100 (standard) or £350 (higher), all + 18 only if the claim is made within 3 months of the death + ([GOV.UK](https://www.gov.uk/bereavement-support-payment/what-youll-get)), + for a death on or after 6 April 2017, when Pensions Act 2014 s. 30 came + fully into force. Someone who reaches State Pension age within 18 + months of the death may get fewer. + +The higher rate applies if the claimant was pregnant or entitled to +Child Benefit when the partner died, or later became entitled to Child +Benefit for a child who lived with them or the partner immediately +before the death (SI 2017/410 reg 4). The [Bereavement Benefits (Remedial) Order 2023](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2023/134/contents) (SI 2023/134) extended BSP and WPA to cohabiting partners with children, with effect back to 30 August 2018, after the Supreme Court's -2018 McLaughlin judgment. It didn't change the number of payments. +2018 McLaughlin judgment (on WPA) and the High Court's 2020 Jackson +judgment (on BSP). It kept the 18-month maximum, but a cohabiting +partner whose partner died between 6 April 2017 and 29 August 2018 gets +18 monthly payments less one for each month that had passed by +29 August 2018 (SI 2017/410 reg 2(7) to (11)). To model this we need: @@ -94,8 +115,10 @@ To model this we need: the [single initial payment](https://www.gov.uk/bereavement-support-payment/what-youll-get) is paid once. A flag for "bereaved in the last 18 months" would stay true across two consecutive annual periods and pay the lump sum twice. -- `bsp_higher_rate_eligible` (Person, YEAR): whether they have a - dependent child. +- `bsp_higher_rate_eligible` (Person, YEAR): whether they were pregnant + or entitled to Child Benefit when the partner died, or became entitled + afterwards for a child who lived with them or the partner + (SI 2017/410 reg 4). - `bsp_months_remaining` (Person, YEAR): how many of the 18 monthly instalments fall within the simulation year (0 to 12). This is where the 18-month window belongs. @@ -125,24 +148,38 @@ been £350, £3,500, £100 and £2,500 since April 2017, and the ### Phase 2: historical WPA under the same formula Widowed Parent's Allowance (under [Social Security Contributions and -Benefits Act 1992 s. 39A][sscba-39a]) was paid for deaths from April -2001 up to 5 April 2017. The benefit: - -- Continued for as long as the surviving spouse had a dependent child. -- Was uprated annually. +Benefits Act 1992 s. 39A][sscba-39a]) is paid for deaths before 6 April +2017 (s. 39A(1)(a)), except where a woman's husband died before 9 April +2001 (s. 39A(1A)). The benefit: + +- Continues while the survivor is entitled to Child Benefit for a + qualifying child (or is pregnant) and is under State Pension age, and + ends on remarriage or a new civil or cohabiting partnership + (s. 39A(4) and (5)). +- Is uprated each April (£156.65 a week from April 2026, SI 2026/148 + art 18). - Was replaced by BSP for deaths from 6 April 2017. For historical analyses the model should: -- Add `wpa_eligible` (Person, YEAR): partner died between April 2001 - and 5 April 2017, the survivor is under State Pension age and is - entitled to Child Benefit. +- Add `wpa_eligible` (Person, YEAR): the partner died before 6 April + 2017 (but not a woman's husband before 9 April 2001), the partner met + the contribution conditions, and the survivor is under State Pension + age, has not remarried or formed a new partnership, and is entitled to + Child Benefit for a qualifying child or is pregnant (SSCBA 1992 + s. 39A). - Replace the `adds` of `widowed_parents_allowance` (Person, YEAR) with a formula reading the WPA rate parameter (which would need backfilling under `gov/dwp/wpa/rate.yaml`). -WPA has no new awards, but existing awards continue while the -surviving parent has a dependent child, so some recipients remain. In +WPA is closed to deaths from 6 April 2017, but new claims for earlier +deaths are still possible +([GOV.UK](https://www.gov.uk/widowed-parents-allowance)): the 2023 Remedial Order brought about 3,400 +successful WPA claims from cohabiting partners between February 2023 and +November 2024 +([DWP, July 2025](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bereavement-benefit-remedial-order-uptake-february-2023-to-november-2024)). +Existing awards continue while the surviving parent is entitled to Child +Benefit and under State Pension age, so some recipients remain. In the current data they sit inside `bsp_reported` (see above), so they are already counted in income. Once datasets fill `widowed_parents_allowance_reported`, they are told apart from BSP; the @@ -151,14 +188,16 @@ gap left is a rule-based amount for reforms. ### Phase 3: data-side bereavement inputs Neither `bsp_initial_payment_due` nor `bsp_months_remaining` exists in -the FRS. The FRS is a cross-section, not a panel, and doesn't record -when a partner died, so these inputs would need imputing in the data (Microcosm UK, as the -replacement dataset): +the FRS. The FRS is a cross-section, not a panel, and its benefits +documentation shows no record of when a partner died, so these inputs +would need imputing in the data (Microcosm UK, now the certified default +UK dataset): - start from FRS respondents who report BSP (once it is separated from the other codes, as above) and from widowed respondents; -- calibrate to DWP's BSP and WPA caseloads ([Stat-Xplore](https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/)) by age, sex - and region. +- calibrate to DWP's BSP caseloads ([Stat-Xplore](https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/), + by age, gender and geography, from April 2017) and to WPA caseloads + where DWP still publishes them. This is the heaviest of the three phases; without it the new variables work for the household calculator (which can input them @@ -169,10 +208,12 @@ directly) but not for microsim aggregates. - WPA recipients who would have been on BSP under the new rules: do we want a reform-side parameter "treat all WPA receipts as if they were BSP" for counterfactual analysis? -- The 2023 Remedial Order extended BSP to cohabiting partners with - children, with effect from 30 August 2018. Eligibility should not - require marriage or civil partnership for deaths from that date where - there are children. +- The 2023 Remedial Order extended BSP to cohabiting partners, with + effect from 30 August 2018. Eligibility should not require marriage or + civil partnership where the survivor was pregnant or entitled to Child + Benefit (Pensions Act 2014 s. 30(1)(aa)), for deaths on or after + 6 April 2017; for deaths before 30 August 2018 the monthly payments + are cut as in SI 2017/410 reg 2(7) to (11). ## References @@ -182,7 +223,8 @@ directly) but not for microsim aggregates. - [Bereavement Benefits (Remedial) Order 2023 (SI 2023/134)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2023/134/contents): cohabiting-parent extension, effective from 30 August 2018. - [SSCBA 1992 s. 39A][sscba-39a]: legacy WPA basis. - gov.uk, [Bereavement Support Payment](https://www.gov.uk/bereavement-support-payment) and [Widowed Parent's Allowance](https://www.gov.uk/widowed-parents-allowance). -- DWP, [Stat-Xplore](https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/): Bereavement Support Payment and Widowed Parent's Allowance caseloads. +- DWP, [Stat-Xplore](https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/): Bereavement Support Payment claims and recipients from April 2017. +- DWP, [Uptake of backdated BSP and WPA under the Bereavement Benefits (Remedial) Order 2023](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bereavement-benefit-remedial-order-uptake-february-2023-to-november-2024) (July 2025). - Issues: [#466](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/policyengine-uk/issues/466) (BSP formula), [#465](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/policyengine-uk/issues/465) (historical WPA). [pa-2014-5]: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/19/part/5