Payment stage after an Income Support payment or Special Payment

​​Request 827782866

Provide the following information held in relation to the payment stage after an Income

Support payment or Special Payment has been approved:

1. Any current written policy, procedure, workflow, checklist, guidance, or staff instruction setting out the steps involved between:

a. approval of an Income Support payment; and

b. approval of a Special Payment, and the point at which the payment reaches the recipient’s bank account.

2. Any current written policy, guidance, service standard, target, KPI, or internal instruction referring to the expected time between approval of a payment and receipt of that payment by the claimant, landlord, or other recipient.

3. Any document, policy, or guidance explaining why payment may take up to 3 working days, or similar wording, after approval.

4. Any written guidance or procedure on expediting payment after approval in urgent cases, including homelessness-related, emergency, hardship, or medically vulnerable cases.

5. For the most recent 12-month period available:

a. the average time between approval and payment being issued;

b. the average time between approval and receipt by the recipient, if held;

c. the median time for each, if held; and

d. if held separately, the average time for urgent, emergency, housing-related, or homelessness-related payments.

6. Any written policy or guidance governing same-day, next-day, or otherwise expedited payment after approval.

Response

The requester asked for information held in relation to the payment stage after an Income Support payment or Special Payment has been approved.

This relates specifically to the period between approval and the point at which payment reaches the recipient.

The Department searched for recorded documentation relating to this post-approval period however, no such specific information is held.

Under Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011, information is only considered “held” by a public authority if it exists in recorded form and is held by, or on behalf of, that authority.

Therefore:

• ​Question 1: Information not held – Article 3 applies
• Question 2: Information not held – Article 3 applies
• Question 3: Information not held – Article 3 applies
• Question 4: Information not held – Article 3 applies
• Question 5: Information not held – Article 3 applies
• Question 6: Information not held – Article 3 applies

Articles applied

Article 3 – Meaning of “information held by a public authority”

For the purposes of this Law, information is held by a public authority if –

(a) it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person; or

(b) it is held by another person on behalf of the authority.​