INTRODUCTION OF THE SECTION 4 PAYMENT CARD and OTHER SECTION 4 INITIATIVES

Voluntary Sector BriefingThursday 21 MayFairfield Halls, Croydon

Simon MearesCRD Programme Office0208 604 1656

SECTION 4 INITIATIVES

The CRD Programme Office is taking forward a number of initiatives to improve the administration of Section 4 support They are:

The introduction of a Section 4 Payment Card

Using full board Initial Accommodation for section 4 applicants who are destitute and street homeless

Using the Identity & Passport Service Interview Office Network to conduct ‘keeping in touch interviews’ with section 4 service users

The introduction of a more comprehensive section 4 application form to include the application for additional services and facilities

The introduction of a new Section 4 Bail Application process

Section 4 Payment CardBackground

The current voucher system is administered on our behalf by our accommodation providers The system provides those on section 4 support with supermarket vouchers that can only be exchanged in a designated supermarketUK Border Agency acknowledges that vouchers are: (a) stigmatising

(b) represent poor value for money(c) open to abuse and fraud (d) often traded for cash at reduced levels

We are unable to cancel them if they are lost or stolen

Section 4 Payment CardBackground

The recent Refugee Council research report “More Token Gestures” called for vouchers to be abolished and be replaced with cash Current legislation explicitly prevents us from introducing cash and using the S95 ARC cash payment system We have therefore decided to replace vouchers with a pre-paid payment card which will be administered by UK Border Agency’s existing business partner Sodexo Besides supplying our S95 cash support, Sodexo are major suppliers of gift cards and well established retailer partnerships

Advantages of the Section 4 Payment Card

The Minister Phil Woolas, announced the introduction of the payment card in MarchThe payment card will provide the service user with the choice of a wide range of supermarket outlets, large and small, and specialist Halal meat suppliers where necessaryIt removes the stigma of vouchers, with no reference to UKBA on the cardThe card system will enable payments to be controlled on a daily basis The card will also be used to deliver most of the various additional payments which came into force in 2008The payment card will be called ‘AZURE’A pilot will be held in the North West and London in July

‘AZURE’ Section 4 Payment CardHow it will look

Further advantages of the Payment Card

In addition to aiding fraud prevention, the payment card will enable UK Border Agency to:

Top up the card each week, stop where necessary and cancel the card immediately in the event of loss or theft

Simplify the existing unreliable delivery chain

Investigate cases and cease support where it is not being used

Vary levels of support more easily without an expensive and resource intensive administrative process

Provide management information and automated financial reconciliation

Additional features of the Payment Card system

We are currently discussing with Sodexo the cost of providing a ‘freefone’ facility for service users to check their balanceAlternatively, they can provide a facility that will cost 15p a call (automatically deducted from the card balance)A similar ‘lost or stolen’ process to the ARC will be providedIn the event of loss or theft, emergency support will be provided in the form of vouchers by accommodation providers In the unlikely event that the participating retailers are unable to provide Halal meat in a given area, independent suppliers will be signed up to the schemeWe are hoping to bring the local Registry Offices on board as wellAccommodation providers will continue to be responsible for travel costs

Managing the Balance on the Payment Card

We expect service users to monitor their till receipts and manage their weekly support themselves. We are proposing: For singles and couples without dependant minors, the balance on the card to be carried over each week would be limited to £3.50 For couples with dependant minors there will be no limit to the amount carried over This will allow the additional payments for children’s clothing and other weekly payments for children to be accrued This will also allow sufficient time for the one off maternity payment to be spentWhilst those with dependant minors will be allowed to carry over unspent amounts, UKBA will be carefully monitoring cases to ensure that excessive amounts of credit are not built up. We are adopting this approach to avoid the confusion of having two cards one for normal support and one for clothing etc.

Using Full Board Accommodation for section 4Pilot

We intend to test the provision of full board accommodation as immediate support for those section 4 applicants who are destitute and street homelessA pilot will be held in the West Midlands and London in JuneWe will also pilot the new section application formDuring the pilot, applicants from other areas may be offered full board accommodation in Birmingham if they are street homelessApplicants will be moved on to normal section 4 accommodation as soon as possible, within 10 daysNormal ‘wrap around’ services will not be available to S4 applicants in the full board accommodation with the exception of any assessment of special needsThe London accommodation will be used for Medical Foundation and other special needs cases

Using Identity & Passport Service (IPS) Interview Office Network (ION) for Section 4 ‘Keeping in Touch Interviews’Pilot

Working in partnership with IPS we intend to invite in section 4 service users for a ‘keeping in touch’ interview at one of IPS local interview officesThe objectives of the interviews are to:

Establish and maintain contact with section 4 service users who have been on support for some time, but not in contact with UKBA

Confirm that they are still destitute, not working and require section 4 support

Take a photograph to update our records to prevent any delay should they be granted leave of some type when their case is considered

Section 4 interviews at IPS offices

The interviews will conducted in private by a trained IPS Interview OfficerService users may bring a friend or relative to act as interpreter if they wishService users will be provided with a travel ticket where necessaryPilots will be held in Middlesbrough and Luton in JulyThose being interviewed at Luton will be from Leicester A direct telephone line will be available for those to contact CRD Programme Office in the event they cannot attendIf any service users fails to attend their interview without prior contact with CRD or without an acceptable reason their section 4 support may be affected

New Section 4 Application form

We have reached the end of a long and exhaustive consultation to review and amend the section 4 application formWe have recently incorporated a section to allow the application for additional services and facilities to be made at the same time as for supportWe have obtained legal advice that an applicant does have to ‘make application’ for the additional services and facilities which has prevented us from just paying some of the payments ‘up front’The pilot using full board accommodation for street homeless applicants will also test the new application form prior to its formal introduction in JulyThe final draft of the application form is currently with Emily Miles for sign off

New Section 4 Bail process

A new process for the application for section 4 accommodation following Immigration detention has been agreed by UKBA and the AIT

The new process incorporates:

A new short application form The provision of an immediate bail address (IA) Immediate notification from the AIT to UKBA of the bail hearing decision ) Transfer from AIT to IA where necessary Special needs assessment in IA where necessary Those eligible for S95 support can do so in IA Transfer from IA to section 4 accommodation (or S95 where appropriate) Administration of the process transferring from CRD to a team in Asylum

Section 4 Initiatives

Simon MearesProject ManagerCRD Programme Office0208 604 1656