diff --git a/changelog.d/466.md b/changelog.d/466.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..a112260a6 --- /dev/null +++ b/changelog.d/466.md @@ -0,0 +1 @@ +- Add a bereavement support planning docs page at `docs/book/programs/gov/dwp/bereavement-support-plan.md` covering the proposed rule-based BSP formula (Pensions Act 2014 Part 5, SI 2017/410, 18-month payment window from SI 2023/134) and a Phase 2 extension covering historical Widowed Parent's Allowance under SSCBA 1992 s.39A; combined plan closes #466 and #465. diff --git a/docs/book/programs/gov/dwp/bereavement-support-plan.md b/docs/book/programs/gov/dwp/bereavement-support-plan.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..67452a1fc --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/book/programs/gov/dwp/bereavement-support-plan.md @@ -0,0 +1,139 @@ +# Bereavement support: BSP formula and historical WPA (planned) + +```{warning} +**Currently reported-only.** PolicyEngine UK models the Bereavement +Support Payment (BSP) as `adds = ["bsp_reported"]` — i.e. the value +flows through from the dataset, with no derived eligibility or +rule-based amount. This page captures the proposed formula-based +extension covering both BSP and the legacy Widowed Parent's Allowance +(WPA) for historical analysis. Tracks +[#466](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/policyengine-uk/issues/466) and +the related historical-WPA ask in +[#465](https://github.com/PolicyEngine/policyengine-uk/issues/465). +``` + +## What's currently modelled + +Just the FRS-reported amount: + +```python +class bsp(Variable): + label = "Bereavement Support Payment" + entity = Person + definition_period = YEAR + value_type = float + unit = GBP + adds = ["bsp_reported"] +``` + +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. +- The legacy WPA is not modelled at all — anyone reporting it in + historical FRS waves drops into the residue. + +## Proposed scope + +### Phase 1 — BSP rule-based formula + +The BSP under the [Pensions Act 2014, Part 5][pa-2014-5] and the +[Bereavement Support Payment Regulations 2017][bsp-regs] (SI 2017/410) +pays: + +- A **lump-sum** of either £2,500 (Standard Rate) or £3,500 (Higher + Rate, with a dependent child). +- A **monthly payment** of £100 (Standard) or £350 (Higher) for up to + **18 monthly instalments** after a death on or after 6 April 2017 + (extended from 12 months by the Bereavement Benefits + (Remedial) Order 2023, SI 2023/134, after the McLaughlin / Jackson + ECHR rulings). + +To model this we need: + +- `is_bereaved_recently` (Person, YEAR) — a new input flagging + whether the person has been bereaved in the last 18 months. +- `bsp_higher_rate_eligible` (Person, YEAR) — whether they have a + dependent child. +- `bsp_months_remaining` (Person, YEAR) — how many of the 18 monthly + instalments fall within the simulation year. + +The BSP formula then becomes: + +``` +bsp = ( + lump_sum_amount * is_bereaved_recently + + monthly_amount * bsp_months_remaining +) +``` + +Both `lump_sum_amount` and `monthly_amount` parameter trees split on +`bsp_higher_rate_eligible` (£3,500 / £350 vs £2,500 / £100). + +### Phase 2 — WPA (historical) under the same formula + +Widowed Parent's Allowance (under [Social Security Contributions and +Benefits Act 1992 s. 39A][sscba-39a]) was paid for deaths between +April 2001 and 5 April 2017. The benefit: + +- Continued for as long as the surviving spouse had a dependent child. +- Was uprated annually. +- Was replaced by BSP for deaths from 6 April 2017. + +For historical analyses the model should: + +- Add `wpa_eligible` (Person, YEAR) — bereavement date 2001-04 to + 2017-04 inclusive, with a dependent child. +- Add `widowed_parents_allowance` (Person, YEAR) as a derived + formula reading the WPA rate parameter (which would need + backfilling under `gov/dwp/wpa/rate.yaml`). + +WPA receipts are now a closing tail of the recipient pool (no new +awards) but still appear in current FRS waves; the present model +treats those as a generic `maintenance_income`-class residue. Closing +this gap improves the alignment of HBAI net income for the few +thousand remaining recipients. + +### Phase 3 — data-side bereavement flag + +`is_bereaved_recently` doesn't exist in the FRS as a clean field; it +would need imputing in `policyengine-uk-data` from: + +- the FRS marital-status code transitions between waves (widowed in + current wave but not in the previous wave), +- DWP BSP/WPA caseload by region by year as the calibration target. + +This is the heaviest of the three phases; without it the new +variables work for the household-calculator (which can input the flag +directly) but not for microsim aggregates. + +## Open questions + +- BSP is currently uprated discretionarily rather than by statute. The + monthly rate has been £100/£350 since 2017 with no annual uprating. + Should the parameter tree carry an explicit + `uprating: gov.economic_assumptions.indices.obr.consumer_price_index` + to mirror what other DWP rates do, or hold flat to match the + historical reality? +- 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 McLaughlin / Jackson ECHR rulings extended BSP to cohabiting + partners with children from 9 February 2023. The current + `bsp_higher_rate_eligible` rule should encode this in its + effective-date logic. + +## References + +- [Pensions Act 2014, Part 5](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/19/part/5) — primary statute for BSP. +- [Bereavement Support Payment Regulations 2017 (SI 2017/410)][bsp-regs]. +- [Bereavement Benefits (Remedial) Order 2023 (SI 2023/134)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2023/134/contents) — cohabiting-parent extension and 18-month limit. +- [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, [Bereavement support statistics](https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dwp-statistical-summaries-on-bereavement-payments). +- 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 +[bsp-regs]: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2017/410/contents +[sscba-39a]: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1992/4/section/39A