when was housing benefit introduced in the uk

Housing benefit was transferred from the Department of Social Security to local authorities in 1982. This was to coincide with increasing deregulation of the private sector rental market as it was felt at the time that local authorities would have a better understanding of local rental market conditions than the DSS. Its full transfer took place in 1989 as part of a major reform of social security legislation which also saw the introduction of Income Support.

Housing Benefit

Housing Benefit is a means tested social security benefit in the United Kingdom that is intended to help meet housing costs for rented accommodation. It is the second biggest item in the Department for Work and Pensions' budget after the state pension, totalling £23.8 billion in 2013–14.[1]

The primary legislation governing Housing Benefit is the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992.[2] Operationally, the governing regulations are statutory instruments arising from that Act. It is governed by one of two sets of regulations.

For working age claimants it is governed by the "Housing Benefit Regulations 2006",[3] but for those who have reached the qualifying age for Pension Credit (regardless of whether it has been claimed) it is governed by the "Housing Benefit (Persons who have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit) Regulations 2006".[4][5]:10â€“11

It is normally administered by the local authority in whose area the property being rented lies. In some circumstances, normally council tenants in "out of borough properties", some claimants may be required to obtain Housing Benefit from the borough that placed them. For those areas where there are two or more tier local government structure, Housing Benefit is administered by the district or borough council layer of local government. This is the council responsible for the billing of Council Tax. Additionally, local authorities in Great Britain, but not Northern Ireland, may contract out the administration of housing benefit to other local authorities, or to private companies.[5]:8â€“9

Council tenants' housing benefit is awarded as a rebate; reducing the level of rent payable by the tenant. Private tenants' benefit is normally paid to the claimant, who has the right to decide to whom payments are made, and in some cases to the landlord.[5]:276â€“288 Local authorities reclaim the housing benefit that they have paid from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) by means of submitting heavily audited subsidy claims. Three subsidy claims must be completed each year, an initial estimate, a mid year estimate and a final claim. The final claim must be submitted to the DWP by 30 April. The final audited claim must be submitted by 30 November.[6] The Department for Work and Pensions pays local councils an administration grant based on the numbers of new claims and overall case-load; as well as various other cost factor adjustments to take into account the relative staff and accommodation costs. The level of Administration Grant awarded is announced annually by the Department for Work and Pensions. Some elements of the subsidy claim are subject to penalty, to encourage local authorities to control that element of expenditure. This includes high rents for care and support homes and the raising of overpayments. Overpayments of benefit are not fully funded in order to ensure that the local authority takes recovery action where appropriate.[7]

Regulation 9 of the Housing Benefit Regulations mean that Housing Benefit is normally only available to those who are liable to pay rent. In some cases, a member of the household who is not the claimant or tenant may be treated as liable (such as where the person is unable to look after their own affairs). Some tenants who are liable may also be treated as not liable for the purposes of housing benefit (e.g. most full-time Higher Education Students and those who live with a closely relative landlord).

A person's immigration status may affect their right to claim Housing Benefit. If a person who does not have recourse to public funds submits a claim, the Home Office may be informed. This could affect any future immigration applications.

New or re-entrants into the country (including British Citizens) may also be excluded from Housing Benefit.

Since April 2008, new private sector benefit claimants receive housing benefit under revised rent restriction rules called Local Housing Allowance. From April 2017 people between the ages of 18 and 21 will not ordinarily be entitled to housing benefit. There are fears this will increase homelessness.[8]

Housing Benefit will only meet the pure rent costs of any liability. Central to benefit decisions is an assessment of eligible rent and ineligible services. Eligible rent is that part of the rent paid by a person which can legally be covered by housing benefit. Ineligible services are the parts of the claimant's rent liability that he must meet himself. Ineligible services include such things as the cost of heating, lighting, water rates, meals and any general counselling and support that may be included in the rent charged but will not be met by Housing Benefit.

The payment of the benefit is centred on the concept of a benefit week, which is a seven-day period running from a Monday to a Sunday. Housing Benefit may be paid on a weekly, fortnightly, lunar monthly or calendar monthly basis. Housing Benefit paid to landlords is usually paid four weeks in arrears. Regulations require local authorities to take into account the needs of the claimant when deciding on the frequency of benefit payments, however due to the complexity of calculating a calendar monthly payment and especially any overpayments that arise, most local authorities pay benefit fortnightly to claimants and four weekly to landlords.

For claimants not on a "passported benefit", the concept of a benefit week is particularly important as benefit will only be paid from the start of a tenancy if the form is requested on the same benefit week as moving in. In all other cases for tenants not on a passported benefit, Housing Benefit will start only from the Monday after the form was requested. If the form is returned within a month of request, otherwise benefit is payable from the Monday after the council receives it.

Applicants who successfully apply for a passported benefit along with their Housing Benefit have a calendar month to return the Housing Benefit form, from the date of application to the passported benefit. If the form is returned within one month of that date benefit starts from the Monday after the start date of the passported benefit - even if that benefit is backdated.

Originally using paper application forms, in recent years local authorities have begun to use a telephone-based application process. Under these latter application schemes, claimants would often contact the responsible central government department, who would then forward the details to the local authority. This has turned out to be a somewhat prescient decision; the gateway for claimants to the new Universal Credit system, which replaces Housing Benefit, is the central government department, not local authorities.

The date of claim will be the date the claimant you first contacted the Department for Works and Pensions, for claimants applying to the Department for Work and Pensions, and otherwise the date of claim will be treated as the date he contacted the Local Authority.

Due to a benefit cap many claimants have had their housing benefit reduced to 50p a week and are at risk of losing their homes if they cannot pay their rent.[9] New building providing supported housing for vulnerable people is being cut due to uncertainty whether prospective tenants will be able to pay the rent. Schemes affected include homes for war veterans, for people with learning disabilities helping them live independently. Safe housing for domestic violence victims could also be at risk. New schemes are postponed or cancelled and existing schemes are being closed. David Orr of the National Housing Federation said, “With social care in crisis, the role supported housing plays in alleviating pressures on the NHS is ever more important. These changes have not even come in yet and they have taken 7,000 homes for vulnerable people out of the pipeline. The proposed changes in funding bear no relation to the real cost of providing this type of housing. It is time government put supported housing on a secure and sustainable footing.”[10] The most vulnerable people, elderly people, severely disabled people and people with mental health problems need a great deal of support and the benefit cap disproportionately pprevents them from getting what they need.[11]

Polly Neate of Shelter said, “The money put forward [by the government for social housing] is only a fraction of what’s needed, given just how bad this crisis has become. Building new homes also takes time, and time is not on the side of the million private renters who could risk being tipped into homelessness by the freeze on housing benefit. Whether a struggling family or a young person in low-paid work, the freeze is stripping away the help people desperately need to pay their rent. (...) We are urging the government to abandon the freeze on housing benefit in the autumn budget or risk making more people homeless.”[12]

The Government has introduced a new rent restriction policy for the calculation of Housing Benefit for private tenants called Local Housing Allowance. The scheme replaces two previous methods of controlling high rents for most new tenancies. Old scheme cases where the local authority decided the level of restriction based on the cost of suitable alternative accommodation (in operation from 15 January 1989 to 1 January 1996), Reference Rent cases, where the level of eligible rent was decided by the Rent Service based on the lower of what a landlord would have been able to obtain had a landlord not been renting to a tenant on Housing Benefit (the claim related rent) and the average cost of similar properties in that area (the local reference rent).

For LHA cases the eligible rent is decided in part by the size of property a claimant needs. This figure is published monthly by the council and the Rent Service. If the tenant rents more expensive accommodation, the rent is restricted to the LHA rate for that area. By publicising how much Housing Benefit a tenant can get for the need for Pre-Tenancy Determinations is removed.

The Local Housing Allowance is set at the 30th percentile level for rents in the Broad Market Rental Area. The Broad Market Rental areas are similar in geographic size to Counties. This has led to a number of counties such as Cambridgeshire[13] criticising the scheme because market rents in the city area of the county are considerably higher than those in the shire areas of the county. The House of Lords ruled against the concept of very large Broad Market Rental areas in the Heffernan case (R (Heffernan) v The Rent Service [2008] UKHL 58). The DWP re-introduced legislation to overturn this decision, restoring its intention to use very large broad market rental areas to draw down the cost of the scheme.

Local Housing Allowance was introduced across all Local Authority areas on 7 April 2008. The legislation to enable the scheme is contained in the Welfare Reform Act which received Royal Assent in May 2007. The local authorities that trialled the new system were known as Pathfinder Authorities. They were Argyll and Bute, Blackpool, Brighton and Hove, Conwy county borough, Coventry, East Riding of Yorkshire, City of Edinburgh, Guildford, City of Leeds, London Borough of Lewisham, North East Lincolnshire, Norwich, Pembrokeshire, City of Salford, South Norfolk, Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, Teignbridge, London Borough of Wandsworth

The final scheme was different in that the maximum difference between the rent payable and the eligible local housing allowance was restricted to Â£15. In addition in some pilot authorities, all tenants whose rent had been assessed according to reference rent rules were transferred to LHA, when the national scheme came in only those who made a new claim or moved went on to LHA.

From April 2011 the Â£15 paid to those whose rent was below LHA levels was scrapped. Now the maximum payable will be the rent or the LHA rate, whichever is the lower.

From April 2009, the maximum LHA that can be awarded will be restricted to the rate payable for four rooms.

This scheme will remain in operation for existing claimants who do not have a break in their Housing Benefit claim or do not move property. It was introduced with effect from 2 January 1996. The level of eligible rent is decided by the Rent Service. Either on application by the Local Authority on an annual basis or if the tenant had taken out a Pre Tenancy Determination.

In Northern Ireland, tenants must apply to the Northern Ireland Housing Executive regardless of whether they rent from a private landlord, from the NIHE itself, or from a housing association.[14]

For Housing Benefit claims made before (or still existing at) the roll-out of Local Housing Allowance scheme on 7 April 2008, different rent restriction rules apply.

The earlier system for calculation of eligible rent is specific to the individual property.

The maximum Housing Benefit will be based on:-

or where the tenant has a home too large for the needs

Further restrictions can be imposed if the tenant is occupying accommodation in the luxury end of the market.

These restrictions are decided either by the council, if the property is exempt from the Reference Rent rules and the LHA, or the Rent Service if the benefit being paid is subject to Reference Rent rules.

The Rent Officer may visit the property (or may have done so already) although this is not a requirement. If a property is visited and the Rent Officer is not given access, the Council may terminate the claim, unless access is granted. If there are services included in the rent (such as fuel bills, water charges, laundry or room cleaning), the rent officer will deduct the value of these as Housing Benefit cannot pay for them.

The Rent Officer decision is the maximum that the Council can pay for Reference Rent cases, for cases that are treated under the Pre 1996 rules, the figure is used to decide how much the DWP awards the Local Authority in subsidy and is purely indicative. This decision is made annually, although the Local Council may be late in making the application. If the decision is higher the effective date of the increase will be the Monday of the week of the referral; if the decision is lower, the effective date is the Monday after the new decision is received by the Local Council. This is to avoid overpayments arising as a result of the Rent Service decision. If the decision is lower, any overpayment is LA Error and may only be recovered if it is reasonable to expect that the claimant knew that the decision was going to be lower.

The rent officer makes the following valuations.

This has three parts. The lowest of these three figures is called the claim-related rent and is shown on the pre-tenancy determination decision.

The rent officer will have decided if the rent your landlord has asked for is reasonable compared with other properties in the vicinity. If it is too high, the rent officer will set a reasonable figure. The "vicinity" means the immediate area around the property. If the property is in a town or city, this could mean just the street the property is in or a few adjoining streets. If the property is in the country, the "vicinity" could be a small village.

The "vicinity" is much smaller than the Broad Market Rental Area used to decide LHA Rates.

The rent officer will consider whether the property has more rooms than the Housing Benefit rules say are needed. If the property has too many rooms, the rent officer will decide what the eligible rent used would be for a similar property with the right number of rooms.

The rules are strict and the rent officer is not able to alter them. If an extra room is needed (for example if the claimant has special disability needs), the claimant should apply to the Council for a DHP.

From April 2013 if a claimant is considered to be under-occupying their property, their payment of Housing Benefit will be reduced by 14% for one bedroom and 25% for two or more bedrooms considered to be additional to the claimant's needs. DHP's will be made available to cover the shortfall for those affected by the change. Priority will be given to claimants with disabilities.

After having made these decisions, the rent officer decides if the lowest figure is still much higher than most rents for properties in the neighbourhood with the right number of rooms. This might be because of the property is in the luxury end of the market, or because of the services or amenities provided. If it is much higher, the rent officer will decide a figure that is in keeping with the general level of rents. ‘Services’ are things that the landlord does or supplies beyond providing the basic accommodation, such as doing the laundry or cleaning the property. ‘Amenities’ are the physical things at the property, such as a swimming pool or tennis court.

The rent officer will also decide how much is generally paid for property with the right number of rooms in the ‘locality’. This is called the local reference rent and will be shown if it is lower than the claim-related rent.

The local reference rent is the midpoint of the range of rents for all types of property with a similar number of rooms in the same ‘locality’ as the claimant's home. The ‘locality’ is an area with at least two neighbourhoods. Within this area there will be a mix of property types and alternative places to live within a reasonable travelling distance of similar public amenities. The range of rents used will not include any rent that is unusually high or low.

If the claimant is single and under 25, with no non-dependants or children living with the claimant, the rent officer will also decide how much is generally paid in the locality for a single room with a shared living room, kitchen, bathroom and toilet, but without any food or fuel bills included. This is called the single room rent and will be shown if it is lower than the claim-related rent. If the claimant is severely disabled, the Single Room Rent will not be applied.

A more generous rent restriction scheme applies to tenants of charities, voluntary organisations or registered social landlords, whose tenancy includes care support and supervision provided directly by the landlord. These tenants fall under the rules in operation before 2 January 1996. Under this scheme rents may only be restricted to the cost of suitable alternative accommodation and in the case of claimants with children, or claimants who are elderly or disabled, the rent can only then be restricted if it is reasonable to expect the claimant to move and if there is accommodation available.

No Rent Restriction applies in the following circumstances:

In a case where the claimant occupies a dwelling and a family member dies, the maximum rent shall be eitherâ€”

Where the claimant was able to meet the full rent for the dwelling when the tenancy was entered into, (there is no minimum period for this) no restriction can be applied during the first 13 weeks of the claimant's award of housing benefit. This rule does not apply if the claimant or the claimant's partner was paid Housing Benefit within 52 weeks of the start date of the current benefit award.

Housing Benefit can only be paid to the landlord where the tenant is more than eight weeks in arrears.

Any decision to pay the landlord in an LHA case must be decided by reference to a vulnerability policy which is available from the local council.

For those who rent from the local authority, direct rent restrictions do not apply. As a result of this, the eligible rent for tenants of local authority properties will be full rent, minus ineligible services and any non-dependant deductions.

Where council tenant rents are high in comparison to guidelines issued by the Department of Communities and Local Government, the restriction applies the subsidy payable to local authorities and not the individual claimant. This is done through the Rent Rebate Subsidy Limitation Percentage. Rent Rebate is normally paid at a subsidy rate of 100%. Where rents are high the amount payable by the DWP is the percentage derived from dividing the average rent for the authority by the target rent figure. The cost of this is then met by Housing Revenue Account (the total borough funds for council tenants).

Tenants of registered social landlords (housing associations) do not normally face restrictions but where a local authority considers the rent to be unreasonably high, or if the property is "unreasonably large" for the circumstances of the claimant it may be referred to the Rent Service and a restriction may be applied.

The important point is that the rent, or under occupancy must be unreasonable. So a couple in a two bedroom house will not necessarily be referred to the Rent Service.

The income of the claimant is compared to the "applicable amount". This is an assessment of the minimum level of income a claimant and household need to live on. This is broadly similar to the amount that such a person would be paid as Income Support / Job Seekers Allowance. If a claimant is receiving a "Passported Benefit" income support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, or Pension Credit Guarantee or if the income is no higher than the applicable amount, the claimant's housing benefit will normally be the full eligible rent. This is the maximum housing benefit possible. However, deductions can be made where there are non-dependants living in the household (except where the claimant is blind or in receipt of the higher rate of the Care component of Disability Living Allowance).

Income is after tax and NI, but plus working and child tax credits, however child benefit is ignored. But, provided work more than 16 hours per week, there is also some "income disregard" depending on the claimant's circumstances.

If a claimant's income is higher than applicable amount then a deduction is made from the maximum housing benefit entitlement based on how high the eligible income is. Housing benefit is reduced at a rate of 65p for each £1 of excess income. (For Council Tax benefit the amount is reduced by 20p for each £1). The calculated income will also include an assumed rate of income generated from any savings held by the claimant.

For example, assume that the maximum permitted housing benefit that could be paid for an individual who attracted the full rate of benefit were £100. Assume further that this claimant is not entitled to the full amount because his income exceeds the applicable amount by £60; that is, he has excess income of £60. The maximum possible benefit will be reduced by 65% of £60 to a value of £100 - (65% X £60) = £100 - £39 = £61; his award of housing benefit using the current taper is thus £61 instead of the maximum possible amount of £100.

Actual rates of interest are ignored when calculating income from Capital. When calculating income from capital the first £6000 of savings are disregarded. The Council may still require proof of any savings that are held below this amount. Undeclared savings and income are often picked up through data matching. This matching process is compulsory for all Local Authorities. Not declaring savings or income is likely to lead to the claimant being prosecuted for fraud. Since 2009, if there is more than £10000 in savings each £500 of savings (or part thereof) results in an extra £1 a week in income being assumed in the calculation of income. This is termed notional income, but in any case housing benefits cannot be paid if the total savings reach £16000. (See below)

Claimants are automatically excluded from benefit with more than Â£16,000 of capital (unless qualifying for Pension Credit Guarantee). Certain types of capital, such as personal injury compensation payments and the value of capital that is no longer available to the claimant are disregarded.

This deduction is known as the taper, and in this way, housing benefit is means tested.

A non-dependant is a person that the claimant is sharing accommodation with but is not a member of their own household (that is, not a partner, dependant, etc.), such as lodgers or joint tenants. Since it would be reasonable to expect non-dependants to contribute towards the property rent, Housing Benefit is reduced so that it only covers the claimant's portion of the rent.

However, no reduction imposed if the claimant or their partner needs substantial care; this qualification is met if, and only if, the claimant is:

No contribution is expected from non-dependants who are full-time students, are normally resident elsewhere, or are under 18. Likewise, no deduction applies where a non dependent is aged under 25 and receives a passported benefit (other than the main phase of income-related employment and support allowance, which attracts the lowest deduction) The remaining non-dependants are each hypothetically expected to contribute the following amounts based on their gross weekly income (in 2014 monetary terms):

The maximum rent used in the Housing Benefit calculation is therefore reduced by an amount equal to these hypothetically expected contributions.

Some landlords, particularly Registered Social Landlords, operate rent-free weeks in their tenancies, which can have the effect of making the benefit reduction appear more severe. The reduction is applied for each week in the year, but housing benefit is only paid for the rent that is due, leading to the reduction effectively being increased, on rent-due weeks, by a factor of 52Â : (52 less the number of rent-free weeks).

Before the introduction of the Local Housing Allowance the only way of finding out whether the benefit for the property would be restricted would have been to obtain a Pre Tenancy Determination. These had to be requested through the local authority and The Rent Service decision was treated by the Local Authority in the same way as any other referral to the Rent Service. Requests needed to be made by a prospective tenant and the landlord of the property. If the circumstances of the individual claimant were broadly the same as that of the prospective tenant who made the request for the PTD the decision remained valid for a year.

Many larger councils suffered from delays in processing Housing Benefit claims. Delays of up to a year were reported.[15] Delays and rent restrictions were so endemic in the system that it became common to see classified advertisements for lettings stating No DSS. (That is the Department of Social Security, now called the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), but still widely known under its old name.) It usually meant that the landlord was not willing to consider letting to a tenant who would be dependent on housing benefit to pay the rent.

Performance of councils has improved after millions of pounds in public money were poured in to support the worst performing councils.[16] The DWP requires councils to process claims within an average of thirty days from receipt to payment. Changes in the circumstances of claimants must be decided on within a target of twelve days. After a review of performance indicators, the DWP combined these targets into one indicator â€“ the right time indicator.[17]

Very few councils are now reporting backlogs, although the recession has seen an increase in case-load which has resulted in the Government granting Local Authorities an additional Â£45 million[18] for 2009/10 in order to ensure continued good performance.

In practice, lettings agencies will usually obtain credit references on prospective tenants and, once the tenants have moved in, they are ambivalent as to whether tenants claim housing benefit or not, as long as the rent is paid on time.

Local Housing Allowance is designed to ensure that landlords do not have a reason to discriminate against tenants on Housing Benefit, as in most cases there will be no need for a landlord to know that the tenant is on Housing Benefit, and the tenant can know in advance if rent will be met in full.

Some landlord organisations have raised concerns[19] about Local Housing Allowance as they believe it has made rents more difficult to collect from those on Housing Benefit.

Local authorities advise tenants that if their circumstances change, they must notify the housing benefit office "immediately".

In the event that a tenant's circumstances change such that the tenant might become entitled to more housing benefit (for example, a fall in income), the tenant must notify the local authority within one month, or the increase will take place from the Monday following the date the notification takes place (unless the claimant can show a good enough reason for the delay).

If a tenant's circumstances change so that the tenant becomes entitled to less housing benefit, the tenant will be overpaid. In some circumstances the tenant and/or landlord, will be charged with fraud if the local authority is not informed within a reasonable amount of time. Recovery of overpaid Housing Benefit is governed by the Housing Benefit Regulations. All overpayments are recoverable, except those caused by official error where claimants could not at the time of receiving payment have known that they were being overpaid.

In practice, this means that tenants who do contingent work, who have fluctuating income, or whose circumstances change frequently for other reasons, must report to the housing benefit office on a regular basis. There are no standard forms for such reporting, and each week's income may be treated as a separate change in circumstance. As a result, it can be very complicated to check that Housing Benefit taper deductions are correct if a tenant's income fluctuates wildly. The local authority is allowed to take a reasonable average over a longer or shorter period of time in order to minimise the impact of this. Critics of the system contend that this is a powerful disincentive for unemployed people to find work, particularly if they suffer from mild disabilities or learning difficulties.[citation needed]

In order to minimise the impact of heavily fluctuating incomes further, changes that used to require a new claim, such as the award of extended payments, stopping of income-based Job Seeker's Allowance or Income Support are now treated as a change of circumstances. Reducing the amount of paperwork needed by the claimant and council.

The local authority can deduct overpayment debts from ongoing entitlement to housing benefit. As of April 2015, this rate is a maximum of Â£11.10per week, plus half of any 'earned income disregard' which applies to the claimant's income. In addition, a local authority can increase deductions by half (50%) of certain disregards, if applicable for earnings regular charitable income or voluntary payments War Disablement Pension or War Widows Pension

This means that the maximum standard deduction from April 2015 could be £36.10 per week, if an earned income disregard of £25.00 would normally apply. The only exception to this is in overpayments where the claimant has been convicted or has admitted to fraud, at which point the overpayment can be recovered at a maximum of £18.50 per week plus half the earned income disregard. However, the recovery amount may be reduced at the Local Authority's discretion if the claimant is suffering hardship.

The recovery amount from ongoing entitlement is affected by the amount of weekly normal entitlement. The minimum housing benefit that can be paid, regardless of overpayment recovery, is 50p per week. For example, if the entitlement is £7.50 and the overpayment recovery level is £9.90, the claimant will receive 50p every week until recovery is complete with £7.00 going towards the overpayment.

If the claimant is no longer entitled to housing benefit, the local authority can also send the claimant an invoice for the balance. If the claimant does not pay, the local authority has roughly the same legal means to recover it as other unsecured creditors, such as credit cards and utilities. Unlike council tax debts, the tenant cannot be put in prison for non-fraudulent overpayments. The Council does have the ability to use an accelerated county court process for the recovery of overpayments.

A council may also seek to recover Housing Benefit overpayments from other social security benefits or Housing Benefit payments made by other local authorities.

If the housing benefit was paid directly to the landlord, and the landlord is expected to have been aware of the overpayment (such as failure to disclose ineligible service charges, benefit exceeding the actual rent, and benefit paid past termination of tenancy or tenant's death), the local authority can hold the landlord liable for the overpayment either instead of or in addition to the claimant.

Housing Benefit overpayments may also be deducted from Housing Benefit paid to another tenant of the same landlord (blameless tenant recovery). The law requires that the landlord treats any deduction made against the innocent party as not having been made.

For council tenants, overpayments may only be posted to a rent account where the council is able to separately identify repayments of overpaid benefit to payments of rent. In practice, due to system design and internal procedures, local authorities generally post to Rent Accounts only at the end of a tenancy and or where there is a credit on the rent account.

The Housing Benefit (Decision and Appeals) Regulations 2001 state that any 'person affected' by a relevant decision can ask the Council to revise its decision (Look at the decision again). It also states that a person affected can appeal against the decision of a Local Authority to an independent appeal tribunal (the First-tier Tribunal).

This means that every time a decision is made about Housing benefit, you must be sent a Decision notice, notifying you of the amount of Housing and Council Tax Benefit you have been awarded, if you have been overpaid/underpaid or if your benefit has been terminated. If you disagree with this decision you will have to appeal in writing within one calendar month of the decision, stating your reasons as to why you feel that your calculation has been decided incorrectly.

A relevant decision is any matter concerning a claim for benefit, such as the amount of benefit payable, the rent eligible for benefit, the calculation of a claimant's income, or the calculation and recovery of an overpayment. Some decisions, mainly administrative, do not carry a right of appeal (such as an applicable amount or the amount of LHA). You will be notified if the matter you are disputing does not carry the right of appeal, but although these do not carry Appeal rights, they may be queried if the wrong rate was used (for example if one should be getting a disability premium or is over 25 and was restricted to the eligible rent for a room with shared facilities).

A request for a revision means that the Local Authority will look again at its decision regarding a claim for benefit and will make sure that it has been assessed correctly.

An appeal means that a Tribunal, independent of the Council and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), will consider the Council's decision. It is normally quicker to ask the Council to reconsider its decision than ask for an appeal.

A person affected isÂ :-

This means that only the claimant can ask the Council to revise a decision concerning the calculation of a claimant's entitlement; and that the landlord or agent can only ask the Council to revise a decision about whether payment should be made to a landlord and whether the decision to recover an overpayment from a landlord or agent has been correctly made.

The law requires that where an overpayment has been appealed both the claimant and any alternative payee (normally the landlord) must have been notified of the decision and the appeal.

A person affected can query the Council decision and request further information (Statement of Reasons) about the decision. The Council must provide an explanation, detailing the legislation used to arrive at the decision. If after you receive your explanation you can appeal or request a revision of the Council's decision.

The affected person must write to the Council within one calendar month of the date on the decision letter. In the request for revision, the person affected must state reasons as to why the decision is wrong.

In exceptional circumstances, the council will extend the time limit for requesting a decision to be revised. The person affected must write to the council giving reasons for not requesting a revision at the appropriate time.

The council will not consider a later request for a revision where the request is made 13 months after the decision notice was first issued.

After reconsidering its decision, the council will write to the person affected stating that the decision has been changed or that it will stay the same. The council may request further information from the person affected before it makes a final decision. The person must provide the information within one month of the request.

A person affected can ask the council to provide a written Statement of Reasons. The Statement of Reasons does not affect the right of an appeal. The statement will explain how the council reached its decision. The time taken for the Council to provide the statement may extend the time limit for requesting a revision or seeking an appeal to the Tribunal.

A person affected by a decision may request that the first-tier tribunal decides on the case. This is requesting an Appeal. The request must be in writing and must be received by the council within one month of the date on the decision notification letter.

Where the person affected previously requested that the Council revise its decision, and has received a reply from the council regarding the request, the person has one month from the date the Council notified the outcome of the request to ask for the case to be considered by the first-tier tribunal.

In exceptional circumstances, the time limit for requesting an appeal can be extended. The person affected must write to the council giving grounds for not appealing at the appropriate time. A request for an extension of the time limit will not normally be considered if it is made 13 months after the notice of decision was issued. This matter is for the First-tier Tribunal to decide.

The Lower Tier Tribunal Service will write to the appellant to tell them of the date, time and place of the hearing. The appellant has the right to ask for an oral hearing, which means that they can attend and put their case to the Judge.

In most cases, the Tribunal will consist of only one Judge who is a legally qualified person. The maximum panel size is three. If complicated financial matters are to be considered, a financially qualified Judge will also be present. The Clerk to the Tribunal and a representative of the Council may also be present.

If the council or the person affected feels that the decision of the Lower Appeal Tribunal is wrong in law, one may seek leave to appeal to the Upper Tribunal. The decision made by an Upper Tribunal is binding on both the Appellant and the Council. Decisions of the Upper Tribunal are made by Judges with specialist knowledge, of equivalent rank to a circuit judge. Recourse to challenge the decision further must be made through the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.

Discretionary housing payments are available to those who need further help to meet their Housing costs. To be eligible to claim for a DHP you must qualify for Housing or Council Tax Benefit (at any rate). The funds for DHPs are cash limited. The DWP publishes how much is available to for DHP funding to Local Authorities each year.[20]

The Council may contribute an additional 2.5 times the amount awarded to the Local Authority by the DWP.

Payment of a DHP is dependent on Housing and Council Tax Benefit entitlement but it is not an award of Housing Benefit. A decision as to whether to award a DHP is entirely the discretion of a Local Authority.

A discretionary housing payment may be paid if the council believes that a claimant needs further assistance with housing costs. This may include help with paying off arrears or help with a deposit to secure the tenancy.

A discretionary housing payment cannot be paid if the reason for shortfall is that your benefit has been reduced to recover an overpayment.

A claimant must be entitled to a minimum of 1p per week Council Tax Benefit, or 50p per week Housing Benefit. Each council is given a pot of money and it is allowed to decide who should be given the payments. The maximum amount that can be awarded is the full eligible rent (a DHP can be used to dis-apply any rent restrictions) or Council Tax liability (after any discounts).

The fund may be used to minimise the impact of rent restrictions for Homeless referral cases or to prevent evictions. In general it is used to ensure that those who claim Housing Benefit do not suffer high levels of hardship.

The housing benefit department will usually take into account any special circumstances that contribute to your financial difficulties, for example, if:

You may request a dhp in writing but you will generally have to fill in a completely separate claim form and undergo a more extensive means test, that covers your outgoings as well as your income. The Council can however use existing information to decide on entitlement to a DHP where it has been given consent to do so, explicitly by its main claim form. It is rare for a Council to do this.

One may be asked to give evidence of your expenditure (the money you have going out). This could be bills, receipts and or bank statements. One many also be asked to provide any information about circumstances that make things difficult financially.

It is common practice for councils to use a Panel led by the Benefit Manager when reconsidering DHP refusals. Some Panels may include councillors or welfare rights groups. The Council will normally ask for reconsideration requests to be made in writing. If the Council does not change its mind, that refusal can only be challenged again if the decision making process that led to the refusal was wrong in law. To challenge a decision, an applicant would need to seek a judicial review.

As the fund is cash limited a Local Authority may agree to award a DHP in principle but may be unable to fund the award. This happens very rarely.

In the spending review of 20 October 2010 George Osborne announced a series of changes to housing benefit. From April 2011 claimants will only be able to claim a rent based on the 30th percentile of rent in their area (previously 50th percentile). The age at which most single people can claim for a self-contained one bedroom flat (rather than the shared room rate) was increased to 35 years. Exceptions to this apply to some groups, including care leavers aged under 22, some people who have a disability and over 25s who have spent at least three months living in hostel accommodation, subject to meeting further conditions.[21] The maximum payable under LHA was also set to £400 per week, or £20,800 per annum.[22]

These changes will mean significantly lower amounts of benefit will be paid, especially in Central London. Transitional protection will apply to existing claimants, their eligible rent will be reduced based on the anniversary date of when they first made their claim for benefit. The government has stated that the purpose of these reductions is to reduce the fiscal deficit and to increase the incentive for people to work. The reduction in benefits will mean that some families will have to leave their existing homes and find cheaper ones.

Families of people in work have been unable to pay their rent and have become homeless through the housing benefit freeze. The cost of maintaining these families in bed and breakfast accommodation is far higher than the cost of paying the families a higher rate of housing benefit would be. Roger Harding of Shelter stated, “We have grave concerns that the current freeze on housing benefit is pushing hundreds of thousands of private renters perilously close to breaking point at a time when homelessness is rising. For those hit by the freeze, housing benefit is failing to bridge the widening gap between escalating private rents and incomes that simply can’t keep up. (...) We’re calling on the government to abandon the freeze in the short term or risk making more people homeless. Ultimately, if the government wants to cut the welfare bill in the long term, they should concentrate their efforts on building genuinely affordable homes that low earners can actually afford.”[23]


who played robert onedin in the onedin line

Robert Onedin (Brian Rawlinson/James Garbutt (one series)), James's older brother, took after their father and counted coppers in the family ship chandlers, though he later expanded it into a profitable department store after visiting the United States to see new methods of selling. They had one son, Samuel, who at first cared more for the sea and ships than shopkeeping. Robert was elected as a Member of Parliament and he and Sarah moved to a smart new residence, but his life abruptly came to an end when he choked on a bone at a family dinner.

The Onedin Line

The Onedin Line is a BBC television drama series, which ran from 1971 to 1980. The series was created by Cyril Abraham.

The series is set in Liverpool from 1860 to 1886[1] and covers the rise of a fictional shipping company, the Onedin Line, named after its owner James Onedin. Around this, it depicts the lives of his family, most notably his brother and partner Robert, a ship chandler, and his sister Elizabeth, giving insight into the lifestyle and customs at the time, not only at sea, but also ashore (mostly lower- and upper-middle-class). The series also illustrates some of the changes in business and shipping, such as from wooden to steel ships and from sailing ships to steam ships. It shows the role that ships played in such matters as international politics, uprisings and the slave trade. Additionally, the construction of the Manchester Ship Canal is mentioned during one series.

Classic BBC drama series set in 19th Century Liverpool, and narrating the changing fortunes of the ambitious Captain James Onedin and his family.[2] A 55-minute pilot episode for the series aired as part of BBC One's Drama Playhouse strand on 7 December 1970, produced by Anthony Coburn.[3]

Series 1 played from 15 October 1971 to 28 January 1972 (15 50 min episodes).

The Series opens in 1860 Liverpool, as 28 year old Onedin establishes a new shipping company, marrying the owner of a ship to do so.[4] Main characters and story arc are introduced. Narrative unfolds around historically contemporary events, such as a Phylloxera outbreak affecting Portuguese wine, establishing a theme of incorporating real events around the fictitious family drama.

Series 2 played from 17 September to 31 December 1972 (14 50 min episodes)

Series 3 played from 21 October 1973 to 27 January 1974 (13 50 min episodes)

Series 4 played from 25 April to 27 June 1976 (10 50 min episodes)

Series 5 played from 26 June to 28 August 1977 (10 50 min episodes)

Series 6 played from 18 July to 17 September 1978 (10 50 min episodes)

Series 7 played from 22 July to 23 September 1979 (10 50 min episodes)

Series 8 played from 31 August to 26 October 1980 (9 50 min episodes)

James Onedin (Peter Gilmore), the younger son of Samuel Onedin, a miserly ship chandler, who left his money to his elder son Robert. He was a penniless sea captain with aspirations of greater things. In order to become a ship-owner, he married Anne Webster, who was some years his senior. She was the spinster daughter of Captain Joshua Webster (James Hayter), owner of the topsail schooner Charlotte Rhodes. At first, it was purely a business transaction on Onedin's part; but a warmer relationship gradually developed. On her death, at the end of the second series, James had come to love her. James considered two possible replacement brides: wealthy widow Caroline Maudslay and the young heiress Leonora Biddulph (Kate Nelligan), before settling for his daughter's governess, Letty Gaunt (Jill Gascoine). Tragedy struck in the first year of the marriage when she, unfortunately in James's view, became pregnant. The memories of Anne always remained in his thoughts. In due course, Letty also died, of diphtheria, and, by the last series, James was married to a third wife, the exotic Margarita Juarez and was, by then, a grandfather. He was framed for theft and imprisoned. He was freed when Elizabeth, Baines, and Samuel sought evidence to clear his name. On his release, he took to the sea again with Captain Baines on business to South America that would stabilise his life for the next twenty years, only to find Margarita as a stowaway. On the voyage home, she revealed that she was pregnant and unable, as was Baines as a cargo captain, to deliver the baby, so the cook was left to do the job. A baby son was successfully delivered, with both mother and son well. James named the boy William after Captain Baines.

Anne Webster/Onedin (Anne Stallybrass), entered into the marriage in full recognition that it was a business transaction. She was the conscience of James and, when she could not take his ruthless business nature any more, left him and lived hand to mouth in the Liverpool slums, seriously affecting her health. On her reconciliation with James, she ignored the doctor's warning not to get pregnant, knowing how much James wanted a son and heir, and died giving birth to a daughter, Charlotte.

William Baines (Howard Lang), first mate to James Onedin. Taught by Anne Onedin to read and write, he became a captain and served on all of Onedin's ships. Appalled at Onedin's business dealings and treatment of ship's crew, even though he was prepared to use his own fists to maintain discipline, he left to work for a rival shipping line for a short time but returned to Onedin. Another falling out led Baines to buy his own ship, but a fire broke out destroying the ship and killing Tom, a boy he and James took on first as a cabin boy and then as an indentured lad. Blaming James, he left again and was tricked in the plot to frame James for theft. He then helped to clear James' name. On their last voyage together, James' wife Margarita had a baby son, which was named in Baines' honour.

Elizabeth Onedin/Frazer/Fogarty (Jessica Benton), James's volatile sister, became pregnant by seafarer Daniel Fogarty (Michael Billington / Tom Adams). To avoid disgrace, she married wealthy Albert Frazer (Philip Bond), developer of steamship technology and heir to the Frazer shipyards, a connection James soon turned to his own advantage. Elizabeth gave birth to a son, William Frazer. The marriage was unhappy and Albert took trips away on business, finally settling in South America where he died. Albert's father died leaving his shipyards and shipping line to Elizabeth for William to inherit on coming of age so the Frazer's name would live on. Daniel Fogarty returned from Australia, where he had amassed a fortune, and married Elizabeth, who he still loved, to help and advise his son, who retained the name Frazer. Elizabeth and Daniel became estranged as their business interests differed and he rose in political circles to become ambassador to Turkey. She refused to go with him and remained to run "Frazers". As time went by, a reconciliation between Elizabeth and Daniel was in the offering as they exchanged letters and Daniel resigned as Ambassador. On his return to Liverpool, his ship was in a collision and he was declared missing.

Sarah Onedin (Mary Webster), wife of Robert, was always looking to improve her station in life as her husband status rose. She was upset how her husband's brother James borrowed money from him to further his own ambitions. When her husband died, she and her son Samuel ran the business. She was shocked when her son married Charlotte after William got her pregnant. Sarah made attempts to contact Robert through a medium, despite her son Samuel's objections She almost married the fortune-hunting Captain Dampier. She was last heard of as having undertaken a tour of the world.

Letty Gaunt/Onedin (Jill Gascoine), employed as governess to James's daughter Charlotte. She reconciled the two and grew to love James; his feelings repressed by memories of his first wife Anne. Letty started her own business employing, at a fair wage, women whose men were out of work. James, recognizing that she was a force in her own right, softened and they married with his proviso, remembering Anne's death, that they had no children. Letty fell pregnant, as did Charlotte by her cousin William, and James returned from a voyage to discover that, like Anne before, she was having a difficult childbirth. The baby, James's male heir, died. Charlotte had a baby boy, Robert. Letty threw herself into work and built a house for foundlings of prostitutes and destitute women to the disbelief of prominent townsfolk. After some time, diphtheria broke out amongst the children at the home; Letty nursed the children and died from the disease.

The cousins were all born within months of each other and Charlotte as a young child moved between Elizabeth Fraser and Sarah Onedin' home, and her aunt Mary's homes.

Charlotte Onedin (Laura Hartong), her mother Anne died when she was born and as a young child felt rejected by her father James as the cause of the death of her mother. Reconciled with her father by Letty her governess who married her father. She fell in love with her cousin William Frazer, but he abandoned her when she became pregnant by him. Instead, she married her other cousin, Samuel Onedin, who initially loved her. She had two children, Robert (by William) and Anne by Samuel. Following William's death, Charlotte and the now successful Samuel were increasingly unhappy and Charlotte ran off with Seth Burgess (Michael Walker), a sea captain who owed money and his ship to James. Her father pursued her and she realized that her sea captain had no feelings for her when Burgess traded the ship for her. She returned to England with her father suffering a serious head injury when hit by a falling block and tackle. Samuel divorced Charlotte, citing her infidelity with Seth Burgess. Charlotte, after staying with her aunt, left to take up a career as an actress and music hall singer "The Lancashire Rose" much to the horror of her father; although alleviated by the money she was earning. When her father was in prison, she returned home to help run the business and had secret meetings with Samuel to discuss their children.

William Frazer (Marc Harrison), the result of a relationship between Elizabeth and Daniel Fogarty. Elizabeth married Albert Frazer before he was born and Albert brought him up as his own son. As a young man, he came under the influence of Josiah Beaumont (Warren Clarke), an ambitious banker. Daniel Fogarty returned to marry Elizabeth and together they thwarted the plans of Beaumont. Denied access to his son by a bitter Samuel and Charlotte. Shortly afterwards, William was killed by a runaway horse and wagon.

Samuel Onedin (Christopher Douglas), son of Robert and Sarah and heir to his father's department store. As a youngster, he grew up with William and Charlotte and was more interested in the sea and ships. He became a stowaway on one of James's ships. On his father's death, he began to run the department store with his mother. Always fond of Charlotte, he married her when she became pregnant with William's baby. Charlotte never reciprocated his feelings, leading to an acrimonious parting after she went off with a sea captain leaving her two children. After a trip to the United States, he returned with a new bride, Caroline. An heiress to a fortune, she immediately put Charlotte in her place by taking full control of the children's upbringing. When Caroline's ambitions for Samuel's election as an MP in Daniel Fogarty's seat failed, she grew colder. Samuel secretly saw Charlotte.

The Charlotte Rhodes is frequently listed as being portrayed by a schooner built in 1900, originally named Kathleen & May;.[5] Whilst there is a strong resemblance the Charlotte Rhodes was a victim of arson in the mid/late '70s in Holland before the end of the series. This first link between the Kathleen & May and the Charlotte Rhodes is not until 2005. A shrewd and often ruthless operator, James soon built up a fleet, assisted by the loyal Mr (later Captain) Baines (Howard Lang). His other sailing ships included the Pampero, the Medusa, the Søren Larsen, the Neptune, the Falcon, the Trident, the Osprey, the "Orphia", the "Oberon", the "Osiris", the steamship Shearwater, the Christian Radich, the Thorsoe, the steamer Black Pearl, the Jenny Peak renamed the Letty Gaunt, the Ondine, the Orlando, the Star of Bethlehem, the Teawynd and the Lady Lazenby. He also initiated the building of a steamship, the Anne Onedin (until the death of his wife, to be named the Golden Nugget).

Series creator Cyril Abraham had originally envisaged The Onedin Line as being about a modern shipping company with its boardroom battles and seagoing adventures, but then he discovered that almost all such companies were run by boards of anonymous executives. However, he noticed that most of these companies had their origins in the 19th century, mostly started by one shrewd and far-sighted individual who, through his own business acumen, built up a shipping line from nothing.[6] Abraham stated that James Onedin was not based on one individual but was rather an amalgamation of several characters. Suggested real-life inspirations include Victorian era shipping line owner James Baines & Co. of Liverpool (a leading character in the series was named 'Captain Baines'), Sir Samuel Cunard and various members of the Allan Line family.

An article in Woman magazine published in July 1973 featured an interview with Cyril Abraham in which he recalled how he came up with the very unusual family name Onedin.

He wanted something unique. He had decided to call the leading male character James but still had not found a surname when the BBC agreed to film the story. Then some inspiration - he said:

One day I stumbled across the word Ondine, a mythological sea creature. By transposing the "e", I had James Onedin, a sea devil.

The programme was recorded in Dartmouth, Devon,[7] as well as certain scenes in Exeter, Falmouth and Gloucester (many of the dock scenes). The last series was filmed in Pembroke Dock, Wales, where the 18th-century naval dockyard and surrounding streets became Liverpool, and various coastal locations in the Pembrokeshire area substituted for Turkey and Portugal.

Due to its popularity in Sweden, the series inspired the name for a real-life shipping line in Stockholm, the Ã…nedin-Linjen, founded in 1973, which until recently operated cruises in the Baltic.[8]

The music behind the opening credits of the series is an excerpt from the Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia from the ballet Spartacus by Aram Khachaturian. Other background music includes excerpts from Ralph Vaughan Williams's Symphony No. 5, Manuel de Falla's The Three-Cornered Hat, Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 and Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 1 and Jean Sibelius's Tapiola, symphonic poem for orchestra.

Traditional music, including folk songs and sea shanties in particular, are heard in abundance throughout the series, including such songs as "The Maid of Amsterdam," "Ruben Ranzo," "South Australia," "Maggie May," "The Sailor's Hornpipe," "Botany Bay," "Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes," "A Hundred Years Ago," "Blow the Man Down," and "On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at".

Among the historic ships and boats featured in the series was the steam pinnace Hero, then owned and lent by John Player & Sons,[9][10] and the following tall ships:

The series made the careers of Peter Gilmore, who played James, Anne Stallybrass, who played Anne, and Howard Lang, who played Captain William Baines, as well as being an important break for Jill Gascoine (Letty Gaunt), Warren Clarke (Josiah Beaumont), Kate Nelligan (Leonora Biddulph) and Jane Seymour (Emma Callon).

Other regular cast members included Jessica Benton (Elizabeth Frazer), Brian Rawlinson and James Garbutt (Robert Onedin), Mary Webster, (Sarah Onedin), Michael Billington / Tom Adams (Daniel Fogarty).

Other featured cast members included Philip Bond (Albert Frazer), Edward Chapman (Thomas Callon), James Warwick (Edmund Callon), John Phillips (Jack Frazer), Caroline Harris (Caroline Maudslay), James Hayter (Captain Joshua Webster), Ken Hutchison (Matt Harvey), Laura Hartong (Charlotte Onedin), Marc Harrison (William Frazer), Christopher Douglas (Samuel Onedin), Roberta Iger (Margarita Onedin), Jenny Twigge (Caroline Onedin), Cyril Shaps (Braganza), Hilda Braid (Miss Simmonds), David Garfield (Samuel Plimsoll), Robert James (Rowland Biddulph), Sylvia Coleridge (Mrs Salt), Sonia Dresdel (Lady Lazenby), Nicolette Roeg (Ada Gamble), John Rapley (Dunwoody), Stephanie Bidmead (Mrs Darling), John Sharp (Uncle Percy Spendilow), Heather Canning (Mrs Arkwright), Keith Jayne (Tom Arnold), Frederick Jaeger (Max van der Rheede), Edward Judd (Manuel Ortega), Elizabeth Chambers (Miss Gladstone), Jack Watson (Dr Darling), Paul Lavers (Francis Polter/David Teal) and Maurice Colbourne (Viscount Marston).

Victoria Thomas is a female child actress who played Charlotte Onedin in Month of the Albatross, A Clear Conscience and Undercurrent.[13]

There are six novels based on the series.

The first five are all by the series creator, Cyril Abraham:

The books are not straightforward novelisations of the television episodes, since the author introduced additional material and also changed a number of details, though dialogue from the series that Abraham had penned himself is utilised.

In print, Elizabeth's child is conceived in a private room above a restaurant, not on the Charlotte Rhodes;

George Callon lasted considerably longer and died in bed after suffering a stroke, not in a warehouse fire;

Emma was Callon's daughter, not his niece;

Captain Webster remarried, his new partner being the irrepressible old crone Widow Malloy, an entertaining character with a repertoire of coarse remarks;

Albert did not abscond to Patagonia but died aboard ship following his involvement in retrieving a kidnapped Elizabeth from Daniel Fogarty;

Caroline Maudslay and Matt Harvey were omitted altogether (though Matt did appear in a short story - see below);

Jack Frazer's life was extended and he lived to see both Emma's death and Daniel's return from Australia, though his television discovery that William was not his grandson never took place.

The sixth novel, The Turning Tide (1980) ISBNÂ 9780352305732, was written by Bruce Stewart.

This deviated even more from the television series and probably from Cyril Abraham's intentions as well.

Letty was depicted as a jealous harpy aiming unpleasant remarks at Charlotte; Elizabeth and Daniel ended up emigrating to Australia permanently and James became the owner of the Frazer Line.

A series of Onedin short stories by Cyril Abraham, set between Series Two and Series Three, appeared in Woman magazine in 1973.

The first one was called For The Love Of A Lady; the final one was entitled The Choice.

The plots involved:

two of James' crew who were rivals for the same woman; Robert's encounter with the attractive Amelia;

a social gathering that revolves around the naming of the first Onedin steamship;

an appearance by Sarah's destitute sister Constance, who is on the streets;

the first appearance in James' life of Leonora Biddulph.

A later tale by Abraham, For Love of the Onedins, appeared in a short-lived magazine called tvlife.

This story, covering Leonora's wedding, occurs between Series Three and Series Four and features Matt Harvey, who was Elizabeth's love interest during the fourth series. There is a slanging match between Elizabeth and Sarah, who each disparage the circumstances of the other's wedding day until Leonora intervenes to restore peace.

Cyril Abraham had planned to write a whole series of novels about the Onedin Line, but he died in 1979 after completing the fifth book, The White Ships.

The story was eventually to have seen James and Elizabeth as two wizened old autocrats, both determined not to relinquish their hold on the shipping business. James would have died as a very old man, leaving the family divided over control of the company.

Cyril Abraham had intended the Onedin saga to continue right up to the 1970s.

In June 1977, "The World of The Onedin Line" by Alison McLeay was published. The hardback book (ISBNÂ 978-0715373989) was a historical and factual look at the world and places in which The Onedin Line was set.

Peter Graham Scott's autobiography British Television: An Insider's Story (McFarland & Company, 2000) includes a full (25 page) chapter on the setting-up of the series and his time as producer (and occasional director/writer) on the first 42 episodes, along with six behind-the-scenes black-and-white photos.

The pilot was produced by Anthony Coburn [14] and was broadcast as a one-off BBC Drama Playhouse production on 7 December 1970.

It was announced in September 2010 that a copy of pilot episode was discovered in the American Library of Congress. Until the discovery it was thought that there was no recording of the episode in existence.

The story and the cast were basically the same as the resulting series with the exception of Sheila Allen playing Anne Webster/Onedin; Anne Stallybrass took over the part for the series.

The series was originally aired in the United Kingdom by the BBC, from 15 October 1971 to 26 October 1980.

In the Netherlands, broadcasts started in 1972.

In the mid '80s, the BBC repeated the series in a daytime slot. From 1992 UK Gold repeated the series in full, ending repeats in 1998, before moving to sister channel UK Gold Classics in October 1998 when that channel was launched, although it was only available on Sky Digital on weekends between 6pm-2am and the showing only lasted around six months.

In 2000 it reappeared on UK Drama and has been repeated in full on that channel in more recent years.

In 2007 MAX restarted a broadcast of the first series, with one episode every weekday (Monday through Friday), starting 10 July 2007.

The UK digital channel Yesterday began running the whole series from 27 July 2010, starting at 4 pm (Monday through Friday) and repeated at 7 pm, also showing an hour later on Yesterday +1. As with many of the vintage series run by the channel, the episodes are slightly cut, from the c.50m length standard in the 1970s to the c.46m standard on Yesterday.

As of 6 January 2018, the UKTV channel Drama began repeating the series from the first episode at the rate of four episodes a week.

The programme was extremely popular in Romania, but following his visit to North Korea the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu opted to replace the programme (and other popular shows) with broadcasts designed to show off the success of his policies. Consequently, the population tuned into foreign stations to follow the series. In 1989 these channels carried news broadcasts of events such as the fall of the Berlin Wall, which were absent from Romanian television news. This in turn contributed to the uprising which brought down the Ceaușescu regime.[15]

Home video versions of the series have been made available in various versions over the years. For series one, edited versions were made available by BBC Video on VHS in the 1990s. These edited masters saw a re-release in the UK on DVD from Universal Playback in 2003. The Australian (from ABC) and Dutch (from Memphis Belle) DVD versions of series one also derive from these edited versions. In North America, Canadian company BFS Video released the first four episodes uncut on VHS in 2001, with these and the next four episodes arriving on DVD in two double-disc sets two years later.

It would not be until 2007 that all 15 episodes of the first series became available uncut on DVD, in the UK from 2 entertain in a four-disc set.

Series two follows a similar pattern, with edited versions arriving on VHS and DVD in the UK from the same companies listed above. The version from the Netherlands is sourced from the same masters. The Australian version, however, has all 14 episodes uncut on four discs, and was released in 2008.

Series three to eight are available on DVD from Memphis Belle in the Netherlands, and all are uncut. All series are also available in Germany.

Series three and four are available uncut in the UK and Australia.

In summary, all current DVD editions are uncut apart from the Australian series one and the Dutch series one and two. The earlier edited UK versions of the first two series are still available from a number of sites.


where is the neutrino observatory to be set up

India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) is a particle physics research project under construction to primarily study atmospheric neutrinos in a 1,300 meters (4,300Â ft) deep cave under Ino Peak near Theni, Tamil Nadu, India. This project is notable in that it is anticipated to provide a precise measurement of neutrino mixing parameters. The project is a multi-institute collaboration and one of the biggest experimental particle physics projects undertaken in India.[1][2][3][4]

India-based Neutrino Observatory

The project was originally to be completed in 2015 at an estimated cost of â‚¹ 1,500 crores, has been cleared by the Ministry of Environment (India) for construction in the Bodi West Hills Reserved Forest in the Theni district of Tamil Nadu. Although delayed, the project is underway as of 2015.[5][6]

When completed, the main magnetised iron calorimieter (ICAL) experiment will include the world's largest magnet, four times larger than the 12,500-tonne magnet in the Compact Muon Solenoid detector at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland.[7][8]

The possibility of a neutrino observatory located in India was discussed as early as 1989 during several meetings held that year. The issue was raised again in the first meeting of the Neutrino physics and Cosmology working group during the Workshop on High Energy Physics Phenomenology (WHEPP-6) held at Chennai in January 2000 and it was decided then to collate concrete ideas for a neutrino detector.

Further discussions took place in August 2000 during a meeting on Neutrino Physics at the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata, when a small group of neutrino physics enthusiasts started discussing the possibilities. The Neutrino 2001 meeting was held in the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai during February 2001 with the explicit objective of bringing the experimentalists and theorists in this field together. The INO collaboration was formed during this meeting. The first formal meeting of the collaboration was held in the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, during 6 and 7 September 2001 at which various subgroups were formed for studying the detector options and electronics, physics goals and simulations, and site survey.

In 2002, a document was presented to the Department of Atomic Energy, (DAE) which laid out an ambitious goal of establishing an India-based Neutrino Observatory, outlining the physics goals, possible choices for the detector and their physics. Since then many new and fast-paced developments have taken place in neutrino physics. The award of the Nobel Prize in Physics (2002) to the pioneers in neutrino physics is a measure of the importance of this field.

As a result of the support received from various research institutes, universities, the scientific community and the funding agency, the Department of Atomic Energy, a Neutrino Collaboration Group (NCG) was established to study the possibility of building an India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO). The collaboration was assigned the task of doing the feasibility studies for which funds were made available by the DAE. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by the directors of the participating institutes on August 30, 2002 to enable a smooth functioning of the NCG during the feasibility period. The NCG has the goal of creating an underground neutrino laboratory with the long-term goal of conducting decisive experiments in neutrino physics as also other experiments which require such a unique underground facility.[1]

On 20 November 2009, Ministry of Environment (India) Minister Jairam Ramesh in a letter to Anil Kakodkar, Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy and Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission of India, denied permission for the Department of Atomic Energy to set up the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) project at Singara in Nilgiris, as it falls in the buffer zone of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR). Jairam Ramesh said that based on the report of Rajesh Gopal, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) and Member-Secretary of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (MS-NTCA), the Ministry cannot approve the Singara site. The report says:

"The proposed project site falls in the buffer zone of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve and is in close proximity to the core/critical tiger habitats of Bandipur and Mudumalai Tiger reserves. It is also an elephant corridor, facilitating elephant movement from the Western Ghats to the Eastern Ghats and vice versa. The area is already disturbed on account of severe biotic pressure due to human settlements and resorts and that the construction phase of the project would involve transport of building materials through the highways passing through the core area of the Bandipur and Mudmulai Tiger Reserves.[9]

Instead, he suggested an alternate site near Suruli Falls, Theni District in Tamil Nadu. The Minister said this site did not pose the same problems that Singara posed and environmental and forest clearances should not be a serious issue. He also assured the DAE that the Ministry would facilitate necessary approvals for the alternative location. Dr Naba K Mondal of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, who is the spokesperson for the INO project said:

"But Suruliyar too is in a reserved forest area that is dense and would require cutting down of trees, something that was not required at Singara. Can the government assure us that forest clearance for this site will be given," he asks. "Alternatively, we can move to the nearby Thevaram, which is about 20â€“30 km away from the Suruliyar falls. This forest area has only shrubs but there is no source of water here and water will have to be piped over a distance of 30 km,"[9][10]

On 18 October 2010, the Ministry of Environment & Forests approved both environment and forest clearance for setting up the observatory in the Bodi West Hills Reserved Forest in the Theni district of Tamil Nadu.

As of February 2012, the land was allocated to the INO collaboration by the government of Tamil Nadu and the excavation work was about to start. Naba K Mondal, chief spokesperson of INO project and a senior scientist at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, told The Hindu that the pre-project work will start in April 2012 and ₹ 66 crores has been sanctioned for the work. The first task will be to have a road connectivity from Rasingapuram to Pottipuram village. The project is expected to be completed in 2015 at an estimated cost of ₹ 1,500 crores.[7][8]

On 18 September 2012, Keralaâ€™s octogenarian Opposition leader and CPI(M) central committee member VS Achuthanandan expressed anxiety over establishing a neutrino observatory on the Theni-Idukki border between Tamil Nadu and Kerala, citing environmental and radiological issues.[11] Soon the INO collaboration clarified on all the issues raised by him and the responses are on the INO website.

On 5 January 2015, Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved to set up the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO).[12]

On 20 February 2015, The southern bench of National Green Tribunal ordered notices to the central and state governments on a petition challenging the environmental clearance granted to the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) project.[13]

On 26 March 2015, The Madurai bench of the Madras high court restrained the central government from commencing the work on the proposed India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO).The court directed the government to get permission from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) before commencing the work.[14]

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) spelling out the operational aspects of the project and the mode of utilisation of available funds was signed by seven primary project partners: Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai, Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMSc), Chennai, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP), Kolkata, Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC), Kolkata, Harish Chandra Research Institute (HRI), Allahabad and Institute of Physics (IOP), Bhubaneswar.[1]

Thirteen other project participants include: Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Calcutta University (CU), Kolkata, Delhi University (DU), Delhi, University of Hawaii (UHW), Hawaii, Himachal Pradesh University (HPU), Shimla, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IITB), Mumbai, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam, North Bengal University (NBU), Siliguri, Panjab University (PU), Chandigarh, Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad, Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON), Tamil Nadu and Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology, Sikkim.

The primary research instrument will consist of a 50,000 ton magnetised iron particle physics calorimeter with glass Resistive Plate Chamber (RPC) technology as the sensor elements.[1]

The ICAL design is mostly based on the monolith experiment that could not go beyond the proposal Stage. The detector was expected to start collecting data in the year 2012. The location of INO has attracted a lot of attention from the neutrino physics community as the distance between INO and CERN is very close to "Magic Baseline" – a distance at which the effect of the CP phase on the measurement of

θ

13

{\displaystyle \theta _{13}}

 is minimal.[15] The project has been hit by lack of skilled manpower and opposition by environmentalists. In 2008, INO started a graduate training programme leading to PhD Degree in High Energy Physics and Astronomy to deal with the shortage of particle physicists. [16]

The Primary goals of the ICAL are the following: [17]

The ICAL detector consists of 6 centimeters (2.4Â in) thick Iron plates as passive material, with RPCs in between as active material.

A prototype of the ICAL detector with 14 layers, measuring 1 m × 1 m × 1 m is already operational in the VECC, Kolkata. The 35 ton prototype is set up over ground to track cosmic muons. [18]

The originally proposed site was at Singara 11°32′N 76°36′E / 11.533°N 76.600°E / 11.533; 76.600, 5.5 kilometers (3.4 mi) south-west of Masinagudi in the Nilgiri Hills of South India. The site has been changed due to protests from environmental groups. The INO will now be built 10 km east of Theni in southern India at 9°58′N 77°16′E / 9.967°N 77.267°E / 9.967; 77.267Coordinates: 9°58′N 77°16′E / 9.967°N 77.267°E / 9.967; 77.267[6]:2 Bodi West Hills in Theni district, Tamil Nadu state.[19]