Emergency Vouchers

62 - Emergency Vouchers

Purpose

This instruction explains how emergency vouchers will be issued from 20 August 2001.

Scope

This instruction will enable caseworkers allocating emergency vouchers to use the new emergency voucher regime that begins on 20 August 2001 and to access and use the updated Supercal. Individual £5, £1, and 50 pence emergency vouchers will be withdrawn at close of play on 17 August 2001.

It should be read in conjunction with Policy Bulletin 60.

New emergency voucher regime

From 20 August 2001 only £10 cash-back emergency vouchers will be available loose. Otherwise emergency vouchers will only be available in packs. The pack denominations are:

a £30 pack containing a £10 cash-back voucher and the remaining £20 in buy-pass vouchers;

a £50 pack of five £10 cash-back vouchers; and

a £75 pack of fifteen £5 buy-pass vouchers.

The £30 pack is already in use in the Group Dispersal Programme and the Voucher Enquiry Team and will be used in Subs only, self-write etc, the £50 pack will be used for additional single payments and the £75 pack will be used for maternity payments.

Supercal v8

The Supercal has been revised to help caseworkers use the new emergency voucher regime.

The start date, family group and assets should be entered on the allocation sheet as at present and the boarding arrangement chosen from the drop-down menu. The Supercal will calculate the correct amount of emergency vouchers, and regular vouchers and the appropriate dates.

The allocation sheet will round emergency vouchers up to the nearest £10 in full board cases. In all other cases it will round up to the nearest £30 except where the number of packs would exceed the number of persons in the group multiplied by the number of weeks the emergency vouchers cover when it will round down. The allocation sheet will adjust the first regular vouchers to recover the overpayment or make good the underpayment.

The emergency voucher breakdown sheet is linked to the allocation sheet, which must be completed first. In a full board case the sheet will calculate the number of £10 cash-back vouchers required, in all other cases it will calculate how many £30 packs are needed.

The regular voucher breakdown sheet is also linked to the allocation sheet, which must be completed first. RV1 or RV2 should be chosen from the drop-down menu in K4. The appropriate totals and breakdowns will fill in.

Recording emergency vouchers on asys

The barcode on £10 cash-back vouchers may be scanned as at present.

Entering packs is done in two stages. Each pack of emergency vouchers has a 16- digit barcode on a cover sheet visible through a window in the envelope. Sodexho can identify the individual emergency vouchers in the pack from the barcode. Each caseworker will have 10-digit barcodes on their desk for £30 packs, £50 packs or £75 packs as necessary. To enter a pack on ASYS:

first scan the appropriate 10-digit barcode,

then scan the 16-digit barcode on the pack and hit enter (wands will be reprogrammed to remove the automatic carriage return where necessary).

ASYS will recognise the 26-digit string as an emergency voucher of the chosen value.

Allocation tool

The allocation tool currently rounds emergency vouchers up to the nearest 50 pence and normally creates two regular voucher batches, one adjusted to recover the overpayment, the other ongoing for the full weekly rate.

The allocation tool must be used from 20 August 2001 and the emergency voucher skeleton batch and the first regular voucher batch should be adjusted as required.

When the changes suggested by the tool have been accepted and saved double click on the Emergency Voucher batch to wand the packs or vouchers as above. The intended total is highlighted and may be amended. Where the packs or vouchers scanned in are not equal to the amount calculated by the tool a warning will appear and a comment must be entered in the comments box. "New EV regime" will suffice. If the intended total is amended the overpayment will be different and it will be necessary to amend the first regular voucher batch. The Supercal will calculate the correct total value and breakdown and the first regular voucher batch should be amended to agree.