SCORE | Tips & Good Practice

Tips & Good Practice

Collecting and submitting SCORE data

Good Practice

Please inform tenants why you are collecting the information, how it will be used and who will be using it.
It is important to stress that SCORE information is anonymous and absolute confidentiality is maintained.

Collecting SCORE information

Complete the Letting code on every log. This will ensure that you can identify the log from your in-house records if the SCORE team needs to contact you.
Answer all questions fully. If the tenant was not interviewed or refused to give details for any of Q1 - Q11 of the Lettings log, please use the appropriate 'Interview Refused' or 'Unable to Interview' code in the Part A header.
Code sheet - the codes for use with Q1 - 4 and Q6 & 7, are listed on the back page of the Log Completion Guide.
Record children up to 12 months as aged 0.
Children living permanently with the tenant should be coded as economic status 9; children who stay part-time with the tenant as part of a custody agreement should be marked economic status 10.
Child Tax Credit - the amount received depends on income and number of dependant children. Table 3 overleaf lists the maximum weekly entitlements.
Statutorily homeless - A tenant can only be classified as 'statutorily homeless' by a local authority (and only if certain conditions are met - see SCORE manual).
Postcodes - please provide the full postcode for the property being let along with the Council Area Code - this information will be queried by the SCORE office if missed. Previous location property details should be filled as accurately as possible, where known. Postcodes can be checked at www.royalmail.com
Council Area codes - these are listed on page 3 of the Log Completion Guide or Appendix 6.1 of the SCORE manual (Council Area codes are 3 digits long and refer to a unitary authority area).

Submitting SCORE logs

Submitting by the electronic method is the preferred way to submit your SCORE logs.

Paper submission is gradually being phased out - by 2010 all submissions should be electronic.
The electronic method of submission allow for better quality data as it has built in validation to assist you to complete your SCORE logs fully and accurately.

SCORE Online Submission

Click the 'Save and Validate' button at the bottom of your completed log, once you have answered all questions and corrected all errors - the log is instantly transferred to the SCORE office.

Paper Submission

Paper submitters should send their completed logs, along with a batch header, to the address on the Contact Us page.

SCORE Lettings logs

Section / Question Number

Page 1 Header	Please ensure all fields in this Header section are fully completed - all these fields are necessary for the SCORE office to process your lettings logs.

Part A: Household Details	The 'Unable to interview' and 'Interview refused' options only refer to Q1 - 11. The rest of the log must still be completed.
Q3, 4 & 6	HA lettings only - if Q3 is answered 'yes' (household was Statutorily Homeless), then the answer to Q4 (Previous Living Circumstances) should be a type of temporary accommodation, and, Q6 (Source of Referral) should be option 3 Section 5 referral, option 4 Nomination or option 2 Direct Application.
Q5	Please enter the previous location Council and Postcode as fully as possible. If only partially known e.g. you know the Council code and the first half of the postcode, please enter what you know.

Part B: Income and Benefits Details Q8 Q8	Please assure Tenants that Income details are collected to calculate how affordable their rents are and to ensure they are getting a fair deal NOT to check their income. Affordability calculated from SCORE data is used by YOUR organisation to inform your rent review each year. Please record the WEEKLY income figures of the Tenant (and Partner). If you only have monthly figures, multiply these by 12 and divide by 52 to get a weekly figure. If only the Total Weekly Income is known please enter this in the appropriate box in Q8 Please exclude Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance from any breakdown - these are calculated at the SCORE office by the responses given for Q9. For a breakdown of benefit figures please refer to Tables 1, 2 and 3 of this Log Completion Guide.

Part C: Accommodation Details	Please complete in full the Council Area code and the Postcode for the property being let.
	Please answer all Property questions as fully as possible.
Q14	Please enter a Void Date for the property (and Major repairs completion date if Major repairs were carried out during the void period). If the property was let via succession or mutual exchange (or any other circumstance where there was no void period) then a Void Date should be entered which is exactly the same as the Tenancy Start Date. Only enter a Major Repairs date if Major Repairs have actually been carried out. Major Repairs are works which could not reasonably be carried out with a tenant in occupation, and which need to be carried out in a property while it is vacant. Works are only defined as Major Repairs if they are carried out to properties that have previously been let; where rehabilitation work to newly acquired properties has been carried out, the date of completion of this rehabilitation work should be entered under 'Void (or new build handover) date' and the 'Major Repairs date' should be left blank.
Q15	Please complete all Rent and Housing Costs fields fully. The Rent Period and Rent Year fields should be completed on every log. If a breakdown is unavailable but the Total Housing Costs are known, please enter this figure in Q15e.

Completing the Income question (Q8) - helpful hints and benefits figures

Please ensure all income figures are WEEKLY amounts.
If you only have monthly figures, multiply these by 12 and divide by 52 to get a weekly figure.
Income 'Refused', 'Not known' or 'Not Applicable' - only use these options if the tenant is unwilling or unable to provide complete income details.
Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance should be excluded from any breakdown - these are calculated at the SCORE office by the responses given for Q9.
If an income breakdown is unavailable but you have a total weekly figure, please enter this in the 'Total' box in Q8.

Table 1 Weekly state benefits figures (April 2008 - March 2009)
Income Support (economic status 4 or 6)	£	Disability (economic status 8)	Min £	Max £
Single person, under 25	50.95	Single person, under 25	78.45	223.25
Single person, aged 25 or over	64.30	Single person, aged 25 or over	91.80	236.60
Single person, aged 60 or over	130.00	Single person, aged 60 or over	157.50	302.30
Couple, both aged 18 or over	100.95	Couple, both aged 18 or over, one disabled	128.45	273.25
Couple, both aged 60 or over	198.45	Couple, both aged 60 or over, one disabled	225.95	370.75
State pension (economic status 5)	£	Pension credit (economic status 5)	£
Single person	95.25	Single person (minimum weekly income)	130
Couple	152.30	Couple (minimum weekly income)	198.45

Table 2 Examples of expected income breakdown for families receiving CB, IS and CTC
Household Type	Child benefit (£)	Other state benefits (£)	Child Tax Credit (£)
Single person over 18, with one child	20.00	64.30	53.41
Single person over 18, with two children	33.20	64.30	96.32
Couple, one or both over18, with one child	20.00	100.95	53.41
Couple, one or both over18, with two children	33.20	100.95	96.32

Table 3 Child Tax Credit (maximum weekly entitlement)
Total received = family element + (no. of children x child element) + any additional elements
	£		£
Family element	10.50	Disabled child element	51.24
Baby element (if at least one child under 1)	10.50	Severely disabled child element	20.65
Child element (per dependent child)	42.91

Council Area codes

Council Name	Code	Council Name	Code	Council Name	Code
Aberdeen, City of	100	East Renfrewshire	220	Perth & Kinross	340
Aberdeenshire	110	Edinburgh, City of	230	Renfrewshire	350
Angus	120	Falkirk	240	Shetland Isles	360
Argyll & Bute	130	Fife	250	South Ayrshire	370
Borders	140	Glasgow, City of	260	South Lanarkshire	380
Clackmannan	150	Highland	270	Stirling	390
West Dunbartonshire	160	Inverclyde	280	West Lothian	400
Dumfries & Galloway	170	Midlothian	290	Western Isles	410
Dundee, City of	180	Moray	300	England	500
East Ayrshire	190	North Ayrshire	310	Wales	600
East Dunbartonshire	200	North Lanarkshire	320	Northern Ireland	700
East Lothian	210	Orkney Isles	330	Rest of UK	800
				Elsewhere	999