Agenda item

The Service Manager for Housing Management and Tenancy Services took the opportunity to speak to Committee Members about the impact of Universal Credit on the Council.

Preparations had been underway since 2012 and the service first went live on 22^nd June, 2015 for all new claimants and single households in all areas apart from Hucknall.  A full service was then introduced incrementally by area from June 2018 to November 2018.

The Council currently had 627 Universal Credit cases and of these, 383 cases were already in arrears (61%).  This equated to £161,985.36 with an average of £422.94 per case.  The Committee acknowledged that current rent arrears (not Universal Credit) were continuing to improve but the Universal Credit arrears were continuing to increase.  Extrapolation of figures associated with this trend could see an estimated debt of £11m should the arrears increase at the same pace for the remainder of the year.

The introduction of Universal Credit has had a profound impact on residents with many having to cope with the change from fortnightly to monthly payments through a fully digital online claim portal.  Many residents had no real experience in budgeting their money and were already dealing with further hardships from the switch including universal credit deductions, payday debts, foodbanks and fuel poverty.  The payments to cover housing costs were therefore being spent on other things.

The Council had been endeavouring to mitigate against the impacts of Universal Credit and assist residents with the following:-

·         Welfare Reform Board/Partnership working

·         roadshows/presentation to tenants

·         digital zones with officer support

·         Universal Credit information points

·         tenant surveys and profiling

·         officer support and guidance

·         a shift of officer resources to prevention work with additional staff rather than enforcement work

·         consistently reviewing the way the support team works.

The service had recently also employed a Welfare Reform Apprentice as an additional fixed term resource to assist tenants with the transfer over to Universal Credit.

The Committee, having considered the impact of Universal Credit on the Council thus far, acknowledged the good work and support the Housing and Revenues/Benefits Teams had shown to Ashfield tenants to enable them to transfer across to the new regime with minimum stress.  The work was continuing to offer support and guidance as needed.

The Service Manager for Scrutiny and Democratic Services drew Members’ attention to the proposed terms of reference for the review as outlined on page 49 of the report.

Being conscious of time constraints, the Committee were asked to consider meeting as an informal group to enable the review to progress in a timely manner and ensure that any investigative research was completed in time for the next Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting scheduled for 5^th September, 2019.

It was suggested that some insight into the experience of an Ashfield Universal Credit claimant might be beneficial to the review and to extend an invite to a willing participant to participate in an informal group meeting.

The Service Manager for Housing Management and Tenancy Services advised that some of the problems being experienced with the introduction of Universal Credit had been from the service being provided to residents by the Department of Work and Pension (DWP).  Their Universal Credit Call Centre was not locally based and many of the staff were being perceived as ill-equipped to assist residents with their ongoing enquiries.

The Scrutiny Research and Support Officer advised the Committee that he was intending to invite a DWP representative to attend the first informal group meeting to obtain their perspective as to the impact Universal Credit was having on their work requirements and the residents of Ashfield.

Committee Members concluded by discussing the best focus for the review and to align the terms of reference accordingly.

RESOLVED that

a)    the report, as presented, be received and noted;

b)    the terms of reference for the review ‘Impact of Universal Credit’ be approved with the addition of some focus being directed towards how the Council and its partners are working together to assist claimants in achieving a smooth, successful transition over to the Universal Credit scheme and maintaining their finances responsibly thereafter;

c)    the Scrutiny Research and Support Officer be requested to facilitate Members meeting as an informal group during August 2019 to enable the review to progress in a timely manner and ensure any investigative research is completed in time for the next Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting scheduled for 5th September, 2019.

(During consideration of this item, Councillor Melanie Darrington left the room at 7.45pm and returned to the meeting at 7.47pm.  Councillor Dave Shaw also left the room at 8.28pm).