Issue - meetings
Cost of Living Support
Meeting: 05/12/2024 - Shared Revenues and Benefits Joint Committee (Item 50)
50 Cost of Living Support 
PDF 384 KB
Minutes:
Purpose of Report
To provide Shared Revenues and Benefits Joint Committee with an update regarding various areas relating to the national welfare reform agenda, as well as current cost of living initiatives to support residents.
Decision
That the content of the report be noted, and a further update be presented at the next meeting of this Committee.
Alternative Options Considered and Rejected
None.
Reason for Decision
The report provided Shared Revenues and Benefits Joint Committee with an update with regard to the national and local position of welfare reform/other initiatives, with a specific focus on Universal Credit, Discretionary Housing Payments, Household Support Fund, and Financial Inclusion matters.
The national Welfare Reform agenda had impacted significantly on residents of Lincoln and North Kesteven since 2013 when certain changes were introduced – such as Removal of Spare Room Subsidy, and Benefit Cap – and had continued as further changes had been introduced, such as the ongoing rollout of Universal Credit. These changes had resulted in major changes to the operating of our shared service, to ensure a proactive and positive response to welfare reform and the impacts on residents.
The Covid-19 pandemic and cost of living related matters had caused significant challenges to households locally and nationally. The Revenues and Benefits Shared Service played a lead and key role in developing deliverable schemes to help mitigate some of the impacts of cost-of-living challenges. Some of these schemes were directly delivered by this Service, some in partnership with other teams within the Councils, also with organisations such as those in the voluntary sector.
Universal Credit (UC)
The latest national figures published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) were released on 12 November 2024, with statistics relevant to the period up to September 2024:
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Local authority statistics:
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On 25 April 2022, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions made a statement in the House of Lords (Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament) regarding managed UC migration for working-age legacy benefits – with the aim of completing this migration by the end of 2024. A ‘Discovery Phase’ of migration had been taking place, with a number of areas around the country (not Lincolnshire) with a relatively small number of UC cases.
DWP released information to state those in receipt of Tax Credits would be asked to apply for UC by the end of 2024 (Tax credits are ending - Understanding Universal Credit). DWP also announced, through the Autumn Statement 2022, that the managed migration of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) cases had been delayed to 2028/29. A further announcement was made on 19 April 2024 with plans to bring forward the managed migration of ESA cases. Notifications for this group commenced in September 2024.
Meeting: 19/09/2024 - Shared Revenues and Benefits Joint Committee (Item 43)
43 Cost of Living Support PDF 382 KB
Minutes:
Purpose of Report
1. To provide Shared Revenues and Benefits Joint Committee with an update regarding various areas relating to the national welfare reform agenda, as well as current cost of living initiatives to support residents.
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2. To seek support for and approval in principle regarding implementation of an extended Household Support Fund/delegation to make this decision. |
Decision
1. That the content of the report be noted, and a further update be presented at the next meeting of this Committee.
2. That Joint Committee:
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Alternative Options Considered and Rejected
None.
Reason for Decision
The report provided Shared Revenues and Benefits Joint Committee with an update with regard to the national and local position of welfare reform/other initiatives, with a specific focus on Universal Credit, Discretionary Housing Payments, Household Support Fund, Energy Bill Support Schemes, Council Tax Support Fund and Financial Inclusion matters.
The national Welfare Reform agenda had a significant impact on residents of Lincoln and North Kesteven since 2013 when certain changes were introduced – such as Removal of Spare Room Subsidy, and Benefit Cap – and had continued as further changes had been introduced, such as the ongoing rollout of Universal Credit. These changes had resulted in major changes to the operating of our shared service, to ensure a proactive and positive response to welfare reform and the impacts on residents.
The Covid-19 pandemic and cost of living related matters had caused significant challenges to households locally and nationally. The Revenues and Benefits Shared Service played a lead and key role in developing deliverable schemes to help mitigate some of the impacts of cost-of-living challenges. Some of these schemes were directly delivered by this Service, some in partnership with other teams within the Councils, also with organisations such as those in the voluntary sector.
Universal Credit (UC)
The latest national figures published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) were released on 9 July 2024, with statistics relevant to the period up to May 2024:
- 6,757,693 households receiving UC
(this was an increase from 6,458,756 as reported at the last meeting of this Committee).
Local authority statistics:
- City of Lincoln – 12,900 (12,495 as at the last report).
- North Kesteven – 8,172 (7,857 as at the last report).
On 25 April 2022, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions made a statement in the House of Lords (Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament) regarding managed UC ... view the full minutes text for item 43