Agenda and draft minutes

Members and officers paid tribute to Sue, former City of Lincoln Councillor and member of Shared Revenues and Benefits Joint Committee who sadly passed away on 2 January 2025. She was a genuine very kind person, warm and welcoming who would be greatly missed. Thanks were given for her commitment towards the Revenues and Benefits service and for sharing her valuable knowledge at all times.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 05 December 2024 be confirmed and signed by the Chair as a true record, subject to the following amendments being noted:

·       That one figure for outstanding benefits customers awaiting assessment at the end of Quarter 2 at the same point the previous year at 1,697 had been omitted at the third paragraph, Page 5, Minute Number 47, ‘Performance Update’ as the figures quoted did not total that stated.

·       The text of the last paragraph of page 5 of Minute No 47, Performance Update’ was duplicated in error.

Please note that, in accordance with the Members' Code of Conduct, when declaring interests members must disclose the existence and nature of the interest, and whether it is a disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI) or personal and/or pecuniary.

Councillor Rebecca Longbottom declared a Personal Interest with regard to the agenda item titled 'Revenues and Benefits Shared Service Business Plan 2025/26'.

Reason: Her place of employment, Lincoln College, was mentioned within the report papers, however, there was no conflict of interest.

Purpose of Report

To provide the Shared Revenues and Benefits Joint Committee with an update on performance in the Revenues and Benefits Shared Service.

Decision

That the report be noted, with an update to be presented to the next meeting of the Committee on 29 May 2025.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

None.

Reason for Decision

The report provided an update on Revenues and Benefits performance in respect of Quarter 3 for the financial year 2024/25.

The Revenues and Benefits Shared Service had now been in operation for thirteen years forming on 1 June 2011, and performance had largely been maintained and improved, whilst it continued to provide value for money. Continual improvement and success was being achieved in both statistical and financial performance, as well as positive outcomes for customers of the partner local authorities. However, the Covid-19 global pandemic and then cost of living challenges had understandably impacted on some areas of performance and these impacts were likely to continue for some time.

In respect of Council Tax, up to the end of Quarter 3 2024/25, in-year collection for Lincoln was down by 0.09% and North Kesteven down by 0.65% respectively. As at the end of January 2025, in- year collection was still down at  0.16% for Lincoln and 0.68% for North Kesteven respectively. As previously flagged to this committee, Council Tax collection was generally lower at both regional and national levels - seeming to indicate that some taxpayers were struggling to pay their bills as a consequence of cost of living pressures. Officers would continue to proactively recover Council Tax during Quarter 4 whilst understanding the importance of welfare and avoidance of undue financial hardship for taxpayers.

In terms of the national context, the latest figures for annual Council Tax in-year collection outturns 2023/24 saw City of Lincoln Council at 246^th (2022/23- 240^th) and North Kesteven 20^th (2022/23 - 9^th) out of 296 local authorities whose performance was reported. Out of the seven Lincolnshire Districts, for 2023/24 City of Lincoln and North Kesteven achieved 6^th and 1^st highest collections, respectively.

In respect of Business Rates, up to the end of Quarter 3 2024/25 compared to the same point in 2023/24, in-year collection was up by 0.12% for Lincoln; North Kesteven down by 0.94% and West Lindsey down by 4.20%. As at the end of January 2025, in- year collection was up at 0.29% for Lincoln, down by 1.29% for North Kesteven and down by 2.56% for West Lindsey respectively.

In terms of the national context, the latest available figures were for annual Business Rates in-year collection outturns 2023/24. City of Lincoln Council’s in-year collection was 96^th  (2022/23 22^nd), North Kesteven 39^th (2022/23 14^th) and West Lindsey 95^th (2022/23 22^nd) out of 296 local authorities whose performance was reported. Out of the seven Lincolnshire Districts, for 2023/24, City of Lincoln, North Kesteven and West Lindsey achieved 4^th, 2^{nd  ...  view the full minutes text for item 54.}

Purpose of Report

To present to Members the third quarter’s (ending 31 December 2024) performance for the Revenues and Benefits Shared Service for 2024/25, as detailed at Appendix 1 to the report.

Decision

That the actual position at Quarter 3 as detailed within the officer’s report be noted.

Alternation Options Considered and Rejected

None.

Reason for Decision

The forecast outturn for 2024/25 predicted there would be a saving against the approved budget of £32,380, which included the newly confirmed 2024/25 pay award, paid in November 2024.

The approved budget for 2024/25 was agreed by the Shared Revenues and Benefits Joint Committee on 22 February 2024, which set a budget of £3,075,650 for the service.

At Quarter 1 the budget was increased to reflect New Burdens grants totalling £27,480, with no further changes at quarter two.

Further new burdens totalling £11,440 were received at Quarter 3,

Financial performance as at the third quarter of 2024/25 as detailed in Appendix 1 to this report resulted in an underspend against the approved budget of £16,890, including the nationally agreed pay award.

The main forecast year-end variations against the approved budget for 2024/25 were noted within the table at paragraph 4.3 of the officer’s report.

Purpose of Report

To present the Base Budget Forecast for the Revenues and Benefits Shared Service for 2025/26.

Decision

That the Base Budget Forecast for the Revenues and Benefits Shared Service for 2025/26 be approved.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

None.

Reason for Decision

The Revenues and Benefits Shared Service was formed on 1 June 2011, with a budget set to deliver savings for both partner authorities.

The Delegation and Joint Committee Agreement required the Base Budget Forecast for the Revenues and Benefits Shared Service to be reported to members; this report met this requirement.

The Base Budget Forecast for 2025/26 was included at Appendix 1 to the report, including a full reconciliation to the previous Base Budget Forecast outlined in Appendix 2.

A full review of each line of the budget had taken place to ensure a fair representation of the activity of the service. This had led to budgets being transferred between different shared service functions. Although each Authority had a different percentage of each service, across the service as a whole this had not led to either Authority paying significantly more than the other.

As a result of inflationary pressures there had been an increase in the base budget from last year, in the main, due to increasing salary costs resulting from the higher than anticipated pay award in 2024/25, as agreed nationally, the pay award reflected the higher of either, a flat rate increase of £1,290, or 2.5% to all employees, equivalent to a 5.72% increase for the lowest paid members of staff and with the majority of officers receiving pay rises above 5% for the second consecutive year, in comparison to the original budgeted estimate of 3%.

Additionally, in the 2024 Autumn Budget, the Government announced a change to employer’s National Insurance contributions from April 2025, which would see rates increased by 1.2% from 13.8% to 15%, along with a reduction in the secondary threshold from £9,100 to £5,000. More employers would become eligible to pay National Insurance contributions.

Members queried the arithmetical accuracy of the figures quoted at Appendix 2 of the report. Officers agreed to double-check the figures and offer feedback outside of today’s meeting.

Purpose of Report

To provide the Shared Revenues and Benefits Joint Committee with an update on current issues within non-domestic rates, related to City of Lincoln Council, North Kesteven District Council and West Lindsey District Council. The report was not intended to include non-domestic rate performance matters, as this was covered within the Performance Update reported to Joint Committee today.

Decision

That the content of the report be noted.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

None.

Reason for Decision

The report included some of the changes announced as a result of the Government’s financial support provided to businesses in the form of NDR relief, as well as forthcoming changes to the NDR system.

The following updates were noted:

Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief

Eligibility criteria for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief was set out by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and issued to Local Authorities on 20 December 2021. No changes were made to the qualifying criteria for the year 2024/25.

This relief had been extended for the year 2025/26 – with guidance provided by MHCLG ON 16 January 2025.It was expected to end on 31 March 2026, with the introduction of the RHL multipliers.

The table at paragraph 4.5 of the officer’s report reflected the significant reduction in the amounts awarded in the last three years (previously known as the Expanded Retail Discount (ERD) scheme), with an estimate on the award to be granted in 2024/25.

NDR Changes and Significant Reliefs/Discounts

At the Autumn Statement on 30 October 2024, the Chancellor announced that the Government would continue to provide a package of NDR measures to support businesses in England.

• The retail, hospitality and leisure relief (RHL) would continue for 2025/26 at 40% up to £110,000 per business. Although this relief was to continue, the reduction from 75% to 40% would be significant for a lot of businesses.
• The multipliers were announced for 2025/26 – the small business multiplier would be frozen at 49.9p again. The standard multiplier would be uprated by the September 2024 CPI rate to 55.5p (2024/25 54.6p)
• Going forward from 2026/27 the Government intended to introduce two permanently lower multipliers for retail, hospitality and leisure properties. This would be paid for by a higher multiplier for properties with a rateable value (RV) of above £500,000. This meant that overall, there would be 5 different multipliers depending on the rateable value of the hereditament and the activities carried out at the hereditament. The details of these multipliers were not expected to be announced until the 2025 budget.
• Private schools were to lose their mandatory charity relief (80%) with effect from 1^st April 2025, subject to Parliamentary process. Private schools which were ‘wholly or mainly’ concerned with providing full time education to pupils with an Education, Health and Care plan would remain eligible for the relief.

NB. We had been instructed by MHCLG not to remove the mandatory relief until the legislation had been completed

Multipliers from 2026

The most significant announcement for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 57.

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 21 January 2025, with statistics relevant to the period up to December 2024:

• 7,276,191 households receiving UC (an increase from 7,078,771 as reported at the last meeting of this Committee).

Local authority statistics:

• City of Lincoln – 13,438 (13,142 as at the last report).
• North Kesteven – 8,619 (8,475 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 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.

DWP  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.

Purpose of Report

As set out in the Shared Revenues and Benefits Business Case Delegation and Joint Committee Agreement, an annual Business Plan was presented to this committee each year for consideration and approval.

Decision

1.    That the Revenues and Benefits Shared Service Business Plan 2025/26 be approved.

2.    That a report on those customers registered on the self-service platform at the end of the financial year be presented to the next meeting of Committee on 19 May 2025.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

None.

Reason for Decision

The Revenues and Benefits Shared Service Business Plan for the financial year 2025/26 was attached at Appendix 1 to the report. It featured the following:

·       Key Achievements in 2024/25;

·       Savings in 2024/25;

·       Key Activities for 2025/26;

·       Strategic Priority Schemes 2025/26;

·       Towards Financial Sustainability projects 2025/26;

·       Key Risks;

·       Performance Management;

·       Safeguarding;

·       Equality Actions;

·       Working in Neighbourhoods;

·       Workforce Development;

·       Social Value;

·       Data Protection and Information Governance;

·       Corporate Social Responsibility.

It was reported that the year 2024/25 had been another positive year for the Revenues and Benefits Shared Service, albeit very challenging with a whole host of post Covid-19 pandemic and Cost of living support related-initiatives, pressures and demands. The ongoing impacts from Covid-19 had been significant and could not be underestimated, as were the ongoing impacts of rising cost of living challenges. The financial impacts on taxpayers and businesses had been substantial, which had understandably continued to impact on revenues collection – particularly in relation to Council Tax. The service continued to promote the ‘Get in touch, not in debt’ message – with a real focus on ‘welfare’ and income-maximisation for customers when making payment arrangements. The increase in the overall Benefits workload as cost of living challenges continued to significantly impact, meant that staffing resources and priorities needed to be regularly ‘juggled’ to meet these demands promptly and effectively. There continued to be increased contact from taxpayers and businesses struggling to pay their bills, as well as high levels of benefit claims and cost of living support.

A number of additional demands had been placed on our Revenues and Benefits Service over the last twelve months, including;

-       Household Support Fund (wave 6);

-       Cost of Living Support;

-       Business Rates Reliefs;

-       High Volumes in Benefit Claims/Changes/Universal Credit Changes;

-       Alternative Energy Support Funds;

-       Storm Babet Flood Support;

-       Pressures and Impacts from Temporary Accommodation, and ‘Frozen’ levels of Discretionary Housing Payments funding.

These additional demands should not be underestimated and understandably impacted on levels of performance in some areas. However, despite these major challenges, performance in most areas remained positive – officers were wholly committed to achieving the best possible standards of service to our customers.

The plan for 2025/26 continued to look at a range of key initiatives relating to areas including e-services, cost of living, as well as standards of performance. Members requested further information on those customers registered for e-services.

RESOLVED that the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business because it is likely that if members of the public were present there would be a disclosure to them of ‘exempt information’ as defined by Section 100I and Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

Purpose of Report

To request a change to the Revenues and Benefits Staffing Structure.

Decision

That the recommendation to the Shared Revenues and Benefits Joint Committee, as set out in the exempt report, be approved, subject to the Management of Change procedure being satisfactorily completed.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

As detailed in the exempt report to the Executive.

Reasons for the Decision

As detailed in the exempt report to the Executive.