Agenda item

Purpose of Report

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

Decision

That the report be noted.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

None.

Reason for Decision

Council Tax

Comparing Council Tax in-year collection for quarter two 2018/19 to quarter two 2017/18 indicated that the City of Lincoln and North Kesteven was lower by the same percentage of 0.37%. It was noted, however, that the collectible debit for both the City of Lincoln and North Kesteven had increased from 2017/18 by £2.5 million and 3.8 million respectively.

In terms of the position as at the end of October 2018 compared to the position at the end of October 2017, the City of Lincoln was 0.32% lower and North Kesteven was 0.22% lower. A single person discount review had been undertaken for both the City of Lincoln and North Kesteven as part of a countywide process. As a result of this, single person discounts had been removed for 722 Lincoln accounts and 484 North Kesteven accounts. This had raised the amount of revenue to be collected by £218,724 for Lincoln and £153,176 for North Kesteven, which would have an impact on collection rates until this additional revenue was collected.

Business Rates

Comparing quarter two 2018/19 to 2017/18, the City of Lincoln was down by 0.56%, North Kesteven was up by 3.56% and West Lindsey was up by 0.11%.

In terms of the position at the end of October 2018 compared to the position at the end of October 2017, the City of Lincoln was 0.93% lower, North Kesteven was 0.27% higher and West Lindsey was 0.01% higher. It was noted that there were a number of factors affecting Lincoln’s business rates at this point in time not only relating to collection but liability in general. These included an increase in empty and exempt properties and a large increase in net collectable debit.

In terms of the current collection levels, the total net receipt had increased from 2017/18 by 955,000 for the City of Lincoln, £1.1 million for North Kesteven and £790,000 for West Lindsey. Tables outlining the net collectible debit were set out in paragraph 4.10 of the report.

Business Improvement District Levy Collection

The Business Improvement District financial year ran from 1 July to 30 June, so the figures set out in the report represented the collection up to the end of quarter two 2018.

A comparison of in-year collection rates between the Business Improvement District financial years ending 30 September 2017 and 30 September 2018 showed a decrease in collection by 1.27%. It was reported that officers did not consider this of major concern but would continue to monitor and manage it closely.

Outstanding Revenues Customers

The number of outstanding revenues customers as at the end of quarter two 2018/19 showed an increase since 31 March 2018 which was due to reduced numbers of staffing through unforeseen circumstances during the first quarter. The position had been maintained during quarter two despite a considerable amount of additional work being undertaken on student reviews and single person discount enquiries. Due to the electronic forms which had been developed, processes were becoming more efficient and as a result almost all student properties had been reviewed three months earlier than usual. The Council Tax Administration Team was continuing to work with the City of Lincoln’s Business Development Team to continue to implement and improve processes to channel shift customer contact, internal contact and adapt lean principles.

As at the end of October 2018 there were 768 outstanding revenues customers for the City of Lincoln and 321 for North Kesteven. Whilst this had increased since the end of quarter two for the City of Lincoln, the rate of increase was not as high as in previous months and could be attributed to the additional work undertaken, particularly around student accounts.

Housing Benefit Overpayments

Quarter two of 2018/19 indicated that more monies had been recovered than raised, with the City of Lincoln equating to 106.75% and North Kesteven equating to 116.43%, as a result of the work being undertaken by the Housing Benefit Overpayment Recovery Team. In addition to this level of positive performance, the level of outstanding overpayments was starting to reduce as illustrated in the table set out at paragraph 4.19 of the report.

It was noted that a separate item on Housing Benefit overpayments would be considered at this meeting.

Benefits Performance

As at quarter two for 2018/19 the City of Lincoln had 1,520 outstanding benefits customers awaiting assessment and North Kesteven had 471. It was important to note that for the City of Lincoln, although the customers awaiting assessment level was relatively high, this was due to the larger housing benefit caseload in comparison to North Kesteven. The live caseload for the City of Lincoln was 6,887 with North Kesteven being 4,283. As a result of this the City of Lincoln received a higher volume of documents.

The rollout of Universal Credit Full Service had made a significant impact on processing performance, with the benefits team receiving 12,457 Universal Credit documents since April 2018. Officers were currently working on the automation of a number of Universal Credit documents which should improve efficiencies within the teams, with each of these documents currently requiring assessment.

A breakdown of benefits outstanding customers, split by those already in progress where the customer had been contacted and those where customers had not yet been contacted, was set out in paragraph 5.2 of the report. Members were pleased to see that the number of customers awaiting assessment for the City of Lincoln had reduced in month by 401 which was a direct result of the overtime and review of processes which had taken place. It was noted that the oldest case in the system dated back to 13 November for the City of Lincoln and 8 November for North Kesteven whereas the oldest case was over six weeks old when previously reported.

In terms of housing benefit average processing times, the table at paragraph 5.4 of the report showed the figures for new claims and changes of circumstances for the last five financial years. New claims performance levels had improved when compared to quarter one in 2018/19 with the City of Lincoln by 1.97 days and North Kesteven by 1.05 days.

The accuracy of processing claims was just as important as their prompt processing and the table at paragraph 5.5 of the report set out the number of claims checked under the service’s quality checking regime since the formation of the shared service. During quarter two a total of 71 claims were checked for the City of Lincoln and 95 for North Kesteven.

Discussion ensued on the demand placed on the service, with the introduction of Universal Credit meaning that the service was having to do more with less resources. It was noted that this was one of the main reasons why there was a drive to introduce more efficient ways of working, such as electronic forms and self-service options for customers to utilise. The Head of the Shared Service explained that it was his role to ensure that the service was performing as expected and with optimal efficiency within the resources available. In the current climate, therefore, in answer to a question regarding the prospect of additional staffing it was noted that this was highly unlikely and that the service would be managed as effectively as possible despite reduced funding centrally.