Agenda item

Purpose of Report

To provide the Joint Committee with an update regarding the national and local position of welfare reform, with a specific focus on Universal Credit.

Decision

That the report be noted.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

None.

Reason for Decision

As Full Service roll-out progressed with Universal Credit, the number and range of people claiming Universal Credit was likely to grow quickly. As of 24 October 2018 there were 517 jobcentres running the Full Service with roll-out scheduled to be completed by December 2018. As of 13 September 2018, 1,220,443 households received Universal Credit which was a 10% increase from August 2018, of which 35% were in employment.

A number of changes to Universal Credit had been introduced as part of the Autumn 2018 budget announcements which impacted the following:

·         Universal Support;

·         Universal Credit Work Allowance increase;

·         extra held for households moving onto Universal Credit;

·         funding for previously announced measures;

·         support for 18 to 21 year olds and supported housing;

A major announcement in respect of Universal Support was that Citizens’ Advice would deliver the Full Service Universal Credit solely from April 2019. There was still a great deal of clarity required regarding how this arrangement may work, what the exact scope was and what local authorities’ roles may be. Concerns were noted in respect of how the model may operate and whether or not it would match the holistic service to Universal Credit customers currently being provided by the shared service to residents of Lincoln and North Kesteven. A pilot would be undertaken to test the work needed prior to April 2019 and it was noted that no, or very little, consultation with local authorities had taken place ahead of this announcement which had been met with some surprise across the country. Officers were shortly due to meet with representatives of the Department for Work and Pensions and Citizens’ Advice locally on 29 November 2018 to establish any further developments in respect of the announcement and what this may mean going forward.

Further details relating to these areas of change were set out in paragraphs 5 and 6 of the report.

The Welfare Reform and Project Officer had been working with the City of Lincoln Housing and North Kesteven Housing colleagues to monitor the impact Universal Credit claims were currently having on rent collection. The data showed that of the 863 City of Lincoln tenants in receipt of Universal Credit, as of 12 November 2018 there was an increase in arrears for 583 tenants totalling £177,113. For North Kesteven 77 tenants were in receipt of Universal Credit and an increase in arrears for 70 tenants totalled £36,870.

The Universal Credit Support Team continued to work on a rota basis and was located in Lincoln Jobcentre to be on hand to support customers and a dedicated email address and telephone number were in place for direct access to the team. This team provided assisted digital support for customers wishing to make a range of related claims, helped customers maintain their Universal Credit claim by providing assistance and also provided personal budgeting support. It was noted that the team continued to work very well and was providing an excellent service to its customers. For the City of Lincoln, 432 customers had received assisted digital support and 176 customers had received personal budgeting support, whereas for North Kesteven 38 customers had received assisted digital support and 31 customers had received personal budgeting support.

Sleaford Jobcentre went live with Universal Credit on 14 November 2018 and officers had been reviewing the objectives and outcomes of the Universal Credit Support Team based in Lincoln to ascertain whether the positive partnership working arrangements with Jobcentre Plus and internal processes that needed to be and could be replicated in the Sleaford office. It was confirmed that this would be put in place which was very positive and demonstrated the excellent relationship that had been built up between the Shared Service and the Department for Work and Pensions. It was reported that rollout at the Sleaford office would be slower than that experienced at the Lincoln office but this would help staff ensure that they were prepared and adequately trained.

The Universal Credit performance dashboard had been updated with statistical information and provided key information relating to the teams’ outputs along with regional and national updates as at the end of quarter two. These were appended to the report.

The Joint Committee congratulated the Revenues and Benefits Shared Service for securing the Institute of Revenues Rating and Valuation’s Excellence in Partnership Working Award 2018, which was a prestigious national award. Whilst the submission for this award focussed on the Shared Service as a whole, there was also a key section around the service’s Universal Credit support work with local Department for Work and Pensions colleagues and the ‘flagship’ service provided to its customers.