Agenda item

Purpose of Report

To provide the Shared Revenues and Benefits Joint Committee with an update on performance in the Revenues and Benefits Shared Service, as detailed within Appendix 1 of the report.

Decision

That the report be noted, and an update be presented to the next meeting of this Committee on 8 September 2022.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

None.

Reason for Decision

The report provided an update on revenues performance in respect of annual outturns for the financial year 2021/22 for (a) council tax for the City of Lincoln Council and North Kesteven District Council; and (b) business rates for the City of Lincoln Council, North Kesteven District Council and West Lindsey District Council. Comparisons to the national and local position in terms of performance was provided, where possible.

The revenues and benefits shared service had now been in operation for 11 years since 1 June 2011, and performance had largely been maintained and improved whilst continuing 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 pandemic had understandably impacted on some areas of performance and these impacts were likely to continue for many more months.

In respect of council tax for the financial year 2021/22, in-year collection was down for the City of Lincoln by 0.78% and up for North Kesteven by 0.35% respectively. The financial impacts of Covid-19 on residents' incomes had continued, making collection of Council Tax a balance of the importance of collecting monies due in a prompt manner, whilst making repayment arrangements where applicable and appropriate in order that undue financial hardship to taxpayers was avoided. Net collectable debit for 2021/22 (compared to 2020/21) had increased by £2,728,406m for Lincoln and £3, 115,475m for North Kesteven.

It had been envisaged that outstanding Council Tax Hardship monies (City of Lincoln circa £200k, North Kesteven circa £90k) would have been allocated to identified cohorts within the latter part of 2021/22 – however, this required a script from our ICT system supplier (NEC, previously Northgate). Understandably, NEC resources had been diverted to the Council Tax Energy Rebate, - the script to allocate Council Tax Hardship monies was now being picked up again in the early part of 2022/23.

In respect of business rates, for the financial year 2021/22, in-year collection was down by 0.52% for Lincoln, 2.53% up for North Kesteven and 1.15% down for West Lindsey. The year 2021/22 was not wholly comparable to 2020/21 due to a reduction in Expanded Retail Discount

As detailed at paragraph 4.9 of the report, there had been key movements in business rates bases over the last year.

As at the end of the end of the financial year 2021/22, outstanding revenues documents stood at a total of 3,022, of which 2,046 were from the City of Lincoln and 976 from North Kesteven. Although this figure was higher than the total figure at the end of 2020/21 (2,111), this was a result of significant demand on the Council Tax Team, with house moves increasing sharply as well as the ongoing impacts from Covid19. The service had also experienced unforeseen reductions in staffing resources at points during the year. As at the end of October 2021 there were 5,101 outstanding Revenue’s customers awaiting to be processed (split Lincoln 3,367 and North Kesteven 1,734), which demonstrated progress made in the second half of 2021/22.

A table provided at paragraph 4.12 of the officer’s report gave context to some of the key demands dealt with by the team in 2021/22.

As at the end of the financial year 2021/22 performance in respect of in-year collections rates and outstanding monies relating to housing benefit overpayments continued to be positive. Outstanding debts continued to decrease; and in-period collection was exceeding 100% for both partner Councils.

As at the end of the financial year 2021/21, there were 2,768 Benefits customers outstanding (awaiting assessment) – split Lincoln 2,117 and North Kesteven 651. This was a slight reduction from the outstanding figure of 2,866 at the end of 2020/21. The significant increase in work demands due to the substantial impacts of Covid-19 had meant it had been another challenging year for the team to keep on top of the workload, - especially with the Test and Trace Support Payments and Household Support Fund schemes also requiring considerable resources from the Benefits Service. The number of Universal Credit (UC) documents which required processing also continued to have a real impact on the team.

The table at paragraph 5.2 of the report indicated that City of Lincoln was processing benefit claims in 16.54 days compared to 16.91 days in 2020/21 and changes of circumstances claim forms in 3.55 days, compared to 2.88 days in 2020/21. North Kesteven was processing benefit claims in 17.34 days compared to 15.42 days in 2020/21 and changes of circumstances claim forms in 2.80 days, compared to 2.56 days in 2020/21.To give context to these figures, the latest national data available showed that in Quarter 3, 2021/22 new claims were processed by Councils in an average of 19 calendar days, which reaffirmed the positive nature of Lincoln and North Kesteven’s average processing times.

Provision of welfare and benefits advice continued to be key as our Welfare Team continued to assist customers to access vital monies during 2021/22. The demographics and demands were such in the districts, with Covid-19 undoubtedly having an impact in North Kesteven where it had not been possible to offer home visits in the same way as pre-Covid. As the new financial year 2022/23 moved forward, officers would further develop new ways of working to ensure customers were able to access the services of the team. Further detail was set out within the table at Paragraph 6.2 of the officer’s report.