Agenda item

Cost of Living Support

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

 

1.    That the content of the report be noted, and a further update be presented at the next meeting of this Committee.

 

2.    That the updates with regard to Household Support Fund wave 4, approving and supporting implementation as outlined in the officer’s report be noted.

 

3.    That North Kesteven District Council Members in attendance at Revenues and Benefits Joint Committee on 27th June 2023, supported an update on progress to be received by the Executive Board on 27th July 2023.

 

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

 

None.

 

Reason for Decision

 

This report provides 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 now the rising cost of living, had caused major challenges to households locally and nationally. The Revenues and Benefits Shared Service played a lead and key role in developing delivering 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

 

The latest national figures published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) were released on 18th April 2023, with statistics relevant to the period up to February 2023:

 

·         5,836,354 households receiving UC (this is an increase from 5,678,579 as reported at the last meeting of this Committee).

 

Local authority statistics:

 

·         City of Lincoln – 11,305 (10,938 as at the last report).

·         North Kesteven – 6,644 (6,474 as at the last report).

 

Tax credits are ending - Understanding Universal Credit).  DWP had also announced, through the Autumn Statement 2022, that the managed migration of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) cases had been delayed to 2028/29.

 

Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP)

 

City of Lincoln’s DHP initial government grant for 2022/23 was £129,643 and North Kesteven’s £85,166. The mid-year additional DHP grant announcement increased both amounts marginally, by £2,687 and £1,765 respectively – so 2022/23 DHP grants increased to £132,330 (Lincoln) and £86,931 (North Kesteven). In addition to this, relatively small amount of un-allocated Council Tax Hardship Fund monies were added to supplement the 2023/23 DHP government grants – City of Lincoln £8,426.13 (bringing the total 2022/23 DHP ‘budget’ to £140,756.13), North Kesteven £5,595.94 (bringing the total 2022/23 DHP ‘budget’ to £92,526.94).

 

Overall DHP funding for 2022/23 was reduced nationally from £140m to £100m. Consequently, grants for City of Lincoln and North Kesteven were also reduced by more than 29% each.

 

On 23rd February 2023, DWP announced DHP government grants for 2023/24. For City of Lincoln and North Kesteven, these were exactly the same amounts as for 2022/23; the national DHP allocation for 2024/25 would also be the same as for 2023/24.

 

Household Support Fund Wave 3 (HSF3)

 

In May 2022, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that there would be a third round of the Household Support Fund to cover the period from October 2022 to March 2023. Guidance and funding details were made available during August and September 2022.

 

Lincolnshire was allocated £5.46m for this third round of the Household Support Fund. This time, the government did not ring-fence any of this funding for particular groups of people. However, local authorities were asked to consider groups who may not have benefitted from any of the recent cost of living support.

 

On this basis, Lincolnshire County Council worked with District Councils to identify and agree the most appropriate methods for distributing this grant funding, as there was also a requirement to provide access to the funding via an application process.

 

Household Support Fund wave 3 phase 1 was delivered in Lincoln and North Kesteven in December 2022 and January 2023. Applications for support were taken from our referral partners and vouchers/payments allocated accordingly. Also, for those in receipt of Housing Benefit and not entitled to the national Cost of Living Payment, a £250 voucher was issued (via the Post Office) to these households. To the end of January 2023, under this phase of Household Support Fund, payments totalling £241,250 was allocated to City of Lincoln residents, £209,112 to North Kesteven residents.

 

Household Support Fund Wave 4 (HSF4)

Lincolnshire County Council had recently confirmed plans in respect of Household Support Fund Wave 4 and updated its HSF website.

In terms of District Councils’ separate allocations of HSF4 to be utilised to work with partners to provide payments, including through an application-based process in part (a requirement of the national HSF4 guidance), these had now been communicated to District Councils’ HSF4 lead officers, - for City of Lincoln £202,676 had been allocated, and for North Kesteven £139,340. (addendum to report circulated to Committee)

 

Energy Bill Support Scheme Alternative Funding/Alternative Fuel Payment

 

In October 2022, Central Government announced that the EBSS AF scheme was intended to provide the £400 of support for households across the UK that would otherwise miss out on the Energy Bills Support Scheme – which the vast majority of households are already receiving – as they did not have a domestic electricity contract.

 

The government further announced, on 19th December 2022, how people in England, Scotland and Wales without a direct relationship to a domestic energy supplier, including many care home residents and those living in park homes, would receive a £400 discount on their fuel bills through EBSS AF.

 

The government was also providing a further £200 Alternative Fuel Payment (AFP) to help those households in Great Britain who used alternative fuels such as biomass or heating oil to meet energy costs this winter.

 

Applications approved and paid for both City of Lincoln and North Kesteven were detailed within the officer’s report.

 

Council Tax Support Scheme 2023/24

 

On 23rd December 2022, Central Government provided guidance to local authorities regarding a £100 million Council Tax Support Fund for 2023/24, whereby awards of up to £25 were to be made to Council Taxpayers in receipt of Council Tax Support, - with an element of funding also to be made for discretionary local funds in 2023/24. Funding allocations for City of Lincoln and North Kesteven were £222,303 and £142,500, respectively.

Payments of up to £50.00 (the prescribed maximum was £25.00) were made to City of Lincoln and North Kesteven taxpayers as part of the 2023/24 Council Tax annual billing process. Remaining funding would be considered for local schemes in 2023/24. These figures were £101,705 for City of Lincoln, and £38,628 for North Kesteven

Financial Inclusion

 

Financial inclusion continued to be a key objective and factor in many areas of LiNK’s work. The Lincolnshire Financial Inclusion Partnership (LFIP) was currently chaired by the Assistant Director Shared Revenues and Benefits for North Kesteven District Council and City of Lincoln Council, - which brought together organisations and partners to promote and raise the profile of financial inclusion across the county. LFIP aimed to ensure that everyone had the capability and opportunity to access appropriate financial services and products needed to participate fully in society.

Supporting documents: