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.

Decision

That the report be noted, with an update to be presented to the next meeting of the Committee on 5 September 2024.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

None.

Reason for Decision

The report provided information on Revenues and Benefits performance in respect of annual outturns for the financial year 2023/24.

The Revenues and Benefits Shared Service had been in operation for twelve years since 1 June 2011. Performance had largely been maintained/improved whilst value for money continued to be provided. 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. 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 many more months.

For the financial year 2023/24, in-year collection of Council Tax for Lincoln and North Kesteven was down by 0.11% and up by 0.07% respectively compared to 2022/23. Net collectable debit for 2023/24 (compared to 2022/23) increased by £2,795,216 for Lincoln and £4,654,674 for North Kesteven.

Performance had not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels of collection, although cost of living pressures on residents had to be taken into account. Evidence locally as well as on a wider national basis was showing that more people were struggling to pay Council Tax and that this could continue for some time. Officers continued to ensure Council Tax was collected proactively, looking to ensure taxpayers were receiving all the help (e.g. discounts, benefits) they were entitled to, and making payment arrangements to take account of residents’ welfare; avoiding undue exceptional hardship. Officers continued to benchmark in-year Council Tax collection with other local authorities, and national collection rates for 2023/24 should be publicly available for inclusion in the next report to this Committee on 5^th September 2024.

For the financial year 2023/24, in-year collection of Business Rates was down for Lincoln by 0.87%, North Kesteven down by 0.31% and West Lindsey up by 0.95%. Performance in financial years since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic was not wholly comparable ‘like for like’ due to differing levels of discounts/reliefs available, - however all three collection outturns were positive – particularly in light of the economic climate and significant challenges for businesses over the last few years.

Outstanding Revenue documents as at the end of the financial year 2023/24, stood at a total of 2,679 (split Lincoln 1,745, North Kesteven 934). This figure was higher than at the end of 2022/23 (total 935 - split Lincoln 637, North Kesteven 934), With significant demands on the team plus recruitment having only just taken place in respect of vacant positions- the team had performed well. As expected, Quarter 4 2023/24 brought extremely high levels of customer contact, mainly due to annual Council Tax and Business Rates bills being issued.

As at the time of writing this report, direction of travel in respect of reducing outstanding documents was positive in 2024/25.

It was noted that from 2024/25 Revenues items outstanding would also include those from the Citizens Access Revenues self-serve portal, effectively creating a new ‘baseline’ for this measure of performance.

As at the end of the year 2023/24, in collection rates for housing benefit overpayments/outstanding monies were as follows:

Performance in this area continued to be positive – outstanding debt continued to decrease and in-period collection was exceeding 100% for both partner Councils

There were 3, 449 Benefits customers outstanding as at the end of the financial year 2023/24, (awaiting assessment) – split Lincoln 2,281, North Kesteven 1,168. This was a rise on numbers outstanding at the end of 2022/23 (2,720 – split Lincoln 1,792, North Kesteven 928) Demands on the team had continued to be significant throughout the year, having to keep on top of the incoming workload, but also delivering other schemes e.g. Household Support Fund, Discretionary Housing Payments, as well as advice to customers around cost of living support. The number of Universal Credit (UC) documents requiring processing continued to have a real impact on the team, too, and was likely to increase moving forward. At points there had also been reductions in Benefits Officer resources, due to vacancies and sickness absence.

Despite the significant increase in incoming work items to be processed during Quarter 4 2023/24, e.g. rent increases and benefit upratings, as at the time of writing this report the oldest item of work outstanding was 4 weeks.

Despite the team’s workload, due to efficient and proactive processes in place, Benefit claims were assessed on a timely basis as detailed at paragraph 5.2 of the officer’s report.

Average processing times for Housing Benefit New Claims had decreased by 1.53 days and 1.58 days for Lincoln and North Kesteven, respectively.

The latest national data available showed that in Quarter 3, 2022/23 New Claims were processed in an average of 18 days by Councils, Changes of Circumstance processed in an average of 8 calendar days (although it should be noted for Changes of Circumstance the average normally decreased in Quarter 4, due to high volumes of ‘1-day’ changes processed due to annual rent, pension changes, etc). This helped to reaffirm the positive nature of Lincoln and North Kesteven average processing times.

Despite the improvement from 2022/23 to 2023/24, the aim was to further improve North Kesteven New Claims performance. 2023/24 performance was detrimentally affected by some information provided by landlords regarding rents being delayed, - officers would continue to try and prevent this occurring moving forward. With the demographics and make-up of the North Kesteven caseload having fewer new claims than City of Lincoln and less temporary/supported accommodation claims, it was difficult to compare performance as exactly ‘like for like’ between the two authorities.

Processing Benefits claims accurately remained of paramount importance, – i.e., ‘getting it right, first time.’ In 2023/24, City of Lincoln’s ‘right first time’ assessment of cases checked was 93.05% (2,437 out of 2,619) and for North Kesteven 98.68 (1,119 out of 1,134,). City of Lincoln’s performance improved throughout the year – in quarter 1 an increased number of checks had taken place including those in respect of less experienced team members. It should be noted that these checks were in addition to those carried out under the requirements of the annual Housing Benefit Subsidy claims.

The table at paragraph 6.1 of the officer’s report detailed vital monies our Welfare Team had continued to assist customers to access during 2023/24 (comparing to 2022/23). The demographics and demands were different in the two  districts, Covid-19 undoubtedly had an impact in North Kesteven where home visits (which had pre-Covid been key in offering welfare/benefits advice) not being possible to deliver in the same way – and new ways of working as residents accessed Council services in different ways. Officers continued to review demands and processes for the Welfare Team.