Issue - meetings

That the Quarter 3 Council Plan 2018/19 Monitoring Report be noted.

Councillor Bernie Attridge introduced a report to present a summary of performance for the Quarter 3 (October to December 2018) position of 2018/19 for the Council Plan priorities ‘Supportive Council’ and ‘Ambitious Council’ relevant to the Committee.  

The Chief Officer advised that the Quarter 3 monitoring report was a positive report and showed that 92% of activities were making good progress with 85% likely to achieve their desired outcomes.  67% of the performance indicators had met or exceeded their targets.  Risks were being managed with the majority being assessed as moderate (61%) and minor/insignificant 22%.  The report was an exception based report and therefore focussed on the areas of under-performance.

Councillor Attridge reported on the following performance indicators which showed a red RAG status for current performance against target:

·         average number of calendar days taken to deliver a Disabled Facility Grant (DFG)

·         debt levels will rise if tenants are unable to afford to pay their rent or council tax

Councillor Paul Shotton referred to page 166 of the report and spoke of the impact of Universal Credit and the hardship caused to individuals and families due to the time taken to process applications.  He said that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) needed to be made aware of the concerns. 

The Benefits Manager acknowledged the points made and explained that work had commenced on the identification of the impact of Universal Credit on Council Tenants and their rent accounts.  She advised that a team worked with tenants at the earliest opportunity to provide early identification and intervention (if appropriate) to prevent problems escalating and providing a greater chance of the rent account coming back under control and out of arrears.  She also advised that the Council now had ‘Trusted Partner’ status with the DWP which meant that processes and flow of information and payments was more streamlined and automated.  Council tax collection remained under pressure.  The Benefits Manager advised that an update report would be provided to the meeting of the Committee to be held on 26 June 2019.

Councillor Paul Johnson commented on the difficulties experienced by people on low incomes and the need to raise awareness of the Council Tax Reduction Scheme and review how it was advertised.  In response the Benefits Manager agreed to review the merit of advertising the Scheme in line with the Welsh Government campaign.

RESOLVED:

That the Quarter 3 Council Plan 2018/19 Monitoring Report be noted.