Agenda item

Discretionary Housing Payment ( DHP) Policy 2013/14

Decision:

(a) That the report be noted;

(b) That the Committee’s comments in the form of the draft minutes be made available to Cabinet for its meeting in March; and

Minutes:

The Interim Manager (Finance Department) introduced a report for the Committee to consider and discuss Flintshire County Council’s revised Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) Policy for 2013/14. The comments raised would be reported to Cabinet at its meeting in March 2013.

The Interim Manager (Finance Department) detailed the background to the report, explaining that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) allocated extra funding to local authorities to provide all claimants with further financial assistance with their Housing Costs. The DWP annual funding for DHP across England and Wales was £20m up to April 2011 and to help local authorities manage the impact of the reforms, DHP funding had increased to £30m in 2011/12 and to £60m for 2012/13 and for the remainder of the Spending Review period. She explained that the DHP payments were only for the short term and examples of where a DHP may be used were reported. Each year the DWP allocated funding to Local Authorities for DHP; authorities were allowed to award up to 2.5 times the government allocation of DHP. For the financial year 2013/14 Flintshire County Council had been allocated £242,119 which meant that the overall expenditure limit for DHP was £605,298. The 2013/14 budget contained a provision for Flintshire County Council to contribute £167,526 which would provide a total of £409,645. The Interim Manager explained that this meant that there was insufficient budget to help all those who would be affected by the changes to Welfare Benefits. Applications for DHP would be looked at subjectively with the individual circumstances being considered.

Councillor A.I. Dunbar welcomed the report but in highlighting paragraph 3.05, raised concern about the lack of cheaper alternative accommodation available to those affected by the Welfare Reform changes and the inability for people to increase their income which was also suggested as a way to reduce the amount of shortfall between their Housing Benefit and their rent. He asked about the consequences of not awarding a DHP and in response the Interim Manager spoke of the proactive work on personal budgeting which had been undertaken. However, she reminded Members that the Council would not be able to help all claimants but would still need to pick up the pieces following the Welfare Reform changes.

In response to questions from Councillor A. Woolley, the Interim Manager said that the amount of DHP allocated to Flintshire County Council in 2012/13 was £114,000 and that £24,000 remained unawarded. She explained that she would provide details of the number of people who had been helped in 2012/13 after the meeting.

Councillor P. Shotton paid tribute to the Benefits Section. He referred to the Flintshire County Council bond scheme for deposits and asked what level of assistance was available. The Interim Manager indicated the team worked closely with Housing colleagues and that she would provide a response after the meeting on the bond scheme.

Councillor P.G. Heesom welcomed the report and thanked officers in Benefits for their work. He asked for further information on the work undertaken with other authorities to deal with the pressures from the changes. The Interim Manager explained that working groups at officer level across North Wales had been established and a workstream was being set up on DHP and how it would work.

The Leader of the Council said that this issue was a significant challenge for the Council and that the work of the Welfare Reform Board needed to be reported to this Committee to show how it fitted into the overall challenge. He felt that some individuals would be hit by all of the changes detailed in paragraph 3.01.

Councillor J. Johnson referred to the underspend on the 2012/13 allocation and asked whether many claimants had been turned down for DHP. The Interim Manager responded that the DHP was a last resort that was used as a short term measure and that it helped those that it could. However, a small number of claimants were turned down because alternative and more sustainable solutions had been identified without the need for DHP.

Councillor R. Lloyd queried the figures reported in the financial implications section of the report and asked who set the overall limit. In response the Interim Manager said that Flintshire County Council had the ability to top up the allocation of £242,119 to £605,298 and that the limit was 2.5 times the allocation made by the DWP. The Chief Executive said that there was a need to track the impacts of the reform and he predicted that DHP would be heavily used. He said that the top up provided by local authorities was a way of subsidising national budget problems and that he had received feedback from other Councils about the good practice being used by Flintshire County Council.

Councillor M. Bateman asked for further information on the increase by DWP of the funding for DHP from £20m up to April 2011 to £60m for 2012/13. The Interim Manager said that a number of criteria were taken into account such as demographic and the case load for each authority. She added that she would provide further information on the calculations.

The Chief Executive reminded Members of the importance of tracking the spend in year as the gap between the allocation and the limit identified by DWP had to be found by the authority.

Councillor Heesom suggested that an update report be provided in due course. The Chairman suggested that the draft minutes for this item be made available to Cabinet so the comments from Committee Members could be used in their consideration of the item at its March 2013 meeting.

RESOLVED:

(a) That the report be noted;

(b) That the Committee’s comments in the form of the draft minutes be made available to Cabinet for its meeting in March; and

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