Agenda item

(a)       That the report be received: and

(b)       That the Committee continues to support the ongoing work that is being undertaken by the Council and its partners to attempt to mitigate the full impact of the welfare reforms on vulnerable households.

The Chief Officer (Community & Enterprise) reminded Members that updates on welfare reform would no longer be shared with the Corporate Resources Overview & Scrutiny in line with the revised Terms of Reference.

The Manager - Advice & Homelessness Service presented the update on the latest position with the ongoing transformation of the social security system and the activities to provide help and support to Flintshire residents affected by changes to their social security and tax credit income.  He spoke about the support given to Flintshire households impacted by the benefit cap and advised that additional funding had been given by the Welsh Government (WG) to continue to support the Discretionary Assistance Fund for 2015/16.

An update on Discretionary Housing Payments described an assessment process to help target financial help at households most in need and encourage them to put in place appropriate measures to achieve a manageable, sustainable financial position.  It had been found that the majority of households being awarded these payments had been in rent arrears due to the impact of one or more welfare forms, mainly the spare room subsidy.  On Personal Independence Payments (PIP), the Welfare Rights team had helped 220 residents to make successful applications during 2014/15.  By March 2015, the average waiting time for a decision on a PIP application had reduced to 12 weeks.

On the spare room subsidy, it was reported that a legal case relating to disabled tenants was due to be heard later in the year by the Supreme Court with the outcome eagerly awaited across the UK.  Attention was drawn to information in the report showing the impact of the spare room subsidy and the Council’s proactive response.

The Manager - Advice & Homelessness Service also updated the Committee on progress with the continued phased rollout of Universal Credit and work done by the Council to support the safe implementation across the county, an approach which had been recognised and welcomed.  As part of the next phase of welfare reforms, he highlight further expected changes and work by the Council to help manage the impact on residents.

The Chairman praised the good work of the teams in helping those affected welfare reform, but raised concerns about future cuts to funding.

Following comments by Councillor George Hardcastle on Table 2 in the report, it was explained that this showed the position in March 2015 where 439 tenants were in rent arrears affected partly or wholly by the spare room subsidy.  The Revenues & Benefits Manager provided explanation on the circumstances of one tenant owing total arrears of £5,280 leading to a court decision to suspend the eviction order.  He said that this was typical of a number of cases where the arrears were paid off in small amounts over a long period of time.

The Chief Officer commented on the complexity of such cases, adding that Members’ views would be sought on the future approach due to the shortage of smaller properties for those affected to move to.  She gave assurance that the Council pursued non-payment of rent and took a proactive stance in seeking agreement of affordable terms with those individuals.  In response to a request from Councillor Hardcastle, she explained that it was not possible to separate payments for rent arrears and spare room subsidy on accounts as both formed part of the rent owed.  However, she agreed to bring a full update on rent arrears to a future meeting.

Councillor Rosetta Dolphin asked about the rent arrears total.  The Revenues & Benefits Manager replied that arrears were currently in the region of £1.003m, an increase of £33K on the same period last year mainly due to the impacts of welfare reforms.  Consequently the Income Team had made a number of changes such as reviewing each case accruing arrears of over £300 and switching their focus to debt management.

In response to a question on Universal Credit, officers clarified that the changes in data sharing law only applied to claims made by social housing tenants and not those with private landlords.

Councillor Paul Cunningham welcomed the approach being taken by the Council to mitigate the impact of welfare reforms and praised the teams involved.  Councillor Ron Davies echoed these views but added his concerns about the time taken for some rent arrears to be recuperated.  Councillor Mike Reece added his thanks to the Cabinet Member and officer team.

When asked about the time of the last eviction for rent arrears, the Revenues & Benefits Manager did not have the information to hand.  The Chief Officer agreed that this would be included in the rent arrears update.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the report be received: and

(b)       That the Committee continues to support the ongoing work that is being undertaken by the Council and its partners to attempt to mitigate the full impact of the welfare reforms on vulnerable households.