Agenda item

The purpose of this report is to inform members of the Universal Credit changes to the welfare benefit system.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee ask officers to continue to monitor the roll out of Universal Credit across all services for adverse implication on residents of the borough and the Council’s resources.

The Committee received an update on the roll-out of Universal Credit, which would be going live for all new working age applicants from July 2018. Members’ main concerns related to how the roll-out would impact on residents, as well as how Waverley would support the transition in terms of staffing and budgets.

The committee was concerned about the potential delay under the new system between a claimant applying and their benefit being paid to them as this had recently been highlighted in the press. Officers advised that there were provisions in place to assist residents facing hardship, such as being able to request a 50% payment in advance. Members felt that these options needed to be well publicised as they didn’t want residents to miss out due to being unaware.

It was noted that under the current plans, only new claimants would go onto Universal Credit and Cllr Mulliner queried when existing claimants would be transferred over. Officers responded that currently there was no date set for this, and that the government still had not set out their plans for pension age claimants. Nevertheless, Graeme Clark, Strategic Director – Finance and Resources, assured members that the council would do all it could to provide transitional support to those who needed it.

There was also some concern about the financial inclusion aspect of Universal Credit, which meant that claimants would have responsibility for paying their own rent rather than it being paid directly to their landlord. This could potentially lead to private landlords being less willing to accept benefit claimants as tenants. Members felt that this new financial responsibility could be difficult for some residents to manage, and that the council needed to support people to prevent them slipping into debt. Graeme Clark responded that the council was monitoring the situation both in terms of itself as a landlord and also to support residents in the private rental sector. The Committee was pleased to hear that the Housing Rents Team and Don’t Lose Your Home Officer were preparing to assist residents through the transition, and Members emphasised that the council should promote the message that it is here to help people.

The Committee also noted that the Council was currently in receipt of a grant from DWP to administer housing benefit, and that this would be reduced as more claims were made under Universal Credit. Members acknowledged that the Benefits Team would still endeavour to support residents through the transition, and asked for details of the budget planning that had been done in relation to the ongoing service delivery. Peter Vickers, Head of Finance, agreed to provide this at a future meeting and also informed Members that the Benefits Team had recently undergone a ‘systems thinking’ review, making the team more flexible and responsive to changes.

The Committee therefore asked officers to bring a report to the next meeting which would clearly set out the measures that Waverley would be putting in place to support residents applying for Universal Credit, as well as a financial model showing how the budget would be managed through the transition period.