Agenda item
Welfare Reform Task Group Update
- Meeting of Overview & Scrutiny Committee, Monday, 29th February, 2016 7.15 p.m. (Item 7.2)
- View the background to item 7.2
Minutes:
The Committee received a report in relation to the Welfare Reform Update that outlined details relating to the impact of the Welfare Reform in Tower Hamlets (TH), the key support measures currently in place, the future welfare reform changes and the Council’s planned response.
Councillor Sirajul Islam, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Housing Management and Performance introduced the report and highlighted the following: -
· Government announced a number of welfare changes in their Emergency Budget and Autumn Statement;
· The existing changes are already having a significant impact on some residents in the borough and council and partner services;
· In 2014/15, 45,500 residents in TH were economically inactive of which 69% were women;
· In January 2016, 35,320 residents were in receipt of Housing Benefits of which 35% were in work;
· There are approximately 19,000 residents on the current housing waiting list in TH;
· The 2015/16 Discretionary Housing Payments Budgets was £2.7m; and
· The council has taken a cross council partnership approach to responding to welfare reform and this has been co-ordinated by the Welfare Reform Task Group.
Kevin Kewin (Interim Service Head, Corporate Strategy & Equality) presented the following information to the Committee in relation to the Welfare Reform in TH: -
· Implemented Reforms and Impact –
o Benefit Cap – 501 households impacted, average weekly reduction of £72
o Bedroom Tax – 2,100 households affected, average weekly loss £23
o Local Housing Allowance (LHA) Cap – 1,878 LHA capped, average weekly shortfall of £42 (dependent on bedrooms)
o Non Dependent Deductions – 4,495 households affected, average weekly reduction is £45
o Incapacity Benefit to Employment Support Allowance (ESA) – majority of recipients (around 12,000) have moved onto ESA
o Universal Credit – 1,368 claims to date, 50% 18-24 year olds
· The Council’s response through the Welfare Reform Task Group includes information and advice, financial support, employment and skills support and prevention and resilience support;
· Proposed reforms –
o Benefit Cap reduced to £23k
o Minimum wage earners exempt from income tax
o LHA cap applied to Housing Benefit in Social Sector
o Reduced entitlement to housing benefit for 18-21 year olds
· Cumulative impact –
o Reducing incomes
o Increasing gap between housing costs and benefit payments
o More residents need to seek employment
· Proposed responses –
o Information and advice – communication, drop-in sessions across the Borough, targeted contact
o Financial support – review of discretionary housing payments, council tax benefit scheme and crisis and support grants
o Employment and skills support – raising aspirations employment project, expansion of DHP employment case managed support project
o Prevention and resilience support – digital inclusion, financial inclusion, community mentor training and workshops
o Strategic response – affordability commission, housing strategy, early years childcare review and refreshed employment and enterprise strategy
The Committee discussed the following:
· Why is the Crisis Support Grant underspent by £200k?
· Could something be done about childcare hours, it is currently being offered at 3 hours over 5 days, more needs to be done especially for single parents and there needs to be more flexibility for parents?
· What about de-classifying properties to assist with the bedroom tax issues?
· Changes to the LHA, how has this affected young people and those leaving care?
· Advice agencies need to be able to assist local residents who are having difficulties completing the DWP forms?
· What does it say in the Service Level Agreements about supporting residents?
· Is there an option to increase the number of times that local residents can apply for crisis loans from 3/4 times a year to maybe 5/6 times a year, as local residents are finding it difficult and experiencing hardship with all the bureaucracy?
· There is a lot of tough decisions to be made, so what is the timeline for these decisions and actions?
· Is TH monitoring the RSLs and the effect on local residents who may be in arrears and experiencing difficulties, is enough support being provided?
· Recently an RSL increased their parking charges by over 300%, how is this supporting local residents, there was no consultation at all?
· Many local residents are not getting the support when attend the Jobcentres either, they feel as though everything is a “tick box” exercise and staff are not concerned with their wellbeing?
· What’s happened to the Employment Strategy, has it been updated since 2011?
· There needs to be a unified response from the London Boroughs to the Government, is this being co-ordinated?
· Consideration needs to be given to the wellbeing of local residents in general and those with mental health issues and the support available to them?
· What about local residents on “0” hours contracts and their rent arrears?
Zena Cooke, Kevin Kewin and Jackie Odunoye responded to the questions asked by the Committee with the following information: -
· Engagement from some RSLs is good and there has not been any recent increase in evictions.
· De-classifying bedrooms has not significantly eased the bedroom tax for a number of reasons.
· Crisis and Support Grants was transferred from Government to Local Government in a relatively short space of time and there was an underspend in the first year. There is no guarantee at this stage for further funding for the next year so the underspend is all that is left and it is being monitored closely. TH is looking at creative ways to improve this service by working with supermarkets and furniture shops as well as looking at delivery options so that local residents are not identified as “seeking help” or being in a crisis situation.
· Also looking at a more collaborative approach with other Boroughs to find solutions for complex and challenging situations to support local residents who may not be earning enough to live comfortably.
· Part of the TH corporate parenting responsibility is to specifically look after the vulnerable young people including those in care and the care leavers.
· The Universal Credit benefit scheme pays in arrears and in a lump sum direct to a tenant. This is quite a risk as that person has to then manage that money. It is part of the Government’s philosophical approach to train parents to manage money and take responsibility.
· TH is part of a DWP Universal Credit pilot, which is very specific and narrow looking at the impact and targeting a small group of around 1300 people with the least complex cases.
· TH are working quite closely with Jobcentre Plus (JCP) as a statutory provider and meet monthly as part of a partnership agreement, this includes TH staff attending JCP briefing meetings.
Councillor Islam informed the Committee that the Cabinet met recently to discuss the welfare reform and officers will be bringing forward proposals for members’ consideration.
The Committee agreed that: -
1. Information relating to Welfare Reform should be communicated more to councillors and could include the Members’ Bulletin with a FAQs page.
2. RSLs and other Advice Agency SLAs should be checked to ensure that advice, signposting and supporting local residents to complete forms is included and it is being monitored appropriately.
3. Additional partnerships and joint working should be explored with other London Boroughs to ensure unified responses to the Government.
4. The Welfare Reform Update should be scheduled into the work programme for the Overview and Scrutiny Committee so that it is kept on the radar to be re-visited.
Supporting documents: