Agenda item

Agenda item

The impact of welfare reform agenda on the Council's finances and its ability to provide support to residents of Manchester

Report of the City Treasurer

 

The impact of welfare reform agenda on the Council’s finances and its ability to provide support to residents of Manchester.

 

The scope of this report only considers the financial impact on the Council. A further report is due to go to Economy Scrutiny in March 2019 and this will cover the economic impact on residents, partners and communities

 

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report of the City Treasurer, which detailed the impact of the welfare reform agenda on the Council’s finances and its ability to provide support to residents of Manchester.

 

The main points and themes within the report included:-

 

           Budget implications, including the funding for temporary accommodation in connection to the rise in homelessness;

           The status of Universal Credit in Manchester, including details of the claim volumes of households;

           Details of Discretionary Housing Payment spend against agreed budget and associated budget pressures;

           The purpose and objectives of the Council’s Welfare Provision Scheme;

           The impact of Universal Credit on the Council’s Council Tax Support Scheme for 2019/20;

           The impact of Universal Credit on the Council’s collection of Council Tax and rent collection;

           Detailed area analysis of the impact of Universal Credit on housing provider tenants, including feedback from Northwards, Grove Village and S4B; and

           The burden to the Council’s Revenue and Benefits service to provide support for Universal Credit.

 

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:-

 

           The Committee was disheartened to see the compound effect that the removal of government funding to families, Schools and the Council itself was having on the city, and felt that the Government was in denial of the true impact austerity measures were having on Manchester’s most vulnerable residents;

           The work of the staff in the Revenue and Benefits team was commended and it was asked whether staff within these teams were offered any form of support due to the distressing nature of some of cases they had to deal with;

           To what level was the Council relaying to Government the serious challenges it was now having to face due to the continued cuts in funding;

           It was suggested that the issue of rental arrears of tenants of Manchester’s six housing providers, who were subject to Universal Credit, was referred to a future meeting of the most appropriate Scrutiny Committee for consideration; and

           There was concern as to whether there would be enough funding in future years to support the level of demand

 

The Director of Customer Services and Transactions shared the Committee’s concerns about the reduction in funding from Government and its impact on Manchester residents.  She advised that staff within the Revenue and Benefits Team received comprehensive training prior to starting their roles.  Staff had flexible working arrangements and were able to ask for support at any time.  It was also reported that the ratio of Team Leaders to staff was 1:12 in order to ensure appropriate line management support and foster close working relationships.

 

The Executive Member for Finance and Human Resources echoed the Committee’s praise of staff and commented that the work and support of the Director of Customer Services and Transactions and her managers had resulted in an improvement in the B’Heard 2018 survey results.  He also suggested that Committee Members might benefit form undertaking a site visit to the Revenue and Benefits Team to get a true appreciation of the work undertaken by staff.

 

The City Treasurer advised that the Council had relayed its concerns as to the challenges Manchester faced in the responses to the consultations to the Fairer Funding Review and Business Rates.  She confirmed that these responses would be submitted to the next meeting of the Committee for consideration.

Decision

 

The Committee:-

 

(1)       Notes the report

(2)       Request that the Scrutiny Team Leader liaises with the Director of Customer Services and Transactions to arrange a site visit to the Revenue and Benefits department at a suitable time; and

(3)       Agrees to refer to the appropriate scrutiny committee consideration of rental arrears of tenants of Manchester’s six housing providers, who were subject to Universal Credit

Supporting documents: