Agenda item

L Warden updated on the Universal Credit report and asked if there was any questions.

Cllr Adeleke asked about the impact on the rent arrears and given what we know so far and given the hardships this has placed on a number of people, is this trend going to continue for a long time or do you see it levelling out and if it does how will it affect the Council’s financial position.  L Warden reported it will have a long term impact, we have roughly 2,900 tenants in receipt of housing benefit that are of working age.  The intention is that the managed migration will mean that all of those by the end of 2023 will be in receipt of universal credit.  Based on the figures we have at the moment, that will have a considerable impact and it could increase all of our rent arrears.  At the moment they are £1.76m and it could go up to £2.84m but that’s the worst case scenario.  Realistically it’s going to be seven to eight years until migration slowly moves over.

Cllr Pringle said that we have a new Officer to support tenants with applications and those who are vulnerable or with mental health problems needing significant support, will this be a permanent position and therefore a permanent cost to the Council.  K Kiely replied that the Universal Credit Officer is newly in post and we are yet to see fully how her role will pan out.  At the moment she is doing a lot of liaison with DWP and the Job Centre, as a lot of the issues relate to the Job Centre not understanding housing and how tenancies work.  With the new build, like Kylna Court, there have been a lot of tenants who haven’t had to pay rent before, the focus has been on helping people to make claims and understand what’s happening with the claims.  Once the claim is in place there is the Tenancy Sustainment Team who may be taking that over.  The role is initially for two years but it is anticipated that this will need to continue at least until managed migration has finished.

Cllr Pringle raised concerns that there are a lot of people who can’t walk off the street if they are hungry, they have to have a referral to the foodbank and wanted to check if Officers are able to refer to the foodbank, secondly do we know how much demand has increased since the introduction.  L Warden advised that the Tenancy Sustainment Team and Homeless Team are signatories so they are able to issue vouchers.  There has been a 44% increase in foodbank vouchers given out between January and April.  The previous quarter there was an 11% increase, so there is a correlation between the increase and the introduction of Universal Credit, but can’t be sure it is due to Universal Credit, but the major change during that time was the introduction of Universal Credit.

Cllr Oguchi enquired about the amount in arrears increasing and how the service will be addressing the deficit.  L Warden advised we are going through a fall claims process, so any claims where the circumstances have changed or any new claim will go onto Universal Credit.  At the moment the numbers are slowly increasing each month, so over the next 12 months we don’t expect the jump to be huge, we can just see it’s going to slowly increase.  We can’t be sure exactly how much that will be as it’s hard to tell at the moment.  We are working with tenants on Universal Credit which is reducing the arrears.  We are taking steps within the team to deal with general rent arrears so we can keep on target and we are making changes to the team structure.  Additionally having a Universal Credit post will help and also trying to make savings in other areas.

Cllr England said that it was confirmed that we will be targeting vulnerable people and according to the Gazette this week, 74% of the 517 claiming have fallen behind with the rents, so how are we going to target 74%.  K Kiely commented that when a tenant makes a claim they will not receive their first payment for five weeks.  The vast majority of tenants will not have the funds in that first five weeks to make any payment.  A reasonable number of them will pay their arrears and some of them will pay more than the five weeks they owe, gradually bringing themselves into credit.  We will be concentrating on the tenants who are having trouble making a claim who we are already aware have particular vulnerabilities.

Cllr England asked what percentage of the 517 tenants are being targeted.  K Kiely said it would be difficult to tell, there would be an initial contact with all tenants and at that point we would do some triage, but it is anticipated that as more people become familiar with Universal Credit, including the Job Centre, that the arrears will not be an issue.  L Warden said that we have approximately 120 new claimants each month and we are notified of each one, so we are aware of any concerns and we can proactively support the tenants.  We are currently aware of tenants who are in receipt of Housing Benefit, so we can contact them prior to the managed migration.

Cllr England asked if we are in a position to make a response should the Government say your roll is happening in December 2019.  L Warden clarified that we were the last of roll out last year, St Albans went a year before us and Welwyn and Hatfield six months before that, so we are expecting it to follow a similar pattern.  We are working with Chartered Institute of Housing, National Housing Federation and Shelter to find or provide information for any consultations and we have provided information on a couple of consultations where we have concerns.

Cllr England was concerned that we were more vulnerable as we have a large housing stock.  L Warden said that we have benefitted from a strong relationship with Housing Benefit, so the biggest impact is the Job Centre not fully understanding some of the housing elements.  We have Job Centre Coaches coming over and spending time with Housing Officers so they understand why we make certain decisions.  We are trying to think ahead as much as possible to ensure we are supporting our tenants. 

Cllr England asked about how many people does the 44% increase in foodbanks from January to April relate to.  L Warden said that this information is provided by the CAB so we don’t know.  Cllr England would like to be advised of the details.  L Warden to contact the CAB.

Action: L Warden

Cllr Adeleke enquired if we have contacted neighbouring authorities to see what their experiences are.  L Warden confirmed that we have done a lot of work, especially with stock retaining authorities and it’s been really useful to understand the lessons learnt, which they have been happy to share with us as it’s realised that this is an issue that’s going to affect all of us.  There have also been a number of different conferences and training sessions.  CAB have also been highlighting where the policy can be changed slightly to make it more effective. 

Cllr Barry enquired if there had been any research into ages where we are aware of people using foodbanks and in arrears with rent, that it could be a gap in young upbringing education rather than an identified vulnerability.  L Warden confirmed there has been a few different reports and research, there are a few things around identifying who is most likely at risk, within Dacorum we have done some research on those under 25 and we are putting together a proposal on a project on how to support those that are potentially more at risk.  We have found a number of people under 25 do have rent arrears, so CAB are offering things like budgeting support.  Also our Tenancy Sustainment Team will work more closely with the team of other agencies to provide support. 

Cllr Mahmood asked if the problem is the five week lag, do they get less money or is it just a five week delay.  K Kiely said that sometimes they will get less money depending on their circumstances, there are a number of other issues around payment periods particularly for people in work.  For example, if you are paid monthly and your wages coincide quite closely with your payment period, you may get two amounts of wages in one month and nothing in the following month, which will completely mess up your Universal Credit payment.  It’s more the lag and secondly that the rent is paid directly to the tenant rather than being paid to the rent account, which means if they have other debts, then that money is going to brighthouse or buy the kids new shoes.

Cllr Griffiths wanted to mention that this was Katie’s last meeting, she has been with the Council quite a long time and she is going to sorely missed.  K Kiely confirmed she is taking early retirement after being here 30 years.  There was a round of applause.  Cllr Griffiths took the opportunity to thank Katie for all the hard work and dedication she has given to the tenants in Dacorum. The Chairman said that as a Committee would echo Cllr Griffiths thanks and wish Katie well in her retirement