Agenda item

N Howcutt presented the report, particularly noting that the 3 red KPIs, (1) general fund capital expenditure, and a provisional outturn report will be on the agenda for the next committee, (2) time taken for debtors to pay, and (3) the time taken to decide a new claim for housing benefit.  N Howcutt noted the pressures on the Revenues and Benefits team and that they are improving on the third KPI, and whilst they have fallen slightly short, the bar is particularly high, and they expect to achieve it going forward.  N Howcutt next looked at the operational risk register, noting that performance has not changed since Q3, and performance is positive in terms of KPI. 

Cllr Douris commented on references to delays regarding RBF06 and the new document management system and asked if anything could’ve been done differently.  C Baker advised that the version of the software was no longer being supported and there are ongoing issues with the new version. C Baker added that there were few opportunities to run tests and therefore issues arose during discovery and the test environment did not accurately reflect the live environment.  B Hosier added that they had no option but to upgrade and that the complexity of the live environment is difficult to replicate for testing. 

Cllr Peter commented on the time taken for debtors to pay, noting that the report states improvements have been made and asked what other measures have been put in place.  N Howcutt confirmed that there is a debt recovery team who use several items, including regular payments over a longer period of time, and there is a rolling dialogue in place in debtors.  N Howcutt stated that these income streams are part of their budget, and whilst they do write-off some debts, this will be done when they have no means of paying and there is no other means of collection.  Bad debt has not increased though there is an increase of those on regular payment plans.  There are concerns for 2022/23 as much of the debt is the commercial property portfolio. 

Cllr Freedman noted the time taken for debtors to pay and asked what type of debtor this includes, suggesting that they separate out the various types of debtors.  N Howcutt explained that several debtor registers sit behind the report and stated that they could bring a report on debt provision after Q1 2022/23 to provide the Committee more detail on performance. 

Cllr Freedman commented on RBF01 and asked if any delays on processing new claims are not causing delays to getting tenants into accommodation.  C Baker advised that housing benefit claims are only made once someone is in accommodation and that new claims for housing benefit are made by a limited number of people with most housing costs now coming through Universal Credit.

Cllr Guest asked if the operational risk register was being presented to the Audit Committee.  N Howcutt explained that this sits below the strategic risk register, which goes to the Audit Committee along with the Q4 report, and once this has been signed off, it then goes to Cabinet.  Operational risk registers come to the OSCs to provide scrutiny.  Cllr Guest asked if strategic risks picked up by the Audit Committee come back to the OSC.  N Howcutt advised that the Audit Committee provides the scrutiny for strategic risk, though the risk process is currently under review. 

Cllr Tindall commented on those on zero hours contracts and the impact on housing benefit and asked if this was still an issue.  C Baker explained that this was now more of a Universal Credit issue.  Those who can still claim housing benefit are of pension age or are in supported living.

Cllr Tindall referred to FIN04 and FIN05, noting empty houses and voids, and asked if the Committee would receive this report giving the loss in income.  N Howcutt explained that this would go to the Housing and Community Committee, and any financial impact would be brought to this Committee. 

Cllr Adeleke referred to F05 and the significant improvement in rent arrears, though this was before the current cost of living crisis.  Cllr Adeleke asked if the council have any additional support to help people in addition to what the government is offering.  C Baker noted that last year’s council tax collection was at a lower level, and whilst they were carrying forward arrears from the previous year, they collected more of this than previously.  C Baker explained that the team will continue to work sensitively with residents and get processes in place where possible to spread payments out over a longer period of time.  N Howcutt added that it is up to local authorities to manage their collection rates and that there is no additional support available, and if the cost of living crisis continues into 2022/23 then this will likely impact council tax collection rates.

Outcome:

The Committee noted the report.