Welfare Support Strategy Produced by Revenues, Welfare and Customer Services May 2018 December 2021(Draft)
1. Foreword Our corporate plan outlines four priorities for the district: A strong local economy A sustainable environment Supporting our communities Excellent public services The Harrogate district core strategy 2009 sets out the vision for the social and economic development of the district, and protection of the environment through to 2021. At the time of writing, consultation is taking place on a new Harrogate District Local Plan covering the period through to 2035. Alongside our organisational service delivery we are also working together with partner organisations to improve and address the welfare needs of the district. The Harrogate District Public Services Leadership Board (PSLB) has a membership of all the chief executives whom deliver public services across the district. One of the Boards priorities is Financial and Social Inclusion with the aim of ensuring that Residents of Harrogate district are less at risk of financial and social exclusion and are supported to reach their full potential as active citizens within the Harrogate district. The key actions to deliver this aim focus on; Financial Inclusion: Working together to ensure our residents are not financially excluded. Fuel Poverty: Provide information/advice and target the support available to reduce these costs and maximise energy efficiency. Working within priority neighbourhoods and those individuals at risk of exclusion to improve quality of life and reduce inequality. Harrogate Borough Council has clear ambitions concerning the stability of residents within the district. It is recognised that by improving the financial and social wellbeing of an individual, it also improves their health and wellbeing which impacts on the overall quality of life of our residents and their stability in terms of financial, tenancy, domestic, food, energy and digital. The welfare of our districts residents plays a key role within the achievement of all these ambitions and therefore the implementation of a robust Welfare Support Strategy is critical to delivering these. Although the Harrogate District is prosperous, there are pockets of deprivation and a large gap between the most and least deprived areas, as evidenced in the district profile. 2. Aim In response to the Department of Work and Pensions introduction of the Welfare Reform Act 2012, we implemented a Financial Inclusion Strategy in 2014 to support the migration of residents to Universal Credit and help ease the impact of reforms within the district. With the roll out of Universal Credit (UC) full service now complete for new claimants, we have obtained further experience of the impacts of welfare reform, how they are impacting on both our customers and our service delivery. This gives us the opportunity to review what we have achieved so far, and outline our plans for the future development of the service area. Implementation of the Welfare Support Strategy will take the aims of the Financial Inclusion Strategy to the next stages with the following objectives; Effectively manage future Welfare Reform developments Support the vulnerable and those on low income within our communities to maximise their income and achieve financial stability Develop perceptions of Harrogate Borough Council as a service to turn to for help and support
Where we are 2.1 A snap shot of the Harrogate District The English Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) measure relative levels of deprivation. The Harrogate District is generally considered an affluent area however the following table provides some comparisons between 2010 and 2015 IMD data; Comparator 2010 2015 Interpretation Average IMD score for the Harrogate district Average IMD score for North Yorkshire District position in average IMD rankings (326 is the least deprived) Most deprived wards Most deprived Lower-layer super output areas (LSOA) 10.28 10.37 13.97 14.65 282 289 1. Woodfield 2. Granby 3. Starbeck 4. Ripon Minster 5. High Harrogate 1. Woodfield Dene Park 2. Granby Kennion Rd, Fairfax Av 3. Ripon Moorside Oak Rd, Harrogate Rd 4. Low Harrogate Station Parade, Cheltenham Mt 5. Saltergate Hartwith Dr, Grantley Dr 1. Woodfield 2. Granby 3. Ripon Minster 4. Washburn 5. Mashamshire 1. Woodfield Dene Park 2. Granby Kennion Rd, Fairfax Av 3. Low Harrogate Station Parade, Cheltenham Mt 4. Saltergate Hartwith Dr, Grantley Dr 5. Ripon Moorside Oak Rd, Harrogate Rd Slight increase in the level of deprivation Slight increase in the level of deprivation Overall improvement in ranking, also highest ranking of the Yorkshire districts Three of the top five most deprived wards remain the same. Four of the top five most deprived LSOAs remain the same. Saltergate has only fallen to 6 th position, and both Ripon Moorside and Grandy have a second LSOA within the top ten most deprived. At a national level, further information helps to set the scene around household debt; Measure 2013 2017 Source National outstanding personal debt 1.425 trillion 1.554 trillion Office for Budgetary Responsibility Average household debt (exc. mortgages) 5,986 7,492 Credit Action/The Money Charity Average household debt (inc. mortgages) 54,067 57,331 Credit Action/The Money Charity Average debt per UK 29,008 30,012 Credit Action/The adult (inc. mortgages) Average consumer borrowing per UK adult Money Charity 3,211 3,922 Credit Action/The Money Charity In addition to the above, within the Harrogate district we have seen a small fall in the number of working age benefit claimants (7.6% in 2013 to 5.8% NOMIS 2016) however this figure should be treated with caution due to the roll out of UC during this period.
In terms of the support Harrogate Borough Council provides within the district, the following gives a picture of the current landscape in comparison to three years ago; Measure 2014 2017 Interpretation No. of live Council Tax 8,602 7,482 Reduction claims Average CTR claim value 16.61 per week/ 865.94 per annum 18.12 per week/ 944.91 per annum No. households on 100% CTR reduction 4,166 4,843 Total CTR distributed 7,448,836 7,069,790 No. of live Housing Benefit claims 7,230 5,486 No. of live pension age claims No. of Discretionary Housing Payments processed Total allocation of DHP funding 2,713 2,451 280 288 72,112 92,357 Note migration of new working age claims to UC during the period In 2017/18, the council received funding of 291,510 from DWP to administer the processing of Housing Benefit applications. A further 81,750 has been allocated in Universal Credit Grant, totalling 373,260 of central government funding. Some additional allocations are received to support specific initiatives and updates however these are one off payments for specific areas of work. The current estimate for service salary costs in 2018/19 is 872,729. The remainder of the budget is drawn from the general fund. 3. Where we want to be 3.1 Housing Benefit Administration The roll out of Universal Credit (UC) and associated problems has been well documented in the media and Westminster debate. Within the Harrogate District, the position is relatively stable at present, having completed the roll out of UC full service to new claimants. However we continue to await timescales for the migration of existing Housing Benefit claimants to UC. This is likely to introduce another period of intensive support to district claimants and further disruption to people s financial management and stability. In financial projections, we are expecting further decreases to the level of Housing Benefit grant received by the authority in the coming years. This is intrinsically linked to the roll out of UC and return of some complex legislative areas back to legacy Housing Benefit due to limitations of the new DWP systems. Currently these include temporary accommodation and large families in addition to pensioners. Whilst planning for the decrease in HB grant, further allocation of support for UC is unknown, however our experience of the roll out so far tells us that support will be required and we will see an increase in customer enquiries and contacts. We need to map resourcing of DWP funded work to the actual funding received to ensure a better correlation between service delivery and the income received for doing this.
3.2 Universal Credit Support The introduction of UC has been accompanied by an increase in the data and communications between local authorities and DWP to ensure customer accounts and payments are kept up to date. ATLAS updates provide information on changes to customer claims, and are manually processed by the Welfare Team. In addition Real Time Information (RTI) is provided by DWP on the wider benefit field to ensure claims are up to date, and the introduction of Wider Use of Real Time Information (WURTI) gives access to HMRC data to check for Housing Benefit claims. Whilst the wider engagement and sharing of data does mean claims are more accurate and up to date, the lack of technological development means that a majority of checks and updates are carried out manually, so are time consuming and at risk of error. DWP intend automating UC data which may reduce some work in this area however further work is required to review work practices and see whether automation will actually result in efficiencies. 3.3 Council Tax Reduction Following the localisation of Council Tax Benefit to become Council Tax Reduction in 2012, Harrogate Borough Council agreed to continue with a 100% reduction scheme that safeguards a significant number of households from the requirement to pay council tax. The scheme itself is still closely tied to Housing Benefit legislation, and the same claim form is used to process CTR as HB. We need to review the policy to make it simple for our customers to understand and quicker for our officers to process, so reducing the resourcing required which needs to be funded through the general fund. Consideration should be given to vulnerable people and other specific groups to ensure the scheme meets the needs of the Harrogate District. As a local scheme we need to make sure that reductions are allocated correctly and monitored for fraud. Regular reviews should be undertaken to ensure information held is up to date and payments are appropriate. 3.4 Discretionary Housing Payment In 2017/18 171,804 was made available in the Harrogate district to provide for discretionary housing payments (DHP). These provide short-term, financial support to low income households who need support with housing costs, especially those whose HB/UC has been restricted as a result of welfare reforms. Applications are assessed on a case by case basis against set criteria and awards made accordingly. With the expansion of Universal Credit locally and an increase in local deprivation, we need to continue to review our DHP policy and work practices to ensure that we are targeting assistance where it is most needed. It is important that we maximise expenditure from the fund through wider promotion of the DHP scheme. 3.5 Welfare Support Within the Welfare Support Service area, a relatively high number of customers are vulnerable for a variety of different reasons. This makes it more difficult for them to understand and access the full range of financial and welfare support that is available locally. By engaging with our customers, identifying what is preventing them from getting help and promoting ourselves as an impartial source of advice, we are able to secure our residents wider access to support and services where a landlord, or other government services have failed. We need to maintain a level of knowledge to ensure we are aware of the support options, and also a level of tenacity to ensure we secure the right outcomes.
3.6 So where do we want to be? The definitions of the word stability include the following; Firmness in position Continuance without change; permanence Resistance to change, especially sudden change or deterioration When applied to a range of welfare situations, the word stability could be preceded by; Financial Tenancy Domestic Food Energy Our ambition is to work to deliver stability for residents of the Harrogate district, in particular those households with low incomes, or vulnerabilities. This will be done by; making sure residents receive the benefits and allowances they are entitled to listening to individuals who need additional support and working with them to achieve successful outcomes working with partners to put our customers at the centre of service delivery and finding the correct solution for them together. 4. How will we get there 4.1 Financial stability 1. We will develop our ability to support residents with their benefit entitlements to ensure they are receiving the support they are eligible to receive. 2. We will identify where there is financial hardship and identify support that can be offered through discretionary housing payments, council tax reduction and other benefits they may be entitlement to. 3. We will continue to work with DWP on the roll out of Universal Credit through the provision of digital and personal budgeting support, and the use of discretionary housing payments. 4. We will promote our DHP fund and work with other services and agencies to target support at those who need it most. 5. We will help customers to understand how to deliver a balanced household budget and manage their income. 6. We will continue to refer customers to the Leeds City Credit Union and other financial support agencies to help residents maintain financial stability. 7. We will identify trigger points for personal budgeting support and share these with partners to help enable early intervention and case management. 8. We will review customer entitlements to ensure the correct benefit is being paid. 9. We will highlight potential fraudulent activities to the relevant authority to ensure public money is being spent as effectively as possible.
10. We will engage on a regular basis with other council services to identify multiple customer debts and put appropriate account management in place to support them 11. We will utilise our Welfare Visiting Officer to engage with hard to reach and vulnerable residents to provide support 12. We will use the information available to identify areas in the community that will benefit the most from our welfare support 13. We will continue to work in partnership with the My Neighbourhood project and others to tackle financial exclusion. 4.2 Tenancy stability 1. We will work with colleagues in Housing & Property to ensure, wherever possible, the sustainability of council tenancies. We will engage with social and private landlords, plus other stakeholders, to maintain their levels of knowledge on DWP and UC developments and other support services available to their tenants. 2. We will agree financial triggers and early warning signs to identify where tenancy issues are arising with Housing Income Management and then work together to determine what additional support can be offered. 3. We will develop our relationship with the homelessness team and NYCC Youth Hub to provide consistent levels of service and support to colleagues and customers on the availability of welfare support. 4.3 Domestic stability 1. We will maintain awareness of the latest research into identifying domestic abuse, radicalisation, child exploitation and other issues and inform the appropriate agencies of any concerns relating to safeguarding issues. 2. We will participate in wider group engagement opportunities to share experiences with others and learn from them. 4.4 Food stability 1. We will work with the voluntary and community sector to ensure that wherever possible everyone in the district has enough to eat. 4.5 Energy stability 1. We will work with internal energy advisers and external suppliers to ensure our vulnerable customers are accessing the most efficient energy tariffs for their situation. 2. We will establish a reactive service to deal with fuel poverty and crisis management 3. We will continue to be an active partner in the North Yorkshire Warm and Well winter wellbeing project that aims to tackle fuel poverty. 4. We will continue to be an active partner in the Leeds City Region Better Homes Yorkshire home energy conservation scheme to deliver energy efficiency across the region. 4.6 Digital Skills 1. The ability to use technology and manage interactions via the internet is becoming more critical, in particular with the requirements for Universal Credit customers to manage their interactions and accounts online through their DWP Journal. 2. We will identify needs for further training and offer opportunities around the district for customers to attend. 3. We will look at groups who are likely to experience social exclusion, such as the older generation and more rurally isolated residents who have had less opportunity to engage with technology and may also lack the network of support required to develop these skills.
4.7 Vulnerability 4. We will engage with local education providers to deliver centrally funded digital skills training free of charge, and as part of the My Neighbourhood project in key communities. We recognise there are a range of additional challenges our residents face in specific personal circumstances. HBC are currently developing a vulnerability statement that will be used alongside the strategy to ensure the activities and support we provide take into consideration needs such as mental health, specific life events and other circumstances that may impact on an individual s ability to manage. 5. Measuring our success A number of indicators are already in place to help monitor the objectives of the strategy, and further performance indicators will be added for quarterly review and update. Current indicators Time taken to process new housing benefit claims Time taken to process new Council Tax Reduction Claims Time taken to process housing benefit change of circumstances Time taken to process Council Tax Reduction change in circumstances Number of households in receipt of Council Tax Reduction Proposed indicators Number of budgeting sessions held in the period Engagement activities undertaken in the period Digital training events held in the period
6. Action plan Requirement Continued management of Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction and Discretionary Housing Payment applications Continue to develop our budgeting and debt management service to support customers whilst meeting relevant legislative requirements Develop support package for welfare reform Build internal and partner relationships to recognise opportunities for early intervention and enhanced customer support Launch a new Council Tax Reduction scheme for 2019/20 Develop a stakeholder engagement programme Establish a wider community communications and engagement programme to include training and support. Review the success and achievements of the 2018-21 strategy and establish objectives for the coming period Objective to achieve (Section 5) 4.1.1, 4.1.2, 4.1.4, 4.1.8, 4.1.9, 4.1.11, 4.2.2, 4.5.2, 4.6.1 4.1.3, 4.1.5, 4.1.6, 4.1.7, 4.1.10, 4.2.2, 4.5.1 4.1.3, 4.1.6, 4.1.8, 4.1.11, 4.1.12, 4.4.1, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6.1 4.1.1, 4.1.2, 4.1.4, 4.1.7, 4.1.9, 4.2.1, 4.2.2, 4.2.3, Completed by: On-going On-going December 2019 December 2018 4.5.2 4.1.1, 4.1.2 March 2019 4.1.3, 4.1.4, 4.1.7, 4.1.13, 4.2.1, 4.3.1, 4.6.1, 4.6.3 4.1.3, 4.1.4, 4.1.6, 4.1.7, 4.1.11, 4.1.13, 4.3.2, 4.4.1, 4.5.1, 4.5.3, 4.6.2, 4.6.3, 4.6.4 July 2019 April 2020 December 2021 Notes Grant currently received from central government to support processing of Housing Benefit is likely to decrease in line with the roll out of UC. Requirements liable to change depending on UC priorities and roll out Emphasis on simplification of the application process for customers, and reduce the administration involved.
7. Reporting and review of the strategy The strategy will be reviewed on an annual basis against performance over the previous 12 months to ensure the objectives are still appropriate and achievable within the timescale of the strategy. The full strategy will be reviewed in May 2021 to update the snap shot of the district, identify what has been achieved, and set objectives for the next three year period.