The Director of Finance submitted a report (Document “Z”) which set out progress in rolling out Universal Credit, both locally and nationally, and the support arrangements that had been introduced to support residents claiming Universal Credit.

The Assistant Director Revenues, Benefits and Payroll explained that Universal Credit was introduced in the Bradford District in November 2015, and had, so far, been restricted to single newly unemployed people. The Council has recently learned that couples and families will start to apply for the new benefit from March 2018.  

The Department for Work and Pensions had put a number of support arrangements in place, such as coaching and training better tailored to the claimants’ circumstances. However, the Government had recognised that Local Authorities were best placed to provide this support locally. Locally provided support, by both the Council and DWP, was outlined in Appendix 1 to Document “Z”.

To formalise the working relationship between the DWP and the Council a framework agreement, known as Universal Support - delivered locally (USDL), had been established. This included the Delivery Partnership Agreement, which sets out how UC support arrangements will be delivered at the local level; including the establishment of a ‘Local Delivery Partnership’ to deliver specific support services to claimants. 

The scope of the USDL agreement was set out in Appendix 2 to Document “Z”. The current agreement ends on 31 March 2017; a new agreement will be negotiated for 2017/18, informed by the lessons learnt to date. 

During the discussion Members asked a number of questions which are detailed below with the responses.

In relation to a question on the full extent on the number of people claiming UC, it was explained that currently 55,000 families claimed tax credits, of this how many were in receipt of UC or housing benefit was difficult to extrapolate.

In response to a question regarding pensioners it was pointed out that although pensioners were outside of the scope of UC, currently 20,000 pensioners received Council Tax support and just a slightly lesser number were in receipt of housing benefit.

A Member stated that as a result of housing benefit changes being paid directly to the claimant, rent collection rates may fall as a consequence and this may have a corresponding impact on the budgeting support that would be offered as part of Universal Credit.  In response the Assistant Director acknowledged that there were a number of issues he could foresee, including the fact that Universal Credit was paid in arrears, this could lead to claimants being in arrears with their rent  and it may be difficult in future to determine who was genuinely in arrears.

A Member stressed that the need to monitor those individuals most at risk.  The Assistant Director stated that in relation to risk, people can move in and out of risk, depending on their circumstances, however the transitional nature of Universal Credit would allow people to make this transition and enable any problems to be identified at an early stage. The Assistant Director also stressed that fewer people would be affected by the impact of Universal Credit, than the more profound impact resulting from the wider welfare reform changes.

A Member highlighted that vulnerable groups could be more at risk given the delays being experienced in relation to the commissioning of advice services.

In relation to the cap being placed on the amount of housing benefit an individual can claim, the Assistant Director confirmed that the relevant service was trying to engage with private landlord on the impact the changes will have on their tenants.   On a related point a Member stated that the changes could lead to more private landlords refusing to house tenants in receipt of housing benefit, which in turn could place pressure on the social housing sector.

It was suggested that Members should be provided with further details on Universal Credit, together with information on the broader welfare changes, and it was therefore: