Written evidence submitted by Knowsley
Metropolitan Borough Council
1.0 BACKGROUND
1.1 Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council is
one of five Merseyside Authorities in North West England. Knowsley
is a diverse borough with a mix of rural and urban areas all of
which carry the need for a flexible approach to customer service.
The make up of the borough is diverse and presents a number of
challenging issues which include: high levels of deprivation and
crime, poor health and high unemployment.
1.2 The Benefits Service in Knowsley achieved
an Excellent rating against the Department for Work and Pensions
Performance Standards in 2005. Since the introduction of the Audit
Commission Key Lines of Enquiry in 2008 significant work has been
undertaken to align service aims and objectives with wider corporate
and community targets in order to promote Knowsley's vision as
the Borough of Choice and its aim of Improving Peoples Lives.
1.3 Knowsley Council recognises the value of
joint working and views its Benefit Service as a prime example
of how central and local government can work together to achieve
the shared objectives of reducing worklessness and the eradication
of child poverty.
1.4 We welcome the opportunity to support a reformed
welfare system that simplifies the benefits system and supports
people out of poverty and into employment. However we are concerned
that the areas identified in the White Paper, "Universal
Credit: Welfare that Works" are merely the difficult or contentious
areas that the Department for Work and Pensions may find it difficult
to deliver, rather than a desire to work in partnership with local
services. Additionally we are concerned that local authorities
will not have sufficient resources available to deliver these
services effectively and that, unless there is an absolute commitment
to data sharing and accountability, our residents will be left
unsupported.
1.5 "Universal Credit: Welfare that Works"
suggests that there are a number of areas where local authorities
could work with the Department for Work and Pensions to deliver
the Universal Credit. These include:
- Delivering face to face contact for those who
cannot use other channels to claim and manage their Universal
Credit.
- A localised Council Tax.
- Processing non-mainstream Housing Benefit cases
(for example, people living in supported or temporary accommodation).
- The administration of discretionary payments
to replace Crisis Loans.
2.0 DELIVERING
FACE TO
FACE CONTACT
2.1 The White Paper identifies that the current
system is inefficient and complex with customers unsure about
who they need to contact and having to provide the same information
to a number of different departments. A genuine commitment to
data sharing where information is held centrally but shared with
local partners could resolve this problem and at the same time
reduce fraud and error. Local Authority processing systems already
pass data to the DWP via the Single Housing Benefit Extract (SHBE)
and IT services have committed to national security systems and
are now fully compliant with GCSX. There is no reason why data
could not be shared between central and local systems using this
functionality. The success of data matching has already proven
that national systems can provide valuable data to be used at
a local level.
2.2 In Knowsley we have made significant progress
sharing data internally to create a single service that uses personal
data to process entitlement to a range of means-tested benefits.
As a result, our residents claiming Housing or Council Tax Benefit
can also have entitlement to Free School Meals and School Uniform
Grants or contributions towards Domiciliary / Residential Care
assessed without the need to complete a separate application form
or provide information already held by the authority to more than
one department. This partnership approach could easily be replicated
between central and local services.
2.3 For some customers, the internet will provide
an accessible and simple channel for claiming welfare support
and there is no doubt that an automated self-serve system could
reduce the overall cost of welfare support. However, it should
be recognised that a significant number of people will be unable
to access help and support in this way and the local authority
could work in partnership with the DWP to support more vulnerable
customers. We already have the infrastructure to support face
to face contact from residents through four One Stop Shops which
are located across the Borough. Advisors in the One Stop Shops
are already trained to support and advise residents to access
housing / council tax benefit and could easily provide face to
face advice in relation to the Universal Credit. We also have
a team of highly trained and experienced Welfare Benefit Advisors
who provide a visiting and outreach service to our more vulnerable
customers. Our experience of this Team working with Lone Parents
moving into employment has shown that customers in receipt of
benefit for significant periods of time need personalised support
to cope with the transition from benefit dependency to employment.
In Knowsley our partnership with Lone Parent Advisors at the local
Job Centre has produced significant positive results and we would
be happy to share our experience of how commitment to partnership
working between departments can make a real difference.
2.4 Closer working arrangements between local
and national services with a commitment to data sharing would
reduce duplication and increase efficiency but only where both
parties are truly committed to working together. Delivering face
to face contact for those who cannot use other channels to claim
and manage their Universal Credit would only achieve positive
results if the front line local authority staff were able to fully
interact with back office processing staff at the DWP. Customers
generally want to speak to the person processing their claim,
front line services that are unable to resolve a query at first
point of contact add nothing to the service.
2.5 There is no doubt that the benefits system
needs to be simplified and that supporting people to move away
from benefit dependency can be beneficial to both individuals
and communities. However, the proposals in the White Paper fail
to recognise that these networks are currently in place and working
well at a local level.
2.6 In Knowsley, the Benefits Service has strong
links to services already supporting customers to access training
and employment opportunities. Partnership working with our own
Housing Strategy service has helped to reduce the number of residents
registering as homeless and has had a significant influence on
the development of support schemes including Mortgage Rescue and
Rent Deposit Bond Schemes.
3.0 A LOCALISED
COUNCIL TAX
3.1 It is difficult to envisage how this could
work without more details from the Government. It is clear, however,
that funding will be reduced by 10% and as a result local authorities
will need to put more resources into collecting Council Tax from
residents with limited resources. This immediate 10% cut in Council
Tax Benefit will also obviously affect customers who rely on this
benefit for help towards their annual Council Tax bill. Without
the detail of how a local scheme will work, it is impossible to
calculate who will be affected or by how much. However, it is
concerning that this reduction will be on top of other welfare
benefit reductions which will add to financial hardship for local
residents.
3.2 A local scheme will inevitably offer different
levels of support in different local authority areas. Instead
of simplifying the system for Council Tax benefit, this is likely
to lead to greater complexity and confusion, particularly where
customers move between local authority areas.
3.3 The implementation of the Universal Credit
relies on the development of IT systems that can share data and
pay benefit to both customers and housing providers. This technology
already exists in local authorities and could be enhanced to process
additional benefits at minimal cost. The White Paper advises that
any new administrative burdens will be funded by the Department
for Work and Pensions but also suggests that local authorities
should use existing delivery channels. A significant proportion
of the current administration grant for Housing and Council Tax
Benefit is spent on IT systems, if this funding is no longer available
it is difficult to envisage how these systems can be retained.
4.0 PROCESSING
NON-MAINSTREAM
HOUSING BENEFIT
CASES (FOR
EXAMPLE, PEOPLE
LIVING IN
SUPPORTED OR
TEMPORARY ACCOMMODATION)
4.1 Claims for Housing Benefit from customers
in supported or temporary accommodation are complex and difficult
to administer. There is no doubt that local authorities are best
placed to administer these cases as residents in these schemes
normally access other local authority support services such as
housing support and/or care packages from local authority social
services.
4.2 As noted in paragraph 3.3 above, systems
to process these claims may not be available to local services
if funding is withdrawn. There is also an issue regarding the
funding of housing support for these cases as under the current
subsidy schemes they do not always attract 100% funding.
5.0 THE ADMINISTRATION
OF DISCRETIONARY
PAYMENTS TO
REPLACE CRISIS
LOANS.
5.1 As with the localised Council Tax, is it
difficult to envisage how this would work without more detailed
information from the Government. The White Paper does indicate
that an amount of information would be shared between the DWP
and local authorities and this would be crucial if crisis loans
were to be administered at a local level.
5.2 If the local authority were to administer
a discretionary support fund for its residents, there must be
a robust and transparent method of distributing funding to ensure
that sufficient support is available in the most deprived areas.
5.3 It is unclear why this function would be
separated at all from the Universal Credit. Local authorities
currently administer Discretionary Housing Payments which support
customers with housing issues, however, this is directly linked
to Housing and Council Tax Benefit and is used to support customers
to retain or move to sustainable tenancies. If the ethos of the
Universal Credit is to support customers to move into employment
and reduce benefit dependency this should form part of that support
rather than a single one-off cash payment that presumably would
need to be repaid in some way.
6.0 SUMMARY
6.1 The decision to administer the Universal
Credit centrally is disappointing. The debate on localism, locally
delivered public services and empowerment to local communities
has been totally ignored. Local authorities, and specifically
Knowsley Council, have made significant improvements in the way
Housing and Council Tax Benefit services are delivered achieving
significant service improvements through innovation, partnership
working and the use of technology.
6.2 Acting as a conduit between national and
local priorities, local authorities are able to tailor services
that work best for their residents. This does not happen at a
national level. We would urge the Committee and the Government
to re-think the role local authorities could have in supporting
welfare reform.
6.3 Decent housing and access to training and
employment opportunities are key to improving peoples lives, reducing
crime and improving health. Local delivery has proved itself to
be responsive, flexible and innovative, able to change to suit
the diverse needs of residents and accountable to them for results.
For many, access to welfare benefits will provide the temporary
financial help they need whilst they can find new employment.
For others a more intensive support network will be required and
this can only be provided at a local level.
6.4 If the local authority is to have a role
in the administration of welfare support crucial to the lives
of its residents, there needs to be an absolute commitment to
partnership working. A system could be devised where data is collected,
stored and processed centrally but delivery must be devolved to
local services where support can be focussed where it is needed
most and services can be coordinated to ensure the best possible
outcomes.
December 2010
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