Briefing note - Coventry City Council

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Briefing note
To: Health, Social Care and Welfare Reform Scrutiny Board (5) Date: 01 May 2013
Subject: Feedback from the Welfare Reform Subgroup
1 Purpose of the Note
1.1 To inform the Scrutiny Board of the outcomes of the Welfare Reform Sub-group.
2 Recommendations
2.1 That the Welfare Reform Sub-group be continued in 2013/14 in an appropriate
form, building on the positive partnership activity which is taken place.
2.2 That the group is used to consider the impact of the programme of welfare reforms
and how Council policies may, where appropriate, be amended to account for this.
2.3 That ‘pop-up shops’ and other partnership activities are positively considered as
opportunities for the communication of welfare reform changes to target audiences.
2.4 That information on Welfare Reform is highlighted on the front page of the City
Council’s website.
3 Information/Background
3.1 The sub-group have met with, taken evidence from and been supported by a range
of local partners including: Coventry Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), Coventry Law
Centre, Coventry Food Bank, Coventry’s Women’s Voices, the University of
Warwick and Whitefriars as well as officers from the City Council. The Sub-group
expressed their particular thanks to these partners for their support and
engagement with the group. The Sub-group also hosted a seminar for all Elected
Members on welfare reform to increase awareness of the changes and impacts.
3.2 Changes are already being implemented by Government. Under-occupancy criteria,
or the ‘bedroom tax’ as it is also known, came into effect on 1 st April. There are
however a large number of changes to policies being introduced on varying
timescales. Following Government announcements in the Budget it would seem
likely that plans for welfare reforms will move forward on tight timescales, and that
there will be more alterations to benefits to come.
3.3 The role of the sub-group has been substantially one of seeking assurance that the
necessary or possible steps are being put in place locally to support those affected
by benefit changes, and to ensure the public are aware of the impact these
changes will have on them. This is especially important as research demonstrates
that when the cumulative impact of the recession and welfare reform are

considered, it is mainly those most disadvantaged who will be hit hardest. Further
many of the welfare reforms hit particular individuals or families repeatedly,
particularly those with disabilities or who are carers.
3.4 The sub-group have covered a number of topics, and these are summarised below.
Council Tax Benefit (now Council Tax Support)
3.5 The City Council is protecting the current level of Council Tax Benefit received by
residents in the City. Locally, Dudley and Solihull, for example, will be doing the
same. However, this is not the case in all local authorities, as 75% (including many
of the Warwickshire District and Borough Councils) will be passing on some
proportion of the cuts to residents. There will be changes to the back office
processes for Council staff but constituents will not notice any change. This scheme
is now in place and implemented for 2013/14.
‘Bedroom tax’
3.6 This only affects working age people in social housing. Pensioners are exempt and
they will not face any reductions in benefit in relation to the number of bedrooms in
their properties.
3.7 Across Coventry as a whole, there are 2556 customers who will lose £12.92 per
week and 624 people who will lose £22.61 from the benefits. Whitefriars, who have
taken part in many of the Sub-groups meetings have written to, and visited, all of
their 2400 tenants who are affected.
3.8 Following a concerted campaign by groups supporting children in care the
Government has recently changed policy;
3.8.1 Approved foster carers will be allowed a maximum of one additional room
(irrespective of the number of foster children), whether or not a child has been
placed with them or they are between placements. To qualify for this they must
have fostered a child, or become an approved foster carer in the last 12 months.
3.8.2 Adults who are in the armed forces but who continue to live with parents will be
treated as continuing to live at home, even when deployed on operations. This
means that the size criteria rules will not be applied to the room normally occupied
by the member of the armed forces if they intend to return home.
3.8.3 Where a room is required for a non resident carer an additional room will be used in
the assessment of Housing Benefit. Details should be provided to the Benefits
Service in order for this to be considered.
3.8.4 An additional room will also be allowed for children who are unable to share
because of their severe disabilities. Medical evidence of the disability will be
required by the Benefits Service, as will evidence that the nature and frequency of
care required during the night would be significantly disruptive to the sleep of the
child who would normally be required to share the bedroom.
3.9 Only pensioners, shared owners and those in supported (exempt) accommodation
are exempt. In all other in all other situations will be looked at on a case by case
basis and, e.g. may have 2 spare bedrooms and have a circumstance that allows
them to have 1 spare bedroom but not 2. This means that their housing benefit will
still be reduced by the amount for 1 spare bedroom (14%).
3.10 There are a number of scenarios in which people will be considered as under–
occupying. For example, if a couple need to sleep in separate bedrooms for
medical reasons, perhaps the use of an oxygen machine or to enable the carer
respite, these circumstances are not accounted for when looking at under
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occupancy criteria. Another scenario is where a property has been adapted for use,
but there is a spare bedroom(s) – these residents will be considered as underoccupying.
3.11 Provided that the property is not under-occupied, there is no limit on the number of
bedrooms that are allowed. This means that larger families are not penalised.
3.12 If a family member is temporarily absent from home her/his absence can be ignored
under housing benefit rules for up to 13 weeks if s/he is absent for any reason, or
for up to 52 weeks if s/he is absent for a prescribed reason, for example, because
s/he is in hospital or is a student studying away from home. In all cases s/he must
intend to return home after her/his period of absence.
3.13 There is a bedroom calculator for social housing tenants on the Adviceguide
website at www.adviceguide.org.uk.
Discretionary Housing Payment Fund
3.14 This fund allows the Council the discretion to help people on a low income with their
housing costs where Housing Benefit (HB) alone does not meet all of their needs.
Councils have been given some additional money from the Government to support
the welfare reform changes.
3.15 Coventry has a fund of £800,000 for 2013/14. However, we estimate that at least £9
million has been cut (from Coventry residents) since the first changes took place in
April 2011.
3.16 There will not be sufficient funding to help all of those who apply to for a payment.
Officers will therefore be undertaking assessments of applicants’ income and
expenditure. They will carefully consider the circumstances of each case before
deciding whether to make an award.
3.17 If a customer is not happy with the outcome of their application, then a senior officer
will look at the application. There are no formal appeal rights.
3.18 During 2013/14, the group may wish to monitor demand for the fund.
Homefinder
3.19 The Transport and Infrastructure Development Scrutiny Board (6) have undertaken
a task and finish group to look at Homefinder, and allocations of social housing.
This choice-based lettings scheme has been amended to increase the priority of
applications or bids of people who wish to downsize, to try and facilitate movement
in the social housing market and free up properties to help those affected by under
occupancy.
3.20 Housing associations have been looking to see what support they can offer those
who wish to downsize and the Council has experimented with different schemes
and incentives to support this.
Benefit Cap
3.21 The Benefit Cap is being phased-in by DWP from April 2013 – starting with four
London Boroughs. It will be rolled-out nationally between 15 th July and 30 th
September. The Cap places a limit on the weekly total amount of benefit a
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household can receive - £500 for couples and single parent families and £350 for
single people.
3.22 The benefit cap will not apply if anyone in the household (excluding nondependents)
receives:
• Working Tax Credit (the government have said this will also apply to those who
work sufficient hours to qualify for WTC even if they do not receive it)
• Disability Living Allowance (or the Personal Independence Payment from April
2013)
• Attendance Allowance
• the support component of Employment and Support Allowance
• War Pensions (including War Widows or War Widower's Pension)
• Industrial Injuries Benefit.
3.23 If the benefit goes over the cap, it will be the housing benefit that is cut. DWP are
writing to those affected. Anecdotal discussions suggest people are saying they will
take the financial hit.
3.24 There are about 270 families in Coventry who will be impacted by the benefit cap.
About 170 cases are in private sector housing and the balance of around 100
families with Registered Social Landlords. . The weekly loss of benefit ranges from
under £10 to over £150 per week. The total annual loss is estimated to be over
£820,000.
3.25 DWP have been writing to affected people since March and will be double checking
which individuals/families are impacted between now and July.
3.26 The Council is working with partners on the best approach to supporting people
affected by this change. In the majority of cases, the most relevant support is likely
to be budgeting advice. The DHP fund is also likely to be considered for some
cases.
Changes to benefits for the disabled
3.27 There have been a series of road shows across the city for disabled people to
highlight the impact of the changes. Retesting on eligibility of disability allowances
(ESA and DLA) is going on until 2017.
3.28 With regards to ESA, about a third of people are failing their applications based on
their medical examination. Appeals are currently at an 85% success rate in
Coventry, although it can take up to 10 months for the appeal to take place. New
appeals venues in Leamington and Nuneaton to hear appeals should help to
reduce the wait. The Law Centre are trying to support people with how to fill in
forms and score points during their initial application so that they avoid the need to
go the appeal, and are aiming to train volunteers to do offer this support.
3.29 Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is a benefit for people aged 16 to 64 with a
long-term health condition or disability. From 8 April 2013, it replaces Disability
Living Allowance (DLA) for some people making a new claim. From 10 June 2013,
it replaces DLA for all new claims. There are 18,385 people in Coventry on DLA
and the Government's aim is to reduce this amount by 20% (500,000 people
nationally) when people move onto PIP.
3.30 People already getting DLA, PIP is being introduced gradually over several years
and will eventually replace DLA. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will
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write to poeple at some point between 7 October 2013 and September 2017 asking
them to make a new claim for PIP instead of DLA. People don't have to do anything
until they are contacted.
3.31 Most people getting DLA won't be affected before October 2015.
3.32 DLA will be replaced by Personal Independence Payments (PIP). Changes will
begin from June on a phased basis.
3.33 It is possible that people will be reassessed for both benefits.
3.34 The Roadshows run by the Law Centre have so far been attended by 227 people
and 74% have requested further help. A bid for additional resources to meet the
needs identified in these events has been submitted to the Reaching Communities
Lottery fund.
Crisis Loans and Community Care Grants (now Community Support Grants)
3.35 Crisis loans and community care grants have been abolished. From April 2013,
each local authority has been responsible for implementing its own scheme. In
Coventry, it is the Community Support Grant Scheme.
3.36 The main aim of the scheme will be to support vulnerable people, experiencing
financial difficulties. The support will be given for food, goods or services in a crisis
situation or where there is exceptional financial pressure on an individual or
families.
3.37 Each case will be treated strictly on its merits and all customers will receive equal
and fair treatment within a transparent process taking full account of the Council’s
responsibilities under all relevant government legislation, for example the Human
Rights Act and Equality Act 2010.
3.38 The scheme provides people with pre-paid cards (Tesco’s for food and toiletries,
Argos for household items), and the use of the ‘paypoint’ system (for gas and
electricity top-ups) to be given instead of cash.
3.39 The sub-group may wish to consider monitoring use of the fund during 2013/14.
Communications
3.40 When the group first met in November, there was concern that there was
insufficient communication of the changes taking place. However, there is now an
officer communication group which involves a number of our partners. The Chair of
SB5 is consulted on council press releases and quoted as the Lead Member on
Welfare Reform.
3.41 There have been articles in Citivision, however, the Sub-group would still like to see
the changes have a higher profile on the front page Council’s website, for example,
as Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council have done.
Coventry Partnership
3.42 There has been good evidence of partnership working in the City. Council Officers,
Housing Associations and Advice Agencies are meeting monthly to coordinate their
work and ensure good communications. These meetings are held at Whitefriars
with support provided by the City Council.
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Social Care
3.43 The main potential impact of benefit changes on Social Care services relates to
people with disabilities and the impact of them having significantly reduced
incomes. This could have a knock on effect on those able to contribute financially to
the care services they receive which could lead to reduced revenues and potentially
more service users unable to make a contribution.
3.44 This is unlikely to have major implications until 2017 as current DLA users will not
be reviewed until then. The impacts are being considered alongside A Bolder
Community Services programme.
Children’s Services
3.45 The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) process already allows Children’s
Social Care to pick up families who may be running into difficulties associated with
child poverty. Services do not, however, intervene just because families are poor.
Managers are aware that there might be an increase in referrals due to the stresses
reduced finances can place on families.
3.46 Concerns have been raised about the movement of children and families across the
City as a result of changing housing need. This could cause a possible disruption to
schooling, and create additional pressure for places at some schools. The message
from officers in Children’s Services was clear – where possible, if families have a
choice, to prioritise moving to a property where children can remain in the same
school as the outcomes will be better for the young person. School moves,
particularly mid-year have a detrimental impact on a child’s education and should
be avoided if possible. This is reflected in the DHP Policy and assessment process.
3.47 There is also pressure already on school places in some areas of the City, and
there is no guarantee that those who seek to move will be able to get their children
into the nearest school to their new homes. Schools admission criteria are fixed and
subject to nationally set rules; they are not able to be amended in response to the
current set of reforms.
3.48 Coventry City Council Benefits and Whitefriars are now sharing data with CLYP to
give an indication of the likely location of families who will be most affected by the
changes and compare where there are empty properties and available school
places.
3.49 Benefits and CLYP already share data to inform the Troubled Families programme
and are looking at likely benefit changes to individual families already supported.
3.50 CAB are running a schools project in 31 of the City’s schools and are expanding
into Children’s Centres from April. Early results suggest this has been particularly
effective in getting parents to access support and prevent debt and housing
problems escalating create significant problems.
Universal Credit
3.51 The Government has decided to phase-in the introduction of the Universal Credit
‘pathfinders’. One Job Centre is due to start taking very straightforward claims from
29 th April 2013. A further three sites are due to be ‘rolled-out’ as ‘pathfinders’ but
the actual dates have not been announced. DWP have delayed the announcement
of the programme of migration of existing claims from the legacy benefits (such as
housing benefit). Originally, the intention was for a ‘managed transition’ for existing
claims between April 2014 and October 2017.
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3.52 DWP have recently consulted on a proposed ‘Local Support Services Framework’,
covering the type of support that DWP would be willing to fund, how current
partnerships work,and how a partnership approach might work in the future. The
outcome of this will ultimately determine the extent of the involvement of councils in
the delivery of Universal Credit.
‘Pop up shop’
3.53 Members visited the ‘pop up shop’ in Cathedral Lanes during their March meeting.
The shop was open from 18 – 22 March and a range of partners (Law Centre, CAB,
Midland Heart, Whitefriars) provide advice and guidance to people who dropped in
to find out more about the changes. This project is currently being evaluated, but
initial assessments from the participants suggest that there were around 100
members of the public accessing advice each day.
3.54 The Sub-group have recommended that ‘pop up shops’ and other innovative
methods of connecting with key groups in the City are considered at key points over
the coming period. It was also suggested that alternative locations are considered
for the shops across the city.
Advice Services Review
3.55 The Sub-Group held a meeting on the advice services review and formulated a
consultation response. This response will be considered as part of the review and
the outcome of the consultation will be shared with Members.
Coventry Food bank
3.56 The Sub-group were keen to consider the wider impacts of both the recession and
proposed welfare reforms. The Coventry Food Bank attended one of the meetings
to describe their work and the steady rise in Coventry residents accessing
emergency support from them. They reported a significant year on year increase in
the demand for their service. Whilst based in Hillfields, the Food Bank has locations
across the City and are responding to a growing number of referrals by
professionals for families to have their immediate food needs met by donations.
3.57 Coventry CAB have seen a substantial increase in the number of clients requiring
food bank vouchers as a result of a benefit sanction, they are currently carrying out
reseach into the main drivers behind food bank demand, this should be available by
early Summer 2013.
Equality Impact Assessments and Human Rights
3.58 Members received a presentation which set out the probable equality impacts of
welfare reform. This is an on-going piece of work and the impacts of the recession
and welfare reform will continue to be monitored across directorates and
partnership organisations.
a. There is likely to be a £30 million cost to women and a £12 million cost to
men.
b. The cost to women to be higher as more likely to be reliant on benefits –
those most likely to be effected, as they are also being hit by other cuts to
services as well as benefit changes are
i. Loan parents
ii. Single pensioners
c. Poverty is a cause of ill health and there is already a huge gap in life
expectancy in the city.
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d. Cuts are happening to social care as well which impacts not only on the
client but on the family who have to fill in the gaps in support.
e. The voluntary sector in Coventry is struggling to meet the demand for their
services.
2) The impact on women due to changes in the way benefits will be paid to one
individual who will be considered the ‘head of the household’
a. It matters who receives the income in the family as money given to women
is more likely to be spent on children – women are the 'shock absorbers of
poverty'
b. There is the opportunity for an increase in financial abuse
c. Universal credit will disadvantage second earners as incomes will be a lot
lower then under tax credits.
d. In Coventry there is already a lower number of women working or looking
for work then nationally – therefore, there are issues when relationships
breakdown.
3.59 The City Council have a wide ranging equality impact assessment process which is
used during decision making and each approved policy will have an Equality and
Consultation Analysis.
3.60 Impacts on Coventry City Council
3.61 Staff in benefits and housing have been moved into appropriate roles and trained to
deal with the likely impacts of the changes. Looking to ensure staff have
appropriate training in dealing with people with mental health issues.
3.62 Closer working links have been developed by Benefits, Housing and Children’s
Social Care, to ensure people are only accessing one source of support from the
Council. This should also remove the situation which has arisen in the past, where
when someone has been turned away by housing, they have gone to social
services and demanded to be housed.
3.63 Welfare Reform is on the corporate risk register and Audit Committee are
monitoring developments. If Members wish to view the risk register, please contact
the Internal Audit team.
3.64 Further possible work for 2013/14
Credit Unions
3.65 Credit Unions have a role to play in providing financial facilities for those who do
not have access to bank accounts. The board may wish to look at how credit unions
are supporting residents to budget and access their funds and at the pilot
Whitefriars are operating with New Central Credit Union. This is to provide “jam jar”
accounts for those who cannot access mainstream bank accounts.
DWP
3.65 There has been a substantial rise in the number of sanctions being used for those
on Job Seekers Allowance.
3.66 Partners raised concerns about how sanctions are being used and the impact on
residents. It was raised that these sanctions may disproportionately impact on those
with mental health issues as they appear ‘fit for work’.
3.67 Members may wish to consider looking at how the remaining elements of the Social
Fund are working e.g. Short Term Benefit Advances and Budgeting Advances.
Clients and Partners are confused about what the Council offers and what the DWP
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offers, particularly around interim funding whilst someone is awaiting the first
payment of their benefits.
Community Cohesion
3.68 Questions have been asked about the possible impacts of welfare reform on
community cohesion, particularly around those who are forced to move and
isolation. However, this is not an area that the sub-group were able to explore in the
time frame in 2012/13 and may be something that they wish to pick up in the next
municipal year.
Summary
3.69 This has been a positive year for the sub-group. The sub-group has covered a lot of
ground over a short period of time. However, there is still work to do as further
changes are introduced and the impact is felt by the City’s residents.
Peter Barnett/ Victoria Castree
Scrutiny Team
204 7683 1172/1122
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