Contact Officer: Paul Wilding, Benefit Operations Manager, 01865 252461

Email: pwilding@oxford.gov.uk

The Head of Customer Services submitted a report (previously circulated, now appended) concerning Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP).

Helen Bishop (Head of Customer Services) and Councillor Susan Brown (Board Member for Benefits and Customer Services) attended the meeting to present the report to the Committee, provide some background and answer any questions.

Initial comments from Councillor Brown and Helen Bishop

·         One issue with DHP is the uncertainty around year to year funding – the Council does not know how much funding it will be given from year to year.

·         DHP is supposed to be a temporary measure, and that is why there is a policy on conditionality around it.

·         It’s not easy to find cheap housing to meet people’s needs, and for some people, getting into work is a long and complicated process. Officers have worked to help and support many people;

·         However, there is a concern that many of those affected have not applied for DHP, and that there are many people out there who either are, or soon will be, experiencing problems managing their money;

·         The Council has commissioned some independent research to try to find out the scale of any potential problems, as it is interested to find out how people manage;

·         There are many welfare reforms that are affecting people.

Comments and questions from the Committee

·         Is it possible to do data matching with people who use food banks, and people who have rent arrears, to see if they may need DHP?

·         What will happen to people who had DHP, but shouldn’t have had it because they were not actually affected by the “bedroom tax”?

·         It is concerning that there have been only 192 applications due to reductions in the Local Housing Allowance rates;

·         It is also of concern that if the budget for DHP is not spent, the remainder will have to be returned;

·         It is encouraging that the Council has been able to give multiple awards to some people;

·         Can we be sure that the Council is promoting this in the right place please?

·         Are new applications increasing or trailing off – is there increased pressure on the DHP grant?

·         The Committee thanked the team for their hard work, noting that they had won two Staff Awards recently. However, the Committee also felt that it would like to monitor DHP on a regular basis.

Responses from Councillor Brown and Helen Bishop

·         The Council has worked hard to establish who is affected by the “bedroom tax”, and Helen Bishop will prepared an informative note on this topic;

·         Comments on the use of information about food banks and rent arrears will be taken back; but in the meantime Councillors can be assured that there are mechanisms to ensure the right clients are reached;

·         Helen Bishop will come back to members on the issue of applications due to reductions in Local Housing Allowance rates;

·         The Council wants to treat people fairly, but conditions are needed because DHP is not a long term solution upon which people can rely for considerable periods of time. It’s difficult to strike the right balance – hence the underspend – but it is agreed that more could be done to promote DHP in the right areas;

·         Only the underspend on the Government grant would need to be returned to the Government – the additional money agreed by Council would not be affected;

·         The Council is spending at a higher rate now, making 16 week awards as opposed to the previous 13 week awards. It was noted that the Committee suggested that it might be helpful for the Finance Panel to see the budget figures to help understand what the budget pressures were;

·         The Council’s experience of helping people into work has been shared with other Councils.

The following information would be provided to the Committee:-

·         Extra detail about the effect of the pre-1996 changes – people affected or not affected by the “bedroom tax”;

·         Case numbers- are they rising or falling?

·         Additional details of the 192 applications due to reductions in the Local Housing Allowance rates;

Resolved to:-

(1)  Note the current position;

(2)  Ask that the final end of year report on DHP be presented at the Committee on 6^th May, and that this would include some feedback from the independent research that is currently taking place.