The Programme Manager for Revenue & Benefits presented a report (previously circulated, now appended) which set out research on the impacts of welfare reforms in Oxford. He explained that the field work in the report had been done in 2014.

Cllr Brown, Board Member for Customer Services and Social Inclusion explained that the report was the basis of the Council’s Financial Inclusion Strategy.

Since the publication of the report, the Council has found that:

·         The effects of the changes in disability payment have not been as bad as anticipated

·         The cap on the Local Housing Allowance is a huge issue in the city, as there are very few rental properties available for below the cap. Many people have to “top up” the allowance to pay their rent.

·         The research in the report was done before conditionality was added to the Discretionary Housing Policy.

The Committee made the following comments:

·         The Council is leaning towards more of a caseworker model through the use of JobCentre+ staff.

·         In terms of debt to the Council, Cllr Brown explained that she would like to create one system that would show all the different debts that an individual owed to the council in one place. This would allow officers to be fully informed of individuals’ financial situations.

·         Simplifying the letters sent out to claimants is a service priority for the Housing Benefit department.

The Committee recommended that the report be sent to the Inequalities Panel for further reflection.

They thanked officers for the high quality work.