The Executive Director of Organisational Development & Corporate Services has submitted a report detailing the proposed Delivery Partnership Agreement with the Department of Work and Pensions for the provision of services required for 2016 and in subsequent years as a consequence of the roll out of Universal Credit.

Recommendations: That the City Executive Board resolves to:

1.            Authorise the Executive Director for Organisational Development and Corporate Services to enter into arrangements with the Department of Work and Pensions for the provision of services for the delivery of Universal Credit in 2016 and in subsequent years, provided that (s)he is satisfied that the full terms of the agreement are acceptable and properly reflect the principles set out in the report.

The Revenues & Benefits Programme Manager presented the report which detailed the proposed Delivery Partnership Agreement with the Department of Work and Pensions for the provision of services required for 2016 and in subsequent years as a consequence of the roll out of Universal Credit.

The Board noted that the main risk to the Council was reputational and linked to the need to adequately resource the support service as demand increased in future years.

The Board Member for Customer and Corporate Services thanked the Scrutiny Committee for its thorough discussion of the report and confirmed that she had accepted the three recommendations. 

The City Executive Board resolved to:

1.         Authorise the Executive Director for Organisational Development and Corporate Services to enter into arrangements with the Department of Work and Pensions for the provision of services for the delivery of Universal Credit in 2016 and in subsequent years, provided that (s)he is satisfied that the full terms of the agreement are acceptable and properly reflect the principles set out in the report.

Cllr Simmons left the meeting at the end of this item.

Contact Officer: Paul Wilding, Revenues & Benefits Programme Manager,

Tel 01865 252461, pwilding@oxford.gov.uk

The Revenues & Benefits Programme Manager presented the report. The Executive Board Member, Customer and Corporate Services was also present to answer the Committee’s questions.

In response to questions the Revenues & Benefits Programme Manager and the Executive Board Member, Customer and Corporate Services confirmed that:

·         the Council was actively seeking to safeguard jobs through the use of fixed term contracts, active redeployment and forward planning and did not expect to lose any permanent members of staff

·         there was a mechanism in place for the Council to feedback to DWP concerns about problems encountered during the online application process

·         the Council was providing support to clients during the online application process. The current cohort of applicants tended to be ICT literate and so the level of support required was currently manageable, however, there was an expectation that demand would increase in the future and put pressure on resources

·         the Council was talking to local libraries about the services on offer to support online applications

The Committee expressed particular concern that the timescales of the application process meant that it was inevitable that clients would accrue rent arrears. They were pleased to note that the Council was seeking to address this situation through discussions with Job Centre Plus about a pilot scheme on referrals and that the Council’s own Housing service was working with local housing associations on solutions to the problem.

The Committee AGREED to submit the following recommendations to the City Executive Board:

1.    That the Board Member write to the County Council encouraging them to promote library access and services to support customers making Universal Credit applications

2.    That appropriate workforce planning is conducted to ensure future demand for support can be met by the Council

3.    That consideration should be given to the Council doing more work with social landlords to address the problem of rent arrears