The Chair reported that Councillor Rowley had been unable to attend the meeting but provided the following observation in advance: “Rent arrears are under control and for the last two quarters they have been at slightly lower levels than at the same times last year.  We will continue to work to bring down arrears while maintaining due sensitivity to circumstances and doing all we can to avoid eviction through tenancy sustainment work.”

The Service Manager Revenue & Benefits spoke to the report. While the outcome at the end of September was very slightly below target, the overall value of rent to be collected had increased by £360k and, at the end of March 2017 arrears were at their lowest level for 6 years. The overall picture was very positive.

By way of context she explained that the team of 13 colleagues had been subject to high levels of turnover and sickness  but the team was now stable and almost fully staffed.

There were seasonal spikes in arrears (usually around summer holidays and Christmas).

Escalation processes for relevant tenancy types have been introduced which allows the early stages of rent recovery to be automated which means that staff can focus on cases where there are higher levels of debt.

There have been 5 evictions in the current year to date, set against a benchmark of 20 for comparable authorities. This positive outcome is largely attributed to high levels of tenant engagement.

Former tenant arears are dealt with on a case by case basis. The principal focus is now on new tenants with the aim of preventing arears from building up in the first place.

The introduction of Universal Credit (UC) is a cause for concern as its consequences feed through into residents’ lives. There is an expectation that arrears would increase although at the moment there was no observable impact, as we are only in week 4 of full service.

It was noted that the Council had instigated a number of measures to mitigate the negative consequences of UC on residents which included personal budgeting support and assisted digital support and the recent allocation of £50k to support those in need. The criteria by which the latter would be made available were currently being worked up.

The Council has provided good quality advice and information about the consequences of UC and the need to maintain their rent.

The relatively few cases of very high levels of arears were largely in relation to vulnerable clients. For such cases, as well as signposting to supporting organisations such as the CAB, every effort was made to secure repayments at a reasonable and affordable rate.