Issue - meetings

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Performance and Core Services introduced the performance report for the first quarter of the 2020/21 financial year in respect of the debt management functions carried out by the Council Revenues and Benefits service.

The Cabinet Member referred to the comments earlier in the meeting regarding the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic was having on many people’s ability to pay all of their bills and, as a result, collection levels were down and debt levels were up across the board.  One of the most significant areas of concern related to the Government’s Universal Credit (UC) benefit scheme and the Cabinet Member explained that while 26% of residents in receipt of Housing Benefit were in arrears, that figure climbed to over 60% for those in receipt of UC.  He felt that was a clear indication of the fundamental flaws of the UC scheme which would only get worse, as it was noted that approximately 14,000 more local residents had applied for UC since the end of February 2020 as many people found themselves furloughed or out of work and unable to make ends meet. 

Reference was made to some of the initiatives that the Council had implemented prior to and during the current pandemic to support local residents and businesses who were struggling to pay all of their bills.  The Cabinet Member concurred with his colleagues that it was only right and proper for the Council to provide as much support as possible but he also stressed that those who had the means but merely chose not to pay would be pursued with vigour.

Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Note the performance of the debt management function carried out by the Revenues and Benefits service, including the performance of enforcement agents;

(ii)  Note the emerging impact of Universal Credit on collection levels and particularly Council Tax and rents; and

(iii)  Note the effect of Covid-19 on collection levels across various revenue streams.