Issue - meetings

Agreed, with the amendment that:

Recommendation 3 be amended to insert ‘up to £16,000’.

Recommendation 4 be amended to insert ‘£30,000’.

The Head of Exchequer submitted a report to advise the Executive on the impact of the current economic climate on the current and future delivery of the Housing and Council Tax benefit function It was noted that this issue had not been included in the Forward Plan for January to May and had been considered in accordance with the Special Urgency provisions of the constitution and would be reported to Council accordingly.

Resolved

(1)   That the contents of the report and the increased workloads in processing housing and council tax benefit applications be noted;

(2)   That a supplementary estimate of £14,000 to ensure that the backlog in processing housing and council tax benefit applications is eliminated which will ensure a robust service to the public and residents of the district during this period of economic uncertainty be approved;

(3)   That a further supplementary estimate of up to £16,000 to ensure that the increased workload of claims can be dealt with efficiently and ensure that claimants receive a timely response be approved;

(4)   That officers be asked to identify actions to secure up to £30,000 of savings to offset the supplementary estimates;

(5)   That an update be given on the number of additional claims relating to the economic climate at the January Executive and options for the future delivery of the service discussed.

Reasons - The current economic climate has seen a sharp rise in the number of residents claiming benefit and the Government has predicted a 50% increase in the number of unemployed in the next 12 -18 months. The predicted rise would increase the benefits caseload by 2,387 (31%) to just over 10,000 claims.