Payment of Local Taxation and Benefit Update
North Lanarkshire Council · 1 March 2023
Back to Finance and Resources Committee — 1 March 2023 and its agenda
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Finance and Resources Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref EK / GT Date 01/03/23 Payment of Local Taxation & Benefit Update From Elaine Kemp, Chief Officer (Finance) E-mail kempe@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07939 280601 Executive Summary This report provides an update on the performance within the Revenues and Benefits functions of Financial Solutions as at 31 December 2022. Key points to note include: • As at 31 December 2022, 83.1% of Council Tax due for 2022/23 had been collected. This is an increase of 0.7% on the same period last financial year but is largely attributable to cash received from the Scottish Government in respect of the Cost-of-Living Award. • Non-Domestic Rates collection has shown a year-on-year reduction from 78.7% to 31 December 2021 to 68.8% to 31 December 2022. This is largely attributable to the timing of payments from other public sector bodies. • The service continues to meet statutory timescales for administering benefits applications and changes of circumstance. • The service continues to support the administration of Cost-of-Living support measures. Recommendations It is recommended that Committee: (1) Acknowledges the content of the report. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve economic opportunities and outcomes Ambition statement (21) Continue to identify and access opportunities to leverage additional resources to support our ambitions
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1. Background 1.1 Financial Solutions is responsible for the administration and collection of all local taxation in North Lanarkshire in the form of Council Tax and Non Domestic Rates. 1.2 In addition, the service administers a number of Benefits for residents of North Lanarkshire including Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction, Scottish Welfare Fund, Discretionary Housing Payment, Free School Meals and Clothing Grants. 1.3 During the course of the Covid-19 health pandemic and with the current cost of living crisis, the Service has supported thousands of North Lanarkshire’s residents with support payments for schemes such as Self Isolation Support Grant, Fuel Hardship Payment, Pensioner Fuel Grant and the North Lanarkshire Child Payment. 2. Report Council Tax 2.1 The graph below shows the cash collected at 31 December for each financial year. It is worth noting that cash is allocated to specific Council Tax years so the graph represents cash received against the initial billing year (i.e. billed and received in 2021/22) and does not include cash collected in subsequent years (i.e. billed in 2021/22 but received in 2022/23). This ensures a like for like comparison. 2.2 The collection figure for the current financial year of 83.1% is 0.7% higher than the same period last financial year. However, the current year collection figure has benefited from the impact of the Scottish Government’s Cost of Living Award. Total cash received from the Scottish Government of £18.6m has been allocated to 2022/23 which is inflating the overall in-year collection figure. 2.3 Members will recall that this one-off £150 credit to Council Tax accounts for eligible households will reduce Council Tax bills throughout the financial year so it is expected that over the remainder of the financial year the cash collected will trend towards historic rates. 2.4 It should be noted that in-year collection of Council Tax is a Statutory Performance Indicator. However, it does not reflect the overall collection rate of Council Tax which includes collection of prior year arrears. This latter measure has a greater bearing on 80.00 81.00 82.00 83.00 84.00 85.00 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 Percentage of annual billing collected (%) Financial Year Council Tax Collection Rate at 31 December
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the Council’s finances and is reflected in the regular budget monitoring reports to Committee. Non-Domestic Rates 2.5 The following graph shows the cash collected at 31 September for each financial year. 2.6 The collection figure for 2022/23 at 31 December is 68.8%; 9.9% lower than the same period last financial year. These year to date figures can fluctuate significantly depending on the timing of payment from individual ratepayers i.e. a number of large ratepayers will pay in one instalment and the figures can be skewed depending on when that payment is made. In the current financial year, the Council’s own NDR bill was paid in Quarter 4 of the financial year rather than Quarter 3 in 2021/22 accounting for the lower in year collection rate. 2.7 The Scottish Government has now ended the 100% rates relief for the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors for the 2022/23 financial year. In a change from the previous scheme, 50% relief is awarded to one property for the period 1 April to 30 June 2022. 2.8 The revised recovery processes for Non-Domestic Rates have been implemented during 2022/23 which has led to earlier recovery action commencing in May 2022. It is hoped that early engagement with businesses will improve the overall collection rates. Housing Benefits 2.9 The data below highlights the Statutory Performance Indicators measuring the speed of processing for new Housing Benefit claims and for changes in circumstances. The table shows the cumulative figures for the year to 31 December 2022. The Scottish average comparator is based on the latest information published by DWP at Q4 2021/22. Days to Process 2021/22 2022/23 Quarter 4 2021/22 Scotland Average New Claims 13 14 17 Change of Circumstances 6 9 3 65 70 75 80 85 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 Percentage of annual billing collected (%) Financial Year Non Domestic Rates Collection Rate at 31 December
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2.10 The service continues to perform well in the speed of processing for new claims compared to the previous financial year and the most recent Scottish average. The service also continues to meet statutory requirements for the speed of processing changes of circumstance. Council Tax Reduction Scheme 2.11 As at 31 December 2022 a total of £24.544m in Council Tax Reduction has been awarded for the 2022/23 financial year. This compares to £24.153m to the same period during 2021/22, representing a small increase of £0.391m (1.6%). 2.12 The service received 5,119 applications between 1 April and 31 December 2022 compared with 4,965 during the same period during 2021/22, representing an increase of 3.1%. 2.13 The service continues to see a downward trend in the volume of changes in circumstances requests. From 1 April to 31 December a total of 60,618 changes were processed compared to 94,393 the previous financial year; a decrease of 35.8%. Discretionary Housing Payments 2.14 From 1 April 2017 funding for DHP has been devolved to Scottish Government. This funding supports both the Scottish Government’s commitment to fully fund the implications of the Bedroom Tax and an additional sum available for other reasons such as the Benefit cap and the restrictions on Local Housing Allowance rates. 2.15 As at 31 December 2022 the total paid in respect of Bedroom Tax was £5.233m. In comparison this sum was £5.352m as at the same point in 2021. 2.16 In addition the Council also receives £0.603m in respect of non-bedroom tax related issues. In June 2022, the Scottish Government provided an additional £0.131m of funding. This increased the annual budget to £0.734m. As at 31 December 2022 £0.698m (95%) has been paid or committed from the fund. 2.17 The Service will continue to liaise with colleagues in Housing Solutions and Housing Associations to encourage applications to the fund. Scottish Welfare Fund 2.18 The Council has administered the Scottish Government’s Scottish Welfare Fund (SWF) since 1 April 2016. 2.19 The Scottish Government provides an annual award budget of £2.760m to North Lanarkshire Council. In recognising the current cost of living crisis, the Council’s Investment Budget for 2022/23 allocated an additional £0.500m on a one-off basis. In addition, the Council allocated £1.142m on a one-off basis from the Scottish Government’s Financial Insecurity Fund to support the maintenance of Scottish Welfare Fund at Medium priority during 2022/23. Therefore, the total award budget for 2022/23 is £4.402m. 2.20 There are two grant schemes and their relative performance to date during 2022/23 and prior year comparison is as follows:
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2022/23 Applications Assessed Awards Unsuccessful Applications Acceptance Rate Crisis Grants 14,424 11,053 3,371 76.6% Community Care Grants 4,643 3,292 1,351 70.9% Total 19,067 14,345 4,476 75.% 2021/22 Applications Assessed Awards Unsuccessful Applications Acceptance Rate Crisis Grants 12,879 9,476 3,403 73.6% Community Care Grants 4,834 3,729 1,105 77.1% Total 17,713 13,205 4,508 74.5% 2.21 As at 31 December 2022, the total financial value of grants paid from the Scottish Welfare Fund amounted to £3.253m which represents 74% of the total budget for the current financial year. 2.22 The Council experienced a significant surge in demand during December 2022, largely linked to the period of cold weather. The higher demand continued into the early weeks in January 2023. The significantly increased demand created a challenge for the service in maintaining processing within legislative timescales. However, all available staff have been working to process applications as quickly as possible and as a result the service is now operating again at the timescales expected by Scottish Government guidance (2 working days for Crisis Grants and 15 working days for Community Care Grants). Self-Isolation Support Grant 2.23 On 12 October 2020, Scottish Government introduced a self-isolation support grant. The grant was initially intended to provide a £500 payment to those employed or self- employed on a qualifying benefit who will lose earnings as a result of being required to self-isolate and are unable to work from home. This scheme is being administered as a Crisis Grant. 2.24 The scheme was revised on 1 May 2022 to reflect changes in the public health advice relating to Covid-19 with the removal of asymptomatic testing on 18 April 2022 and symptomatic testing on 30 April 2022. Eligible applicants were then entitled to an award of £225 with it now being linked to the Real Living Wage. In addition, the Scottish Government introduced a three claim cap in a 12 month period. 2.25 In late December 2022 the Scottish Government confirmed the closure of the scheme to new applicants on 5 January 2023. Anyone who had booked a PCR test through the scheme portal on or before this date can apply for the grant up to 28 days from their positive PCR test result. 2.26 As at 31 December 2022, for the 2022/23 financial year the Council has received 1,343 applications and awarded a total of 672 with a combined value of £0.246m. Cost-of Living Support 2.27 The Policy and Strategy Committee on 29 September 2022 considered three separate cost-of-living support payments for low-income households. These are being administered by Financial Solutions.
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2.28 The Fuel Hardship Payment for working low-income households not in receipt of benefits or other government supports was launched in October. The funding available can support a maximum of 14,000 payments. 2.29 As at 18 January 2023, the Council had received 4,736 applications for the Fuel Hardship Payment with 4,150 assessed and 586 waiting to be assessed. Of those assessed 2,573 (62%) have been awarded totalling £0.386m and 1,242 have been rejected because the applicant was ineligible (30%). The Service continues to work through outstanding and new applications as quickly as possible. 2.30 The Pensioner Fuel Grant was initiated in November 2022 with the Council writing to 8,692 eligible households to provide bank details to ensure the £100 grant payment can be made directly to their bank accounts. 2.31 As at 18 January 2023, 4,381 payments have been made to eligible households (50%). For the remaining households the Council is processing returned mandates confirming bank account details with weekly payment runs to ensure the grant is received by eligible households as quickly as possible. 2.32 Finally, the North Lanarkshire Child Payment was processed in early November 2022 for the parents / guardians of 12,450 eligible children. 3. Measures of success 3.1 Continuous improvement in processing and collection rates. 4. Supporting documentation None Elaine Kemp Chief Officer (Finance)
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5. Impacts 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts have been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts have been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts have been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact?
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Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services.