Business Services Performance Report
Renfrewshire Council · 5 February 2026
Back to Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board — 5 February 2026 and its agenda
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PUBLIC _________________________________________________________________ To: Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board On: 05 February 2026 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Director of Finance and Resources ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Business Services Performance Report ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 This report details performance across key Business Services functions including revenue collection and benefit administration for the period ending 28 December 2025. _______________________________________________________________ 2. Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that the Board: • Note the contents of the report. _______________________________________________________________ 3. Revenue Collection 3.1 Council Tax 3.1.1 This section details the collection performance as at 28 December 2025 for Council Tax. It also provides details of the total sums collected for the previous financial year. 3.1.2 The billable sum for 2025/26 is £112,744,923. 3.1.3 The sums collected to date for 2025/26 are £96,848,383 which is 85.90% of the billable sum (86.02% last year). This represents a small decrease of 0.12% in cash collection as a proportion of net charges billed compared with the same position for 2024/25. More customers are choosing to pay over 12 months rather than 10 compared with last year, it is therefore anticipated the position will improve by year end.
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PUBLIC 3.1.4 The Council Tax Reduction (CTR) awarded is £15,129,376, amounting to 11.83% of the billable sum, which is 0.06% more than at the same point last year, the number of recipients of CTR has increased by approximately 6%. 3.1.5 The Service continues to encourage the take-up of CTR, and process claims following notification of Universal Credit awards being in place. Take-up activities are ongoing including tracking of potential applications, data matching and analysis to maximise CTR awards and support customers, where possible. 3.2 Non-Domestic Rates 3.2.1 This section details the collection performance as at 28th December 2025 for Non-Domestic Rates (NDR). It also provides details of the total sums collected for the last financial year. 3.2.2 The Non-Domestic Rates (NDR) charges billed for 2025/26 amount to £112,025,383. 3.2.3 Cash receipts to date amount to £94,682,721 which is 84.52% of the sum billed. This is a decrease in cash collection as a proportion of net charges billed of 1.39% compared with the same position for 2024/25. 3.2.4 Differences in payment profiles for one very large NDR customer between 2024/25 and 2025/26 have reduced the collection performance for 2025/26 by 1.41% but this will even out over the remainder of the financial year. 3.2.5 Appendix 1 shows NDR collection for 2024/25 of greater than 100%. This has been caused by backdated rateable value reductions advised by Renfrewshire Valuation Joint Board, which have created significant credit balances. Work is ongoing to refund affected customers. 3.2.6 Payment collection for NDR starts in May each year. 4. Benefit administration This section details the processing performance in relation to Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction, and the Scottish Welfare Fund, as at the end of December 2025. Also provided is an update on the funding and expenditure position in relation to Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) and the Scottish Welfare Fund plus details of Housing Benefit Overpayment recovery. 4.1 Workload and Performance 4.1.1 The Service aims to balance the varied and changing workload resulting from the impacts of the ongoing Cost of Living Crisis. 4.1.2 The Service continues with a positive trend; this is reflected in the performance data below showing most indicators within target for the period.
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PUBLIC 4.1.3 Training and support remains in place for all staff members. Training for benefits work is an extensive process, taking several weeks for a new team member to become proficient in a single process, and many months to be fully trained in all areas and be fully productive. 4.1.4 The Service maintains a targeted plan aimed at sustaining improved performance. 4.2 Speed of Processing – Housing Benefit 4.2.1 As detailed in Table 1 below, processing speed for New Claims is slightly over target for the period. Performance during the period was impacted following an upgrade to one of the service’s key systems. Some New Claims received were not visible and as a result there was a delay in actioning them. The issue has now been rectified, and the Service has been priortising the progression of those claims. Members may be assured that due to the type of claims which were affected customers were not directly impacted, due to payments being direct to the Council’s Housing Service. 4.2.2 In relation to New Claims processed within 14 days of all information received, this measure is within target for the period. 4.2.3 Processing of Changes in Circumstance (CIC) is well within target for the reporting period. (Supplementary processing information is attached in Appendix 2 for members’ reference) Table 1 – Housing Benefit Performance Summary Performance measure 4 Week Reporting Period 06 November 2025 to 03 December 2025 Year to date position Annual Target New Claims – processing time (no. of days) 22 days 18 days 20 days New Claims - % processed within 14 days of all information received 92% 96% 92% Changes in Circumstance – processing time (no. of days) 5 days 4 days 7 days 4.3 Speed of Processing – Council Tax Reduction (CTR) 4.3.1 The majority of new applications for CTR relate to customers claiming Universal Credit (UC). Due to the DWP’s UC claim mechanism, the service can’t begin processing such applications until 28 days has elapsed. The processing target therefore appears inflated but has been set at a challenging 35 days.
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PUBLIC 4.3.2 Delayed CTR awards do not negatively impact on customers to the extent they would with housing benefit claims, but the service nevertheless endeavours to process these as quickly as possible. 4.3.3 As detailed in Table 2 below, processing speed for CTR New Claims is within target for the period. 4.3.4 Processing of CTR Changes in Circumstance (CIC) is well within target for the reporting period. Table 2 – Council Tax Reduction Performance Summary Performance measure 4 Week Reporting Period 06 November 2025 to 03 December 20252025 Year to date position Annual Target New Claims – processing time (no. of days) 35 days 28 days 35 days Changes in Circumstance – processing time (no. of days) 4 days 3 days 7 days 4.4 Housing Benefit Overpayments 4.4.1 Council expenditure on Housing Benefit (HB) is largely funded by the DWP via a process known as Housing Benefit Subsidy. 4.4.2 Where a HB payment is found to have been made in error, a Housing Benefit Overpayment debt (HBO) will be raised against the customer who has been overpaid. This often negatively effects the level of subsidy the Council receives. 4.4.3 If an overpayment arises due to a customer failing to report a change in their circumstances, the Council will receive subsidy amounting to 40% of the overpayment value. These are known as Claimant Errors. If the overpayment instead arises due to the Council not acting quickly enough on information received, or as a result of staff error, the level of subsidy received will either be 100%, 40%, or zero, depending on the cumulative total of such errors during the financial year compared to total HB expenditure. These are known as Local Authority Errors (LA Errors). 4.4.4 Provided the total of LA Errors amounts to less than 0.48% of all HB expenditure, 100% subsidy will be paid by the DWP to the Council to cover this classification of error. If this threshold is breached but the ratio is not greater than 0.54% of expenditure, the Council will receive only 40% subsidy for LA Errors. Where the value exceeds 0.54% the Council loses out on all subsidy for LA Errors.
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PUBLIC 4.4.5 As of 4th January 2026 the total of LA Errors was below the lower threshold at 0.43% of all HB expenditure which, if the position was maintained for the remainder of the financial year, this would result in the Council receiving 100% subsidy for LA Errors. 4.4.6 The service strives to minimise LA Errors and is closely tracking progress in this area. The position is currently improving with progress made from the situation reported at the November board (effective 12/10/25) when errors were at 0.52% with a projected loss of £106k. 4.4.7 It should be noted that it is just beyond the three quarter point in the financial year and the value of HB expenditure, which is key to the LA Error calculation, increases over the year. 4.4.8 As stated above, the total of HB expenditure is key to the threshold calculation. The continued migration of customers from HB to Universal Credit makes meeting the LA Error thresholds increasing challenging due to the resulting overall reduction in HB expenditure. 4.4.9 Regardless of the level of subsidy received for a HBO, the service will normally endeavour to recover the full amount of the overpayment from the customer or landlord who has been overpaid. Appendix 3 shows year to date HBO recovery performance. 4.5 Discretionary Housing Payments 4.5.1 The total budget for Discretionary Housing Payments for 2025/26 is shown in Table 3 below. 4.5.2 The budget shows the indicative spending split provided to the Council by Scottish Government. 4.5.3 The DHP budget has been calculated to include the full Scottish Government estimate of the amount of funding required to fully mitigate the effect of both the Benefit Cap and the Bedroom Tax. These estimates include a 20% reserve allocation, which will be paid in May 2026, if required. 4.5.4 Between September & November 2025 Scottish Government announced two additional sets of DHP funding for Renfrewshire Council totalling £36k to support households in temporary accommodation in finding settled homes. This is shown in Table 3 below. 4.5.5 The total Financial Hardship budget currently available to the Council, including the latest £36k funding, is now 98% of the equivalent spend during 2024/25. 4.5.6 In line with DHP Policy and DHP Regulations, the Service makes awards to fully mitigate the effect of the Benefit Cap and the Bedroom Tax and maximise spend within the year.
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PUBLIC 4.5.7 Table 4 shows the performance information in relation to DHPs. The table shows that the average processing time in relation to DHP is within target. Table 3 – DHP Budget Funding – indicative allocations Amount Renfrewshire Council £450,000 Financial Hardship – Scottish Government £256,782 Benefit Cap* – Scottish Government £190,792 Temporary Accommodation Support - Scottish Government £36,000 Bedroom Tax* – Scottish Government £2,622,438 Total budget for the year £3,556,012 *These figures represent the maximum amount required to cover the estimated shortfall of customers impacted by the Benefit Cap or Bedroom Tax. Table 4 – DHP Performance Summary Measure 1 April 2025 to 31 December 2025 Volume of DHP applications received 5,267 applications Volume of DHP decisions made 5,128 decisions Number of DHP awards 4,901 awards Average processing time (target 29 days) 8 days Total amount committed/paid £3,249,308 4.6 The Scottish Welfare Fund 4.6.1 The Scottish Welfare Fund (SWF) provides a safety net for vulnerable people on low incomes through the provision of Community Care Grants and Crisis Grants. The Scottish Welfare Fund is a national scheme, underpinned by law and delivered on behalf of the Scottish Government by all local councils. The SWF replaced elements of the Social Fund abolished by the Department for Work and Pensions in 2013. 4.6.2 The Service makes awards in 2025/26 in line with Scottish Government guidance and had spent 74.8% of the total budget for the SWF by the end of December 2025. 4.6.3 The total budget for the SWF for 2025/26 is shown in Table 5 below. 4.6.4 £600,000 of additional funding, previously allocated by the Council for 2024/25 SWF but then held in reserve, was approved for spend during 2025/26 at the June 2025 meeting of the Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board.
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PUBLIC 4.6.5 As highlighted in previous reports, the Scottish Welfare Fund budget was under significant pressure, with almost 75% of the initial whole year budget spent at the three quarters point in the year. This has been alleviated with the recent announcement of additional funding by Scottish Government as outlined in 4.6.6 below. Officers continue to monitor spend very closely to ensure funds are sufficient. Looking at most recent trends there will now be sufficient funds to continue making awards at the current priority level for the remainder of 2025/26, this would have been unlikely without the additional funds announced. 4.6.6 The initial budget received from Scottish Government for 2025/26 was the same as that for 2024/25. The First Minister’s announcement on 8th January 2026 confirmed additional £5.5m of funding for the SWF across Scotland, with £193,000 being allocated to the Council under the distribution methodology. 4.6.7 In line with Scottish Government legislative guidance, applications for the Crisis and Community Care Grants (CCGs) are categorised as Low, Medium, High and High Most Compelling priority, both in terms of the circumstances of the applicant and the items requested (in the case of CCGs). Due to the financial pressure on the budget the Council has been awarding on a High priority basis since May 2021 and has only ever made awards on a High Most Compelling basis twice before, most recently in 2018/19 for a short period. 4.6.8 Under High priority awards are likely to be made to customers considered highly vulnerable and who are in immediate and severe need of the goods applied for. With a switch to High, Most Compelling customers would need to be both highly vulnerable and at immediate risk, with a need for goods which is extremely severe. 4.6.9 The performance data relating to the Fund is presented in Table 5 below. The Service processed both Crisis Grants and Community Care Grants within target for the period. Table 5 – SWF Performance Summary (Crisis & Community Care Grants) Measure 1 April 2025 to 28 December 2025 Number of Crisis Grant applications received 6,582 Number of Crisis Grant Awards 4,223 Total amount paid for Crisis Grants £506,597.71 Average Processing time year to date (2 working days target) 2 days Average Processing time within December 1 day Number of Community Care Grant applications received 2,028
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PUBLIC Measure 1 April 2025 to 28 December 2025 Number of Community Care Grant Awards 1,191 Total amount paid for Community Care Grant £918,355.33 Average processing time year to date (15 working days target) 8 days Average processing time within December 6 days Total amount paid/committed from the fund £1,424,954.04 Budget from Council 2025/26 £600,000.00 Initial Budget provided by Scottish Government £1,252,119.00 Remaining Top-up Budget provided by Scottish Government December 2024 £52,503.70 Top-up Budget announced by Scottish Government January 2026 £193,000.00 Total Budget £2,097,622.70 _____________________________________________________________ Implications of the Report 1. Financial - The level of collection of Local Taxation continues to provide funding for the delivery of Council services throughout Renfrewshire. The benefits which are administered by the Service and have a statutory basis are managed in accordance with those requirements. 2. HR & Organisational Development – None. 3. Community/Council Planning – • Our Renfrewshire is fair - An effective Benefits service is vital to the quality of life of many of our citizens as it provides vital support for low income households to sustain tenancies and meet their rent obligations. • Working together to improve outcomes - An efficient and effective billing and administrative process for the collection of local taxes is vital for ensuring the recovery of income to the Council to support the provision of local services. This is supported by a range of payment opportunities for the public, including electronic and digital payments (e.g. Direct Debit, Website and Telephone). • Working together to improve outcomes – Efficient and effective customer service is vital to ensuring that citizens have equality of access to Council services, whether this is digitally, by telephone or face to face. 4. Legal – the benefits which are administered by the Service and have a statutory basis are managed in accordance with those requirements
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PUBLIC 5. Property/Assets – None. 6. Information Technology – None. 7. Equality & Human Rights - The recommendations contained within this report in relation to performance updates has been considered in relation to its impact on equalities and human rights. No negative impacts on equality groups or potential for infringement of individuals’ human rights have been identified arising from the recommendations contained in the report because it is for consideration of performance only. 8. Health & Safety – None. 9. Procurement – None. 10. Risk – None. 11. Privacy Impact – None. 12.. Climate Risk – None. 13. Children’s Rights – The recommendations contained within this report in relation to performance updates has been considered in relation to its impact on Children’s Rights. No negative impacts have been identified arising from the recommendations contained in the report because it is for consideration of performance only. 14. Cosla Policy Position – None. _________________________________________________________ List of Background Papers None. ___________________________________________________________________ Author: Emma Shields, Interim Head of Business Services, Risk and Safety
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PUBLIC Appendix 1 RENFREWSHIRE COUNCIL REVENUES COLLECTION STATEMENT AS AT 28 DECEMBER 2025
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PUBLIC Appendix 2 REVISIONS Where a claimant disputes a benefits decision in the first instance, they can request for it to be looked at again. This is known as a Revision. The process involves a Senior Benefit Assessor reviewing the decision thoroughly to decide whether the decision should stand. Target 28 days Result last report Jul’ 25: 19 days Aug’ 25: 22 days Sep’ 25: 13 days Result Last 3 months Oct’ 25: 16 days Nov’ 25: 15 days Dec’ 25: 10 days Comment:- Revisions processed well within target. ACCURACY The Service proactively monitors the accuracy of benefits decisions made through a robust audit checking programme. The Service targets to audit a minimum of 4% of calculations. Target % Actual % Volume of Audits 2025/26 4% 26% Accuracy – December 2025 95% 97% Accuracy – 2025/26 95% 96% APPEALS Where a claimant disputes a Benefits decision and also disputes a revision decision, they can formally make an Appeal. The Benefits Service will prepare a detailed submission which is then considered by the Independent Tribunals Service. Preparation of a submission is a very involved process and requires significant data gathering. Target processing speed (number of days) 60 Result: last 3 months (days) October: 5 days November: 78 days December: 92 days Average (12 months to date) 27 days Average Appeals Completed (12 th t d t ) 4 Appeals per month Comment:- Appeals volumes are very low, which is expected due to reducing Housing Benefit caseload, Regrettably the December figure reflects one appeal which took far longer than target to resolve. Initial vetting of that appeal was delayed far beyond normal practice. Had this delay not been coupled with extreme complexities it would still have been resolved within 60 days, but the involvement of multiple agencies slowed the process considerably.
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PUBLIC Comment:- The Service continues to analyse errors and action trends/patterns by providing additional guidance/training where needed. Accuracy is recognised as a key priority for sustained improvement, targeted training takes place following errors being identified and a detailed training matrix is in place.
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PUBLIC Appendix 3 HOUSING BENEFIT OVERPAYMENTS The service is responsible for raising overpayments where Housing Benefit has been paid in error. If these have resulted from errors made by claimants, the cost is partially funded by the DWP. The service attempts to recover both newly raised and historic debts from claimants or landlords as appropriate and the position is developing well towards the annual target. Overpayments raised 2025/26 £765,446 Overpayments raised and recovered in year £454,590 % Recovery for above (Target 50%) 59.39% All recovery in year £979,355 All recovery vs raised in year (Target 120%) 127.95% All recovery vs all debt (Target 16.50%) 13.21% Total debt outstanding at end of reporting period £6,435,297