Further to the reference from the Scrutiny Committee in relation to Rent Arrears, the Audit and Governance Committee is provided with the following update upon Rent Arrears for information only:
East Suffolk Council’s rent arrears profile had been steadily increasing since the introduction of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 and more specifically Universal Credit going full service in Lowestoft in May 2016. This led to an increase in both the level of arrears and the number of arrears cases. Around the same time, a Rent Officer left the Council and the post was not recruited to, resulting in unrealistic caseloads for the remaining four Rent Officers of around 1300 per week. As such, the Housing Service did not have sufficient capacity to manage the workload.
The Service has taken a number of steps to address this position, which was unsustainable.
Most significantly, the Service invested in RentSense, the Council’s first predictive analytical software. This runs alongside our Orchard housing management system and uses algorithms to predict which rent accounts need attention. As a result, Rent Officers work with a much reduced and accurately targeted caseload. They are now typically achieving a case completion rate of over 95% per week and are working towards 100%. We went live with this software in February 2019, and have seen a reduction in our rent arrears for the first three quarters in 2019/20 as a result. No reduction in arrears had been achieved for at least the previous five years. We are currently seeing lower rent arrears totals week on week than for nearly three years, which is an incredible achievement in the current climate.
Furthermore, in 2018 we employed a Financial Inclusion Officer who works with our tenants to maximise their income, and assist them with their Universal Credit claims. This ensures our most vulnerable tenants are supported. Tenants are also referred for debt advice where relevant to help them reduce their outgoings.
The Service has an action plan which it is working through to continue to deliver reduced rent arrears, and this also includes actions to mitigate the impact of future reforms such as managed migration of the remaining Housing Benefit claimants over to Universal Credit which is due for completion by 2023.
It should also be noted that at the start of 2019/20, in consultation with Councillor Richard Kerry, the rent arrears targets were revised. It was recognised that the previous targets were unachievable post Universal Credit and failing to achieve these unrealistic targets was demotivating Rent Officers. As such, our targets have been revised to more closely align with the sector’s performance nationally, which recognises that maintaining existing arrears levels is the new upper quartile performance.
4
The Committee noted the Item for Information in relation to rent arrears. The Cabinet Member with responsibility for Resources stated that he was pleased with the progress, pointing out that it reflected the efforts of the Anglia Revenues Partnership (ARP) to improve working practices and was also due to the change to the tolerance treatment level of Universal Credit claimants before an automatic reassessment was required which impacted on payments. He added that the new software that had been invested in was also clearly doing its job.
The Chairman suggested that the Committee receive a further update for information in six months to ensure the arrears were continuing to go in the right direction. The Cabinet Member stated that the next ARP meeting was at the end of March 2020 so he would know more after that. He added that the ARP was also bringing in Consultants to review working practices.
Clarification was sought on whether there was still a five week wait for claims to be processed as some claimants were getting into debt whilst they waited. The Cabinet Member responded that he did not know but suggested that the Member contact ARP directly. It was noted that a Member Training/Briefing Session on the ARP and Universal Credit was currently being arranged.
RESOLVED
That the information relating to the current position on rent arrears be noted and Officers be asked to provide another item for information on this in approximately six months' time.