Issue - meetings

The Board received a presentation on the impact of Welfare and Housing Benefit Reform from the Strategic Housing and Enabling Officer, which the Board had requested following its meeting held on 27th February 2012.  The presentation covered the following areas:

• Homelessness and the statutory duty of the Council.
• Welfare Reform and the work being carried out in conjunction with Bromsgrove District Housing Trust (BDHT) to evaluate who would be affected by changes to Local Housing Allowance rates (LHAs).
• The single room rate benefit changes – this would now only be available for those people over the age of 35 years.
• The under occupation housing benefit changes for social tenants (this would be a 14% reduction of benefits for 1 spare room and 25% for 2 spare rooms) and the work being carried out to assist people affected by the changes within the district .
• The anticipated demand in the Housing Options Service.
• Use of temporary accommodation and the budget for bed and breakfast accommodation.
• An overview of the benefit cap and associated risks prior to the introduction of Universal Credit.
• An overview of the introduction of Universal Credit in October 2013 and the risks associated with this, including direct monthly payments to applicants, budgeting and the loss of working relationships with the benefit teams.
• Areas which had been discussed by key partners at the Welfare Reform Conference in February 2012, including number of households affected, sourcing of alternative accommodation and budget advice, together with solutions to those issues raised.
• The establishment of a credit union within the area (research was currently underway to explore the options available) and work with other registered providers.
• The work of the Under Occupation Group set up between the Council and BDHT.
• The work of the Welfare Reform Steering Group in preventing homelessness and the use of bed and breakfast accommodation and the wider issues of the Welfare Reform.

The Strategic Housing and Enabling Officer informed Members that a report on the findings of the Welfare Reform Steering Group would be prepared for presentation to Cabinet in September 2012 and an update could be provided to a future Board meeting if required.

Members discussed the following areas in detail:

• Under what circumstances people would not be asked to downsize in respect of under occupation, for example where specific adaptations for a disability had been made to a property.
• The effect on children should they have to move to accommodation in a different area or bed and breakfast accommodation, for example moving schools.
• The cost of bed and breakfast accommodation if the Council did not take any action to address the forth coming changes.
• The role of the Citizens Advice Bureau in providing money and debt advice and the funding of additional staff to assist with this support.
• Discretionary housing payment funding allocation, the available budget and any refund provided by Central Government.
• Preventative work and support to ensure that families were not evicted and made homeless due to rent arrears.
• The number of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 116