To receive an update on Citizens’ Advice Bureau activity within the borough and financial inclusion. 

12.1           The Chair welcomed Norman Gardner, Bureau Manager for the Gloucester and District Citizens’ Advice Bureau (CAB), to the meeting. Members were reminded that Tewkesbury Borough Council had had a relationship with the CAB for a number of years and gave it a grant on an annual basis. The Committee received an annual presentation which provided Members with information about the work of the CAB and a flavour of what was happening within the Borough. The CAB had a four year Service Level Agreement with the Borough and currently performance against that was reported on a quarterly basis through the performance tracker.

12.2           The Bureau Manager for the Gloucester and District CAB was invited to make his presentation to the Committee. He explained that Members received a fairly comprehensive list of statistics every quarter and for the current presentation he had decided not to include those; instead he would provide a brief overview of the type of work which was ongoing. The presentation covered the following key points:

·           Our Aims – to provide the advice people needed for the problems they faced and to improve policies and practices that affected people’s lives.

·           Our Principles – the Citizens’ Advice service provided free, independent and impartial advice to everyone on their rights and responsibilities. It valued diversity, promoted equality and challenged discrimination.

·           Our Locations – Tewkesbury Borough Council; Prior’s Park; Bishop’s Cleeve; Winchcombe; Brockworth; Cheltenham Town Centre; and Gloucester City Centre.

·           How Advice is Obtained – face to face - 79.5% (75.3% in the previous year); by telephone - 12.2% (12.6% in the previous year); and by email - 8.2% (12.0% in the previous year) or online at www.gloucestercab.org.uk

·           Employment Status – employed and self-employed - 39.7%; carers - 9.8%; retired - 18.6%; and unemployed and permanently sick - 31.8%.

·           Disposable Monthly Income – under £999 - 39.7%; £1,000-£1,499 – 9.8%; £1,500-£1,999 – 18.6%; and over £2,000 – 31.8%.

·           Disabilities – physical disability – 12.6%; mental illness – 9.1%; long term health issues – 21.0%; and not disabled – 31.8%.

·           Issues Dealt With - 2,885 in 2016/17 and 2,534 in 2015/16. Welfare benefits – 862 (715 in the previous year); debt – 720 (640 in the previous year); employment – 284 (262 in the previous year); relationships – 219 (222) in the previous year; and housing – 204 (195 in the previous year).

·           Case Studies –

A.     Miss D was single, had two young children and had claimed housing benefit, Council Tax reduction and income support. Her benefits had been stopped and a refund of over £65,000 was demanded when the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) had claimed she had been living with the father of her children. Two months later, Miss D became at risk of eviction as the loss of housing benefit resulted in the rent ceasing to be paid. At that point help was sought from the CAB. Actions taken included: a new claim for housing benefit was successfully made to avoid further rent arears; the landlady was persuaded not to seek eviction; evidence was gathered to prove the DWP claim spurious; and an appeal was submitted. The appeal was upheld and the refund demand withdrawn.

B.     Miss J was a single person suffering from agoraphobia, anxiety, depression and back pain and made a claim for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), scoring 0 points at her Work Capability Assessment. A mandatory reconsideration had resulted similarly. Miss J then sought assistance from the CAB which helped her with her ESA appeal; and applied, on her behalf, for a Personal Independence Payment (PIP). The tribunal awarded 18 points and ESA and the claim for PIP was successful.

C.     Following the failure of her business, Miss H; a single parent caring for her 19 year old son who suffered from depression and anxiety, was left with over £10,000 of debts. In addition, the son’s PIP application had failed adding the dilemma that the client could not claim carers’ allowance. With the client unemployed, and in receipt of only Jobseekers Allowance (JSA), bankruptcy was the only option but the client did not have the funds to cover the fee of £680. The actions that were successfully taken by the CAB included: applying to a local charity for a grant to allow the client to pay back the £680 bankruptcy fee; the client was assisted in filing for bankruptcy online resulting in the Order being issued within the week; an application was made to the Big Difference Scheme (Severn Trent Trust Fund) to reduce the client’s water and this saved her £380 pa.; the son had been assisted in his PIP appeal; and, as a result of the PIP award, the client had been assisted to claim carers’ allowance.

·           Definitions - financial capability – knowledge, skill, motivation, awareness and confidence in relation to money management. Financial exclusion – individuals could not access the financial products and services they needed which meant that those that could least afford to do so would end up paying more for their basic needs. Financial inclusion – access to appropriate financial products and services allowing people to effectively manage their money, regardless of their level of income or social status.

12.3           The Head of Revenues and Benefits explained that he intended to provide an update on the financial inclusion partnership which the Borough Council hosted and which was chaired by Norman Gardner. The presentation covered the following key points:

·           Background – established in 2014 by Tewkesbury Borough Council. A gap had been identified following a site visit to North Warwickshire District Council. The group had been set up in recognition that there was no coordinated work across the Borough to tackle financial inclusion issues.

·           Demographic Composition – January 2017, 5,568 claims to Council Tax support and housing benefit representing 15.9% of the total population of the Borough. 54.9% of the households identified were of working age and subject to welfare reforms. 5,021 were on housing benefit and Council Tax support during May 2016 and January 2017. The highest proportion of claims were in Prior’s Park – 13% followed by Brockworth – 8%. Prior’s Park and Brockworth had the highest levels of claimants on in-work benefits e.g. low paid jobs. Brockworth had the highest level of claimants on not-in-work benefits due to disability and the number of claimants with children.

·           The Financial Inclusion Group – included Tewkesbury Borough Council, Severn Vale, DWP/Job Centre Plus, Tewkesbury Food Bank, Green Square, Going the Extra Mile (GEM) Project, Gloucestershire Credit Union, Trussell Trust (Food Bank), Gloucestershire County Council, Bromford Housing Association, Citizens’ Advice Bureau, Gloucestershire Fire Service, Severn Trent, other Registered Landlords, Prior’s Park Chapel and Gloucestershire Recycling Project.

·           Key Tasks During 2016/17 – developing working relationships with neighbourhood projects – food bank and furniture recycling. Skype available in Bishop’s Cleeve Library to Revenues and Benefits. Encourage new stakeholders to attend the Financial Inclusion Partnership i.e. the GEM Project and making the financial inclusion web page available to the public – www.tewkesbury.gov.uk/financial-advice-and-support. Borough News article on the impacts of welfare reform, i.e. the benefit cap, and carry out a mapping exercise on housing benefit and Council Tax support in our Borough – Winchcombe, Prior’s Park, Tewkesbury Town with Mitton and Brockworth have the highest number of Housing Benefit and Council Tax support claimants of pensionable age. Tewkesbury Borough Council staff will receive training on financial inclusion and welfare reform. Policy in practice reported on the impacts of welfare reform:

Ø  The benefit cap had been the main focus commencing November 2016.

Ø  Started exercise with over 90 claims.

Ø  Now down to 70.

Ø  Close working with the CAB, Severn Vale, Job Centre Plus and Tewkesbury Borough Council.

Ø  ‘Policy in Practice’ report distributed to all members of the group.

Ø  Looked at impact around Universal Credit.

Ø  Severn Vale key partner.

·           Jobs Fair – held on 8 March and was a significant event including joint working with Tewkesbury Borough Council and Job Centre Plus. The event had been aimed at job seekers and 23 employers had been involved with 100 potential applicants in attendance. The event had been very positive with one young applicant finding employment and many more attending job interviews.

·           Developing Tasks 2017/18 – Universal Credit was commencing a full digital service from December 2017. Tenants would be encouraged to pay rent in advance to reduce impacts when migrating over to Universal Credit. There was a need to quantify the potential numbers at risk of homelessness and carry out training on personal budgeting. In addition, private sector landlords would be encouraged to increase the take-up of customers with higher risks. Homelessness reduction training would be undertaken and a policy in practice report on welfare reform would be commissioned and reviewed. There would also be early financial capability training in schools, physical barriers to work would be reduced, opportunities through volunteering would be promoted and digital accessibility within the Borough reviewed.

12.4           During the discussion which ensued, a Member indicated that, in terms of the roll out of Universal Credit, there was a need to get it right; he was concerned that in other areas of the country there seemed to be more and more Eviction Notices being served on people and this was not an acceptable way to treat the vulnerable people in society. In response, the Bureau Manager for the Gloucester and District CAB explained that the CAB covered 60% of the population of the County and everyone viewed Universal Credit with some trepidation. There was concern that the housing benefit element in particular would cause a lot of Eviction Notices to be raised. There was a six week waiting period before the first payment was made and this was likely to cause hardship for many people who were used to being paid on a weekly basis. Those people would have to learn how to cope with monthly payments and there was a fear that they would buy the essentials they needed such as food then, by the time they reached the date to pay rent for the month, they would have no money left as they were not used to budgeting on a monthly basis. The CAB wanted it to be made the norm that the rent would get paid straight to the landlord. This was a national issue which the CAB was taking forward to government and the local CAB offices were feeding into that national process. In addition, the Head of Revenues and Benefits confirmed that a ‘Universal Credit Seminar’ was being held on 29 June for all Members and that was being run in partnership with colleagues from the Department for Work and Pensions and Severn Vale. This would provide Members an opportunity to raise any particular concerns; he offered reassurance that Officers were trying to ensure they communicated as soon as possible with those residents that would be affected so that they were more prepared for the change.

12.5           Referring to the CAB provision which existed within Prior’s Park, a Member expressed concern that the clients who used the service tended to vary depending on the person who was providing advice e.g. there had been a large section of the Polish community that had accessed the provision when a Polish lady had been providing advice but that clientele had changed when that advisor had gone on maternity leave. He questioned whether the CAB had any ideas how this could be addressed. In response the Bureau Manager for the Gloucester and District CAB advised that the lady referred to would be back from maternity leave on 30 June; however, he understood that there was a problem in that the customer base would probably change again and the CAB was trying to find a way to address this.

12.6           Members expressed their thanks to the Bureau Manager for the Gloucester and District CAB and the Head of Revenues and Benefits for their informative presentations. The Chair of the Committee indicated that currently the CAB presentation was made to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on an annual basis and he questioned whether this should be extended to every other year as often things had not really changed very much from year to year. In response the Bureau Manager for the Gloucester and District CAB indicated that he was happy to continue to attend annually should Members so wish. Members generally felt the presentation provided was extremely interesting and that an annual presentation kept them up-to-date with what was happening with the CAB. Accordingly, it was

                  RESOLVED          1. That the Citizens’ Advice Bureau and Financial Inclusion                              presentations be NOTED.

                                                2. That the report from the Citizens’ Advice Bureau continue to                                   be provided on an annual basis.