designing your best fit council tax reduction scheme

Policy in PracticeWebinar: Designing your best fit Council Tax Reduction scheme Wednesday 25 January 2017

Housekeeping• Audio check• Please ask questions throughout • Polls and a survey• Finish by 11:30

Speakers

Zoe CharlesworthPolicy in Practice

Giovanni TonuttiPolicy in Practice

Steve HillLB Tower Hamlets

Agenda• Introduction to Policy in Practice• Designing Tower Hamlet’s LCTRS• Context for CTRS • Approach to modelling CTRS options• Questions• Next steps

We make the welfare system simple to understand, so that people can make the decisions that are right for them

www.policyinpractice.co.uk

SOFTWAREindividual impact

CONSULTANCYlocal impact

POLICYnational impact

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Over to Steve

Welcome to the Council

Policy in Practice webinar

Steve Hill Head of Benefits Services

London Borough of Tower Hamlets

Designing our LCTRS scheme The ChallengesLBTH LCTRS scheme since April 2013CommissionersNew AdministrationNew Senior Management TeamBudget reductions - need for savingsLCTRS options for Members considerationUC live site now, full UC digital by year endOverall Benefit Cap >1,000 households DHP/LWP Review

Why Policy in Practice?

• Experience • Understanding of welfare reforms and

impacts• The Team – strength in depth• The approach – SHBE lift• Quality

What was delivered? • Detailed LCTRS options report • Current scheme uprated• CTRS award reduced to 80% all working

households• CTRS reduced to 80% with protection

incentives• Income banded model under UC• Cost savings and admin costs savings

analysis• Supplementary report with detailed welfare

reform impacts by scheme, household, tenure etc.

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Questions for Steve

Over to Zoe

Context for reform of CTRS• Responsibility for policy devolved• Part of wider local authority role in welfare• Budgets static or cut – 10% cut at the outset• Cash limited schemes• Ongoing need for administrative savings• Move towards a discount?• Implications of Universal Credit

New Policy Institute – Changes made to CTR schemes

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Poll 1: Are you planning to change your CTR scheme?

What now for local authorities?• Understand the cumulative impact of welfare reform in their

locality (including CTRS), so they can identify possible exemptions, and target support effectively

• Integrate services and funding streams – provide the most appropriate help, working with partners

• Be clear about the impact of new CTR schemes e.g. on: type of household, tenure, those in work

• Recognise that people will always turn to local authorities when in difficulty!

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Poll 2: What is the biggest challenge you face when changing your CTR scheme?

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Over to Giovanni

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Helping you to meet your objectives

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Poll 3: What is your main objective when designing your CTR scheme?

How Policy in Practice can help1. Listen and understand your objectives2. Discuss and propose potential changes3. Access your data and model4. Present comprehensive report 5. Facilitate engagement members and stakeholder consultation

Policy in Practice’s approach

Your Housing Benefit / Council Tax data

Our Universal Benefit Calculator

Rich, detailed impact assessment: who is

impacted and what are the Council-wide effects?

1. Use local data and insights to inform better decision making

2. See the impact of different models together with ongoing welfare reforms

3. Inform Council Tax Support decisions

Household details Under-Occupation Local Housing Allowance

Council Tax Support

• Reference number• Household Type• Tenure• Economic status• Earnings• Savings

• Under occupied (y/n)

• Under occupied (amount £)

• LHA cap (y/n)• LHA cap (amount £)

• Not protected (y/n)• Not protected (amount £)

Benefit Cap at £26k

Benefit Cap at £20k

Pay to Stay/LHA cap RSL

Other

• Could get WTC (y/n)

• Receiving DLA (y/n)

• Benefit cap 26k (y/n)• Amount (£)

• Could get WTC (y/n)

• Receiving DLA (y/n)

• Benefit cap 20k (y/n)

• Amount (£)

• Reduced (y/n)• Reduced amount (£)

• Earnings below NMW(y/n)• Free school meal eligibility

Universal Credit Support Cumulative Impact

Barriers to work

• Needs protection (y/n)• Needs protection (£)• In work conditionality (y/n)• Min income floor (y/n)

• DHP (£/no)• CTRS (£/no)

• Income Reduction 2015 (£)

• Impact 2015 (no/l/m/h)• Income Reduction 2016

(£)• Impact 2016 (no/l/m/h)

• Disability (0/1/2)• Caring responsibilities

(0/2)• Parenting

responsibilities(0/1/2)• Barriers to work

(low/medium/high)

Rich data for each household


The challenge for Leeds CC

“I can’t see whether the people being clobbered by reductions in council tax support, or under-occupation are the

same people that have been clobbered by other reforms.”

Steve Carey, Leeds City Council

Leicestershire objectives Objective 1: CO-OPERATION ACROSS DISTRICTS.

Project involved gathering the data from 6 different councils and modelling the same options across all of them.

Objective 2: ASKED TO IDENTIFY SAVINGS BY COUNTY Modelled 3 different options lowering support to 80%, 70% and reducing

savings limit / introducing a band cap.

Objective 3: SHOW IMPACTS OF CTS ALONGSIDE OTHER CHANGES IN WELFARE POLICY. Identified which households are set to lose the most under each scheme Provided a detailed analysis of the cumulative impact of welfare reform

at a household level Built and evidence-based case to argue the combined losses would

make collection harder, offsetting the projected savings and arguing against deep cuts in support.

Bath & NE Somerset Council’s objectives Objective 1: SAVINGS

We modelled total costs of each schemes and potential admin savings

Objective 2: PREPARE FOR UNIVERSAL CREDIT Impact of Universal Credit on households income Creating a scheme that fits for Universal Credit (banded & discounted schemes)

Objective 3: ADDITIONAL DISCRETIONARY SUPPORT Identified categories of households that would be highly impacted by changes Modelled sufficient savings for further discretionary fund

Objective 4: PRESENT EVIDENCE FOR CONSULTATION Provide detail breakdown of changes by different households types and groups Modelled different protection options for vulnerable households

Ashfield District Council’s objectives Objective 1: PROTECTING VULNERABLE HOUSEHOLDS UNDER

UNIVERSAL CREDIT We modelled Universal Credit impact on households income Protected vulnerable households’ by discounting their housing element

Objective 2: ENSURE SAVINGS WERE SPREAD WIDELY Impact analysis of changes to CTS on different households types

OUTCOME = > 4 options, each achieving these goals differently for the council to choose

How others are using their analysisNorth Hertfordshire Council Accurately forecast cost of CTRS

Helped eliminate £500,000 underspendIslington Council Used analysis to submit an equality impact assessment to

Members ahead of consultationPlymouth City Council Provided data to support options for member approval

Using it to support Families First policy; protection of children & children in poverty = supports city wide strategy

Leeds City Council Scheme that encouraged engagement in return for support, introduction of conditionality for JSA recipients

Who we’ve helped so far

In summaryWe can model CTR schemes to help you:

• Forecast expenditure in upcoming years• Account for UC roll-out and welfare reform• Model higher take-up as result of changes• Break down the effects on households• Produce an equality impact assessment• Calculate administrative costs• Model effect on arrears levels

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Questions

Leading Lights NetworkMarch 2016


Next steps

1. Download the CTRS handout in the panel 2. Complete the short feedback survey immediately after the

webinar3. Request existing client reports

We have permission from existing clients to share their reports with other local authorities who may be similar in structure, demographics or strategic vision to your council.


Thank youZoe [email protected]

Giovanni [email protected]

Steve [email protected]

[email protected]

designing your best fit council tax reduction scheme

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