Agenda item

The Welfare Advice Team Leader presented the report which updated and informed members about the work of the Welfare Advice Team for the financial year 2015/16. Her presentation included information about the following:

·         Work of the team and how clients are referred to team

·         Statistics for cases and claims

·         Local Assistance Scheme administered by Citizens Advice South Somerset

·         Full roll out of Universal Credit across the whole district from April 2017

·         Work in partnership with other agencies to make sure everyone gets the right help, at the right time by the most appropriate agency

Following comments made during a short discussion the Welfare Advice Team Leader responded to points of detail including that:

·         The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) was responsible for the roll out of Universal Credit. As Universal Credit is claimed digitally, some clients had experienced some issues, and such issues were fed back to the DWP for their consideration of future improvements to the process.

·         The statistics could be broken down further to upon request.

·         The digital process for Universal Credit needed to be completed in one go and it was not possible to save an application mid-process with a view to completing at a later time

·         Support was available from staff in the Revenues and Benefits Team to guide people through the digital process. However it was acknowledged there is a gap in support for customers who have other issues that are not digital related.

·         The reason for the trend of Discretionary Housing Payments was unknown but take up of the Local Assistance Scheme may have influenced some of the figures.

At the conclusion of discussion members thanked the officer for her informative report and presentation.