Decision details

Councillor Godfrey introduced the Report and emphasised the importance of the Council proactively communicating and engaging with claimants with regard to the changes and also promoting the targeted support that the Council was able to be provide.

At the invitation of the Chairman, Councillor Porter addressed Cabinet as summarised below.

• Whilst welcoming the All Member Briefing on 5 July on the changes, ideally this could have taken place at an earlier date.
• Discretionary Housing Payments were very important to help ensure that tenants who may be in financial difficulty kept on top of their rent payments.
• The support offered by the Council’s Money and Benefits advisor and also Citizens Advice Bureau was welcomed. 

Cabinet agreed to the following for the reasons set out above and outlined in the Report.

RESOLVED:

1.            That measures being put in place to prepare for the roll out of Universal Credit in the Winchester area from July, as set out in paragraph 17 of the report, be supported.

2.            That the £9,600 of Personal Budgeting Advice and Digital Support Advice grants received from the Department of Work and Pensions be used to commission additional support services to supplement the work of Council teams.

3.            That the results of the “First Project” trial as detailed in the Appendix be noted, that a package of targeted support options be established and promoted but the option of offering managed “pre-paid” cards to City Council tenants not be pursued at this stage