29 March 2019

Changes to support for Universal Credit discussed by councillors

Upcoming changes to the way support is provided to customers in receipt of Universal Credit payments have been examined by councillors.

A report highlighting the launch of a new support service known as ‘Help to Claim’ on April 1 was brought before Aberdeenshire Council’s Communities Committee at its meeting on Thursday (Thu, Mar 28). 

Universal Credit was created to replaces six existing payments: Housing Benefit, Child Tax Credit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, income-based Employment and Support Allowance, and Working Tax Credit.

There are currently 3,412 Universal Credit claimants in Aberdeenshire.
The benefit is paid monthly in arrears and claimants must apply and manage their claims online.

Under an agreement with the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), support for claimants has been provided by Aberdeenshire Council for a number of years during the rollout of Universal Credit locally.

The arrangement covered personal budgeting support and assisted digital support to help people manage their applications online, although the number of people accessing such support has been relatively low.

From April 1 this year, a new partnership between the DWP and Citizens Advice will lead this support, although the council will continue to provide related advice as part of its general duties.

Help to Claim will have an emphasis on assisting vulnerable claimants to apply online for Universal Credit and providing support up to the first full payment of the benefit, and will be delviered by telephone, by webchat and through face-to-face discussions. 

There are four Citizens Advice Bureaus in Aberdeenshire, serving Turriff and District, Banff and Buchan, South West Aberdeenshire, and Kincardine & Mearns.

Since January, the Kincardine and Mearns CAB has been delivering a pilot of the webchat and telephone service which covers Aberdeen City and Shire.

Along with the Aberdeen City CAB, a North-East Scotland regional hub is to be formed to provide support for Universal Credit claimants, along with a financial ‘health check’.

The service will be available Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm and will enable customers to make an appointment at their local CAB if required.

In light of the changes, Aberdeenshire Council is undertaking a review of information and advice services both internally and externally to the council. This process will explore models that will build on partnership working and ensure that services are accessible, of high quality and good value and that are available across Aberdeenshire. The committee will get an update on this work in June.

The committee also heard of the work the housing service has undertaken to ensure council tenants receive appropriate levels of support regarding the transition to Universal Credit.

The report before councillors highlighted that as the full responsibility for claims lies with tenants it is not easy to get a full picture of the number making claims.

But procedures have been developed to contact all tenants where adjustments are requested to rent levels as a result of a Universal Credit so that support can be offered to help tenants successful complete their claims.

Officers told councillors about the range of support being requested, with an anecdotal rise in the numbers seeking support with claim appeals. They were also told that support on accessing a number of services online was increasing, not unique to Universal Credit digital support.

Committee chair Cllr Anne Stirling said: “The issue of Universal Credit is a complex and detailed one. The geographic and socio-economic range across of Aberdeenshire makes the implementation of this particularly difficult and it is a credit to our colleagues that the full implementation has been such a success. We are keeping close to all of the potential issues and will get update reports back regularly to be sure that we can spot trends before they start to become issues.

“Aberdeenshire Council has a supportive role in the implementation of Universal Credit and the person-centred approach from our teams is both reassuring and commendable and my thanks to everyone dealing with such sensitive and emotive matters.”

Vice-chair Iris Walker said: “Any issue faced by any Aberdeenshire resident in accessing Universal Credit is something we need to be reactive to. Today we heard a lot about how our teams are working with all other partners to join the delivery up in the best way we can.