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Strategy document; 

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Cabinet report 17 March 2009;

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Notes on meeting held on 24 November 2009;

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Request for Scrutiny  Work Programme Item.

(i)

in 2006 the Council and its partners worked together to develop the only multi agency Income Maximisation Strategy in England; the strategy brought together advice agencies across all sectors to deliver the best possible services in Plymouth;

(ii)

the Income Maximisation Strategy successfully co-coordinated services that dealt with over £190m of problem debt and raised £13m of previously unclaimed welfare benefits and tax credits;

(iii)

the economic downturn presented new challenges such as unemployment, falling house prices, fuel poverty, affordable credit, problem debt and house repossessions;

(iv)

in response to these issues, the Financial Inclusion Strategy 2009-2012 was developed by the Council in partnership with other organisations to improve financial inclusion;

(v)

in January 2009, a consultation document was distributed via partners across all sectors to identify work that would enable the Council and its partners to work together to co-ordinate and monitor progress;

(vi)

the key aims of the strategy were–

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maximise the take up of welfare benefits and tax credits with an emphasis on in work benefits;

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reduce problem debt; 

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provide accessible and high quality financial inclusion services;

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reduce fuel poverty;

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maximise opportunities for delivering financial inclusion  through partnership working;

(vii)

the consultation exercise identified a change of emphasis in the strategy, which included -

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prioritisation of take up of in work benefits and tax credits;

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more focus on money and debt advice for people adversely affected by the economic situation;

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maximising income and assisting people in using their money to the best advantage;

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delivering debt prevention services as well as debt remedy services;

(viii)

to achieve the aims of the strategy the following actions were undertaken –

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commissioning of face to face debt and money advice;

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strengthening the provision of credit unions as an alternative to doorstep lending;

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targeting advice to remove barriers to work eg tax credit and child care for parents;

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raising awareness for advice agencies on fuel poverty;

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the production of fact sheets reflecting economic climate;

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welfare benefits and tax credit take up initiatives;

(ix)

the strategy’s action plan would be refreshed annually;

(x)

in the last 12 months, the City had experienced 75 per cent increase in mortgage and 57 per cent increase in rent possession orders;

(xi)

the third sector expected to deal with over £100m of debt in the City this year and based on national figures, there could be £48.5m in unclaimed welfare benefits and tax credits;

(xii)

compared  to the same time last year, debt enquires were up by 26 per cent and welfare benefit enquiries were up by 50 per cent.

(a)

monitoring procedures were in place to ensure that services were ‘hitting’ the right people; in order to evaluate the services provided, Routeways sought feedback from one in five people who had used their services and the Citizens’ Advice Bureau (CRB) one in ten users;

(b)

with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

(1)

to ensure the robust and timely monitoring of the impact of the work delivered through the action place in respect of those areas of work subject to contract with external providers and in order to accommodate new demands as they arise (eg the needs of people new to the benefits system, as a result of the impact of the economic downturn) and to asses the impact of the action plan on city wide inequalities;

(2)

to consider the provision of information about financial inclusion services using a range of channels (eg through the Council website and facilities managed by the Council including libraries) and at times convenient to people requiring this information;

(3)

to consider opportunities to link up advice giving opportunities to encourage people to claim all their entitlements; (the Panel is fully  supportive of campaigns to promote this work);

(4)

that links with partner organisations and other employers are further explored in order to make the best use of available resources to support work delivered through the action plan, and consideration of the role of Council departments and partner organisations in tackling fuel poverty;

(5)

that barriers for the take up of free school meals are explored to ensure those eligible for this service receive their entitlements.