Last Monday, we had a chat about the HB Subsidy Administration Grant. Many of us feel that this grant now covers less than half the actual cost of running the system, especially since we’re increasingly dealing with more complex cases that are pricier to manage. We also touched on how Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) are being used more for Universal Credit cases, which are similarly costly because the council has to dig up information that the Department for Work and Pensions hasn’t collected.
Finding and keeping the skilled staff we need for these tasks is getting tougher. It’s particularly challenging given that, once you account for inflation, public sector wages have slightly dropped by 0.3% over the last year, whereas private sector wages have gone up by 2.3%. Since 2007, public sector employees are earning 1% less, while those in the private sector have seen a 4% wage increase.
We also talked about the stealthy increase in the Parish and Town precept, affecting about 35% of homeowners with an 8.5% hike in their charges this year. Town and parish councils say this is because they’re taking on essential services from higher-tier councils, a claim the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities disputes.
The recording can be accessed from https://bit.ly/VNR240408. While the slide pack, files and reports can be downloaded below.
Files and reports to be downloaded:
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Please note that the handout contains additional slides covering other items of interest in the news and job adverts, which are provided in partnership with Business Smart (https://www.businesssmartsolutions.co.uk/).