WELCOME CCR-PS EDITORIAL BOARD EDITOR’S LETTER


MEMBERS Jackie Adams Group manager (rents & benefits), London Borough of Barking & Dagenham Council


Bill Carragher Customer relations manager, Registers of Scotland


Ian Davies Recovery, Huntingdon District Council


Patrick Doherty Director, PKD Consultancy


John Feenan Head of government sector, GB Group


Debbie Greenwood Income and NNDR manager, Colchester Borough Council


Matthew Harrison Enforcement officer, Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council


Wendy Ingram Senior enforcement officer, Denbighshire County Council


Adrian Johnson Revenues recovery team co-ordinator, South Kesteven District Council


Ken Jones Head of revenues and benefits, Denbighshire County Council


Geoff Kent Head of income and ICT, Fenland District Council


Stewart Kiddel Revenues recovery officer, Liberata


David Lunn Revenues & benefits manager, Chiltern District Council


Barrie Minney Senior bailiff, Brighton & Hove City Council


Dennis Schulman Legal officer, Department of Legal & Democratic Services, City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council


Fern Silverio Divisional director, collections & housing benefits, Harrow Council


Alistair Townsend Revenues services manager, GBS Midland Region Revenues and Benefits Service


Hello and welcome to the June edition of CCR-PublicSector. The figures for Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) in Scotland, for the


period between 1 April 2014 and 31 December 2014, show that councils made just over 118,000 awards of DHP, with a total value of more than £50m. Housing minister Margaret Burgess said: “DHPs are a lifeline for tenants who


need extra help with housing costs or to offset the harmful effects of the bedroom tax which was introduced by the UK government in 2013 and affects over 70,000 Scottish households. “The Scottish government is providing £35m this year to ensure every local


authority in Scotland will have sufficient funding to fully mitigate the bedroom tax whilst also protecting non-bedroom-tax elements of DHPs. “Using the new powers coming to Scotland, the Scottish government will abolish


the bedroom tax as soon as possible. “We continue to do all we can to limit the damaging effects of the UK


government’s welfare cuts, which impact on some of the poorest and most vulnerable in our society. Our current and planned funding will result in an investment of around £296m over the period 2013-2014 to 2015-2016 to help those most in need.” The news comes as a contrast to figures for UK-wide employment which has


reached an all-time high of 73.5% – and over the last year employment growth has outstripped every other major economy. Unemployment has dropped to 5.5%, and there are more than half a million


more people in work compared with a year ago. Employment minister Priti Patel, said the government has taken action to


reform the welfare system, adding that the number of people claiming the main out-of-work benefits has fallen by one million since 2010, and that long-term unemployment has also seen the largest annual fall in 17 years, supported by the Work Programme, which is the biggest single payment-by-results employment programme Britain has ever seen. The number of vacancies in the economy is now over 700,000 at any one time


across the UK. Ms Patel, said: “Our long-term economic plan is creating a better, more


prosperous future for Britain, with employment at an all-time high and more women in work than ever before. Behind the statistics are countless stories of individual hard work and determination – of people feeling more financially secure with a regular wage. “I want to continue to ensure our welfare reforms are giving people the skills and


opportunities to move into work to give everyone in our country the chance to make the most of their lives.” Only time will tell which statistics best reflect the real sense of the economy and


the impact that will have on local and central government collections. Before I go, I wanted to mention how pleased I have been to see the levels of


enthusiasm this year for CCR-interactive and the Credit Excellence Awards. The Delegate Packs for CCR-interactive and our Credit Excellence Awards Application Packs are now available, so if you have not done so already, I would encourage you to request a Delegate Pack from Alison at alison@ccrmagazine.co.uk and an Awards Application Pack from Ian at awards@ccrmagazine.co.uk. Enjoy the magazine!


Stephen Kiely, Editor


June 2015


www.CCR-PublicSector.com


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