Streamlining Welsh Benefits Steering Group meeting: 28 November 2024

Fran Targett, Chair
Emma Willis, Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA)
Joanna Goodwin, Centre for Digital Public Services (CDPS)
Katie Till, The Trussell Trust
Jen Griffiths, SRO Group Chair final meeting as Chair
Amanda Main, Caerphilly CBC
Lindsey Phillips, WLGA
Miranda Evans, Disability Wales
Nigel Griffiths, Bridgend CBC
Simon Hatch, Citizens Advice Cymru
Steffan Evans, The Bevan Foundation
Claire Germain, Welsh Government 

Also in attendance

Jane Hutt, Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip
Adrian Devereux, Workstream Facilitator
Angela Endicott, Workstream Facilitator
Ben Gibbs, Workstream Facilitator
Glyn Jones, Workstream Facilitator 
Emma Morales, CDPS
Harriet Green, CDPS
David Willis, Welsh Government
Launa Anderson, Welsh Government
Mel James, Welsh Government
Paul Neave, Welsh Government
Joanna Leek, Welsh Government
Caroline Shaw, Welsh Government  

Apologies

Helal Uddin (Ethnic Minorities and Youth Support Team), Lisa Hayward (WLGA), Victoria Lloyd (Age Cymru), Leah Whitty (Workstream Facilitator)
 

The chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and expressed sadness over the passing of Karen McFarlane from Children in Wales recognising the valuable contribution from Children in Wales in the work of the Steering Group. Children in Wales have been approached to ensure that they will continue to contribute to the work going forward. 

There was a proposal to invite membership from the Older People’s Commissioner and the Children's Commissioner for the next stage of work.

Action point 1: Older People’s Commissioner and Children’s Commissioner to be invited to attend Steering Group meetings.

The Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip (Cabinet Secretary) reaffirmed her commitment to the programme, emphasising the importance of maximising income and access to Welsh benefits. She stressed the need to make the process as straightforward as possible for people to claim their entitlements.

The Cabinet Secretary highlighted the role of the Children's and Older People's Commissioners noting they are engaged and interested in contributing to the programme.

This work is a key element of the child poverty strategy launched earlier in the year, which the Cabinet Secretary noted as a key driver in tackling child poverty, maximising income for families and reiterated that Welsh benefits are a lifeline for many people in Wales.

The Cabinet Secretary discussed the Phase One Route Map, which aims to streamline the process for claiming three key benefits by April 2026. She emphasised the importance of local government leadership and collaboration in achieving this goal. The role of Councillor Anthony Hunt and the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) was highlighted in driving this initiative.

The Phase One Route Map was presented to the Partnership Council meeting by the Cabinet Secretary, where it received encouraging responses and endorsements from local government leaders. They acknowledged the challenges faced by local authorities but noted their focus on the initiative.

The Cabinet Secretary acknowledged the complexity of implementing the Phase One Route Map, particularly regarding mechanisms and eligibility criteria. The need for sharing good practice and understanding the challenges faced by different delivery partners was stressed.

The Cabinet Secretary announced an investment of over half a million pounds in a 12-month benefit take-up pilot to explore the complexities of data sharing and analysis. The pilot aims to help local authorities identify residents who are missing out on their financial entitlements.

The pilot will involve local authorities being given access to a data analytics tool. This tool will help them directly target vulnerable residents who are missing out on their financial entitlements, based on data analysis. Expressions of interest are invited from up to 12 local authorities to participate in the pilot, starting in January with a commitment to fully engage in the concluding evaluation.

The Cabinet Secretary highlighted the positive results seen from similar targeted approaches in Wales and expressed hope the pilot would provide useful insights and support the broader goal of streamlining the delivery of benefits. 

Action 2: a note requesting expressions of interest for the 12-month benefit take-up pilot to be circulated to LA Leaders.

The Chair of the SRO Group provided feedback from the SRO Group, highlighting the challenges of local authority engagement, the importance of clear direction, and the need for funding and resources to deliver outcomes.

The Chair highlighted the challenges of engaging local authorities in the initial workstreams. She noted some areas had good engagement, while others did not, and emphasised the need for clear direction to encourage participation.

The financial challenges faced by local authorities including limited resources and the need to release efficiencies to deliver the outcomes of the Benefits Charter was raised. The burden of topping up the Council Tax Reduction Scheme (CTRS) was highlighted as a significant financial risk.

The Chair emphasised the need for a clear direction and a well-defined route map to guide the work of the SRO Group and acknowledged this had now been delivered and was a positive step in providing this direction.

The SRO Group’s commitment to the Benefits Charter, their work to encourage local authority membership on the work streams and the importance of local authority commitment to achieving the goals of the Charter was highlighted by the Chair.

The Chair emphasised the differences in local authority structures and priorities, noting a one-size-fits-all approach may not work. She stressed the need to respect these differences while working towards common goals.

The Chair suggested taking a more targeted approach to addressing the gaps in benefit take-up and emphasised the importance of using data to identify where the gaps are and focusing resources on those areas to maximise impact. The investment in the 12-month pilot using a data analysis tool is also welcomed.

Action point 3: Chair of Steering Group to meet newly appointed SRO Chair.

There was a discussion around the risk register, highlighting the inclusion of capacity and funding risks which had been raised by the SRO group. It was agreed that risks identified by SRO group would be held on the central register and it would be updated regularly to reflect emerging risks and changes.

R7 and R8 on the current risk register do mention capacity and funding risks, but it is essential to ensure this reflects LA capacity and funding. Financial risks are currently amber and need to be upgraded to red and monitored closely.

The importance of political engagement in addressing the risks identified in the risk register was mentioned. The Cabinet Secretary plans to engage with local authority leaders to discuss these risks and find solutions.

The group discussed the wording of R2 relating to potential impact of UK welfare reforms on the Welsh benefits system. It was agreed this needs to remain on the risk register as the group need to stay mindful of these reforms and their implications for the Streamlining Welsh Benefits (SWB) programme.

Action 4: update risk log as follows: 

• R2 amended to say stay mindful of UK Gov position and impact of landscape on this work
• R7 to include more on LA Capacity
• R8 Financial risk to be upgraded to Red
• additional risks to be added, R9 , lack of understanding of complexity and differences of local authorities
• R10, pilot resources could detract from the wider SWB work

The Steering Group discussed a joint proposal for a new delivery approach for the SWB programme presented by CDPS. To achieve a more dynamic and agile delivery method now that a Phase One Route Map is in place, options have been discussed by the core policy team and workstream leads which led to a recommendation that the workstream approach is not flexible enough as work progresses. Instead, a task and finish approach was proposed, focussing on key areas and involving the right people at the right time. This will allow for flexible membership, and it was acknowledged the workstream approach had worked well to develop the Route Map, but a change of approach was required now the focus was on delivery to keep things moving at pace. 

The group agreed to discuss the frequency of future meetings, considering the new agile approach and the need for effective governance and decision-making.

It was suggested not to rigidly adhere to the 5 suggested groups in the paper and allow ad hoc groups to be set up to carry out tasks where needed to promote more flexible working. 

Third sector representatives were supportive of the proposed approach as it would ensure any feed in of lived experience where needed rather than trying to sit across all the workstreams which was proving to be difficult. 

The group therefore agreed to the proposed approach and to its immediate commencement pending communication being sent to the SRO Group.

There was a discussion on how the pilot project starting in January 2025 feeds into the work and whether the Steering Group would have oversight of that work. It was agreed updates on the pilot would be provided to the Steering Group as the pilot progresses providing useful insights into the data sharing element of this work. 

Action point 5: core team to work with SRO Group for appropriate T and F group representation.

The minutes were reviewed for accuracy (23/09/2024) and confirmed.

The Steering Group will next meet on 29 January 2025 via microsoft teams. The future of how and when the group will meet was proposed as an agenda item.