The Resources and Corporate Performance Scrutiny Committee meeting was scheduled to receive the Insight, Learning and Impact Report – Quarter 2 2024/25 from the Executive Directors of Adults and Health, Children and Learning, Supporting Communities and Corporate Services. The Committee was also scheduled to receive a report about the Council Tax Support Scheme for 2025/26 and a report about the Camden Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS).

Insight, Learning and Impact Report - Quarter 2 2024/25

The second quarter report of the year covered a range of data collected by council services, alongside emerging trends, challenges and opportunities. One of the biggest opportunities the report highlighted was the start of the Money Advice Camden pilot, which is scheduled to fully launch in January 2025. The report included a cost of living dashboard which showed that an average of 765 applications for support from the Household Support Fund¹ were received every month. The report highlighted challenges in the Housing service, noting that Camden has a duty under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 to secure temporary accommodation for homeless households in priority need. It highlighted that at the end of September 2024, the Council was providing temporary accommodation to 968 households of which 536 were families, and that this number has increased by 45% since the end of September 2023. The report also highlighted a range of successes, such as the significant progress that has been made on tackling damp and mould, noting that the overall number of live cases ranges between 250 and 300 at present and this is a significant reduction on the caseload generated last year by the proactive communications carried out following the tragic death of Awaab Ishak. The report identified concerns about rising homelessness amongst asylum seekers, noting that those granted Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) in the UK are then required to make their own housing arrangements and can also approach local authorities to apply as homeless – many are leaving Home Office accommodation to sleep rough. The report showed that there has been a continued decrease in the number of children being educated at home in Camden. The report noted that there were 57 new EHE[^3] notifications between April and July 2024. The report also highlighted the continued increase in the number of children and young people in Camden in receipt of an Educational, Care and Health Plan (EHCP)², and noted that this was resulting in additional pressures on the system across the local area partnership, particularly our mainstream schools.

Council Tax Support 2025/26 and Housing Benefit disregarded income from assessments

This report was scheduled to invite the committee to consider the final scheme for Council Tax Support (CTS) for the financial year 2025/26. The report stated that the council is legally required under the Local Government Finance Act 2012 to have a Council Tax Support scheme in place, and that the Council must consult on its proposed scheme before making any changes. The report set out the proposed changes for the 2025/26 scheme, which included an increase in the maximum level of support. The report included an Equality Impact Assessment which noted that the Council has considered the potential impact of the proposed changes on different groups of residents and has sought to mitigate any negative impacts.

Review of the Camden Medium Term Financial Strategy

This report was scheduled to ask the committee to note and review the latest iteration of Camden's Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS), a key document that sets out the council's financial plans for the next few years. The report states that the MTFS 2023-2027, approved in January 2023, sought to achieve a strengthened financial position and that the Council has set balanced budgets for 2024/25. The report noted that the financial and operating context for the Council remains challenging and that forecast overspends at Quarter 2 (Q2) of £19.3m are a challenge to the Council’s financial stability. The report went on to highlight the risks to the financial stability of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA), stating that the HRA is forecasting to overspend by £3.5m in 2024/25. The overspend is being driven by high interest rates on debt and significant inflationary pressures on repair costs along with emergency action to tackle damp and mould. The report highlighted the high degrees of uncertainty about the council's long term financial stability, stating that the position is further challenged by those in year forecast for overspends of £19.3m in the General Fund and £3.5m in the HRA. Finally the report stated that it is key for the Council to bring the current forecast overspend down and to ensure it has a clear view of genuine unavoidable budget pressures in order to shape the Council’s future budget setting and Medium-Term Financial Strategies.