The Leicestershire Partnership Revenues & Benefits Joint Committee was scheduled to meet on Thursday, 26 March 2026, to review performance and financial reports. The meeting's agenda also included noting the committee's forward plan and future meeting dates.

Performance Report

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on the performance of the Leicestershire Partnership for the period ending January 2026. This report, detailed in the Performance Report Jan 2026, was intended to inform members of the partnership's operational metrics. The report included data on caseloads for Council Tax, Non-Domestic Rates, and Housing Benefit across Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council (HBBC), Harborough District Council (HDC), and North West Leicestershire District Council (NWLDC). Performance indicators for the speed of processing new claims and changes in benefits, as well as the collection of Council Tax and Non-Domestic Rates, were also scheduled for review. The report also provided an update on Housing Benefit debt and fraud detection.

A section of the report focused on the impact of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Housing Benefit subsidy rules, specifically concerning 'Local Authority Error/Time Delay', detailing the actual figures against established thresholds and tolerances for each of the three participating councils.

Furthermore, the report was set to provide an update on Welfare Reform, including the introduction of the new Crisis and Resilience Fund from 1 April 2026, which aims to provide a multi-year settlement for locally delivered crisis support, moving away from the Household Support Fund. It also addressed the final stages of the Universal Credit roll-out and managed migration for legacy benefit claimants, noting the DWP's decision to maintain an 'open extension period'. The report also touched upon compliance with the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the DWP regarding encryption requirements.

Updates were also scheduled for the Revenues Operational Team, covering Council Tax collection, which has remained consistent with previous years despite cost-of-living pressures. The report noted that the team's workload was impacted by a recent Microsoft 365 upgrade, leading to a backlog of work. Business Rate collection was described as volatile, with two of the three authorities tracking below the previous year's performance. The team's focus was on arrears recovery and annual billing, with budget announcements creating pressure on the annual billing timetable.

The Business Development & Support section was expected to cover preparatory work for Annual Billing following successful testing, and innovation and improvement initiatives, including developing high-level recovery policies and progressing a hybrid mail solution. The impact of the Microsoft 365 update on workload was further detailed, highlighting issues with file compatibility, access to shared folders, and file handling difficulties for the Housing Benefits team.

Financial Performance Report

The committee was scheduled to receive the Finances Report Revs Bens to Jan 26, providing an update on the financial performance of the Leicestershire Partnership for the period from April 2025 to January 2026. The report indicated an overall net underspend on expenditure of £139,540 as a variance to date, with a forecast of an overall underspend at the year-end due to vacant posts. Key variances highlighted included an underspend in salaries (£121,000) due to vacant posts and an overspend in postage (£14,000). The report projected that the reserves held by the partnership would increase from £638,940 at the end of March 2025 to £758,940 at the year-end. The report also detailed the budget position, actual expenditure, and variances for income and expenditure, as well as a breakdown of expenditure by type and timing differences.

Forward Plan

The committee was scheduled to note the joint committee's Work Plan 2025-2026, which outlines upcoming reports and decisions. This included planned financial and performance reports, internal audit findings, and the schedule of future meetings.

Dates of Future Meetings

The committee was scheduled to note that the next meeting would be held on 25 June 2026 at Harborough District Council.