Reshaping Revenues and Benefits

Councils are reshaping their Revenues and Benefits services in response to Universal Credit and on-going austerity targets

Councils are facing an onerous challenge, attempting to make substantial financial savings, engage with customers more effectively and align themselves with central government’s Universal Credit benefit scheme.

Finding efficiency savings is paramount, but some councils are going further by creating new income streams by trading their Revenues and Benefits service. Austerity and Universal Credit may collectively represent the biggest ever challenge to the Revenues and Benefits world, but councils are demonstrating extraordinary resilience and optimism for the future.

In this report we look at four different approaches that councils have adopted to affect change and achieve the necessary efficiency targets and budget savings that are necessary in this challenging climate. These approaches vary, though many councils are looking to introduce a collection of strategies to meet their fiscal targets over the coming years.

It is our belief that in the longer-term these strategies are unlikely to be adopted in isolation. Indeed, we think that to be successful, councils will need to blend these strategies to optimise results.
Darren Walklate, Divisional Director of Solutions and Service Design, Civica

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