Information Request NPH00-126/20
I am writing to respond to your request for information received on Wednesday 22nd January 2020 which has been dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI).
Your request has been given the unique Information Request No. NPH00-126/20. Please quote this reference on all correspondence relating to this request.
You have requested the following information. Our response is shown in bold.
1. For the 401 tenants on UC with an alternative payment arrangement, please provide for that sub-group the number in arrears and average arrears as provided in the previous request for other groups.
Northampton Partnership Homes are unable to provide an accurate system report that will provide the arrears detail behind each of these cases.
2. Please clarify the total arrears owed to the Council in each of the previous 5 years. It would be preferable if this was at a point in time comparable to the above data provided, but I am content for another consistent date if this is how the data is held.
The total arrears figure in the table below are all as at week 41 of the financial year. This corresponds with the same period for the data already provided. The exception to this is 2017/18 where NPH have no data for week 41 due to a system failure, therefore the figure quoted is at week 42.
| Year | Total Arreas (week 41) |
| 2018/19 | £1,299,907 |
| 2017/18 | No data (£1,362,338 week 42) |
| 2016/17 | £1,287,184 |
| 2015/16 | £1,260,763 |
| 2014/15 | £1,318,130 |
3. Please can you clarify if tenants who have a Universal Credit Sanction which stops all payments would be classified in the above data as Universal Credit tenants or no benefit tenants.
Tenants who have a Universal Credit Sanction which stops all payments would continue to be classified as Universal Credit households.
4. If available, please provide a breakdown of the number, number in arrears and average arrears per tenant in arrears.
Northampton Partnership Homes will not necessarily be aware in cases where a tenant has been sanctioned. The organisation will only know if the tenant has advised. This information will only be recorded by a diary note and not within system fields that would allow for reports to be run against such a specific group.
5. If you can also clarify if tenants who have a reduction sanction are known to the council and, if so, again provide a breakdown as above.
As above, any tenants who have a reduction in Universal Credit due to sanction will not always be known to Northampton Partnership Homes.
The disclosure to you of the enclosed information does not give you a right to reproduce or publish such information without the express permission of Northampton Borough Council or any other owners of the copyright therein. To do so you will need a licence under the ‘Reuse of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015’.
If you consider NPH has not provided the information you have requested you have the right to challenge that decision in respect of your information request within 6 months.
Please write to:
Information Access Challenges
Northampton Partnership Homes
The Guildhall
St Giles Square
Northampton
NN1 1DE
Otherwise please email: information@nph.org.uk. Emails to this address are automatically acknowledged.
If your challenge is not resolved to your complete satisfaction, you will then have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner.
If you feel your request has been handled unfairly you should, in the first instance, complain using NPH’s Customer Feedback form and address it to the department you have been dealing with. NPH’s Complaints procedure (a full copy of which is available by telephoning or writing to NPH’s Data Management Officer) will then be used to try and resolve your complaint.
Yours sincerely,
Santina Chambers
Data Management Officer
Northampton Partnership Homes
01604 838794 | 0300 330 7003
www.northamptonpartnershiphomes.org.uk