Agenda item

Council Tax Reduction Scheme Review Consultation

 

The committee are asked to consider and respond to the CTR Scheme consultation questions regarding the proposed changes to the scheme.

Decision:

The Committee resolved the following:

 

  • Part 1 – reducing the level of discount provided to a maximum of 75% - recommended that this change is not implemented and that the maximum level of support remains at 100% (Votes: 7 in favour, 1 against, 1 abstention)

 

  • Part 2 – introducing non-dependent deductions of £10 per week – recommended that this change be adopted (Votes: 8 in favour, 1 abstention)

 

  • Part 3 – restricting support to band D Council Tax levels – recommended that this change be adopted (Votes: 6 in favour, 3 abstentions)

 

  • Part 4 – reducing the time we can backdate claims to 1 month – recommended that this change be adopted (Votes: 8 in favour, 1 abstention)

 

Minutes:

Councillor Liz Leyshon introduced the item and handed over to the Interim Revenues and Benefits Manager, Richard Sealy, who gave a report on the consultation exercise and consultation questions currently being undertaken in respect of proposed changes to the Council Tax Reduction (CTR) scheme for 2025/26.

 

 The report stated the following:

 

  • The Council is required by law to agree to a CTR scheme for the coming financial year for both working age and pension age people, although the rules for the pension age scheme are prescribed by Government.
  • There is no requirement to change the scheme from year to year. However, in view of the current financial emergency, Council agreed on 20 December 2023, when setting this year’s scheme, to a full review of the scheme during 2024/25 with a view to delivering cost reductions for 2025/26.
  • By law the Council is required to undertake a full public consultation exercise on any changes proposed to scheme. The consultation sets out proposed changes which could deliver significant savings of up to £6.4m to the Council if all the proposed changes were implemented.
  • The proposed changes, if implemented in full, could see a significant reduction in the amount of support provided to working age people on low incomes. This is likely to cause hardship and in consequence it is reasonable to anticipate an increase in the number of claims for Exceptional Hardship and a detrimental impact on the Council Tax collection rate.

 

The Committee were taken through the proposed changes and consultation questions and the potential impact of implementing these changes including an equalities impact assessment was also highlighted. The officer requested the Scrutiny Committee to respond as part of the consultation process.

Members of the Committee discussed the report and made the following comments:

 

  • Has consideration been given to applying a flat rate, rather than a percentage to the CTR?
  • It is incumbent on Councillors to try to find savings from within the Council rather than taking it from our residents.
  • Requested a breakdown of divisions or areas where most residents would be affected by the proposals.
  • Grave concerns about the effect of the proposed reduction in support from 100% to 75% on the low-income families.  The benefits they receive will now have to go towards their Council Tax bill.
  • There will be increased casework for Councillors dealing with residents who are unable to pay their Council Tax if the support is reduced to 75%.
  • Publicising the consultation should be revisited and all parish and town clerks should be notified.

 

In response to questions raised, Richard made the following comments:

 

  • All figures in the scheme predate the Chancellors announcement but the Winter Fuel Allowance is not taken into account when calculating the CTR.
  • Fixed flat rates are not possible to implement at this stage due to operating on 4 different legacy software systems. Once operating on the one system, this will be considered.
  • The consultation started in late July and will run until 2 October 2024. There have been over 1000 responses so far. There will be an all-member briefing on 16 September which is part of the consultation process.
  • Figures quoted are based upon the current Council Tax.
  • Final recommendations will be brought back to the Scrutiny C & R Committee, prior to the Executive and Full Council for final approval, so there will be another chance for the Committee to scrutinise the final proposed scheme.

 

At the conclusion of the discussion, the Committee were asked to vote on the 4 Recommendations within the report, and resolved the following:

 

RESOLVED

 

Part 1 – reducing the level of discount provided to a maximum of 75% - recommended that this change is not implemented and that the maximum level of support remains at 100% (Votes: 7 in favour, 1 against, 1 abstention)

 

Part 2 – introducing non-dependent deductions of £10 per week – recommended that this change be adopted (Votes: 8 in favour, 1 abstention)

 

Part 3 – restricting support to band D Council Tax levels – recommended that this change be adopted (Votes: 6 in favour, 3 abstentions)

 

Part 4 – reducing the time we can backdate claims to 1 month – recommended that this change be adopted (Votes: 8 in favour, 1 abstention)

 

Cllr Simon Coles left the meeting at this point in the agenda.

 

Supporting documents: