Issue - meetings

Following consideration of the officer report, appendices, debate and an amendment, the Executive approved the consultation exercise on proposed changes to the Council Tax Reduction scheme for 2025/26, as set out in Appendix 2, following the removal of Part 3 – Removing the disregard of £25 a week from earnings, and Part 5 – Removing the disregards for certain incomes and families with disabilities from the consultation.

The Leader of the Council, Cllr Bill Revans, invited the Lead Member for Resources and Performance, Cllr Liz Leyshon, to introduce the report. Cllr Leyshon highlighted that the proposed changes to the scheme only impacted working age adults and explained the timeframe for setting the new scheme and the decision to be made regarding the consultation today.

Richard Sealy, Interim Revenues & Benefits Manager, added to these points: setting out the areas of the schemes that may need to change and the financial impact of those, which are estimates; the legal obligation to carry out a full consultation exercise to make changes to the scheme; the Equalities Impact Assessments that had been undertaken; the benchmarking exercise comparing to other councils, including those in the Local Government Futures ‘family’ group, those that have had to serve a Section 114 notice, and in the geographical area; the potential saving of £12m which may result in significant hardship and be counterproductive if it leads to an increase in arrears; and that the consultation would be coming to Scrutiny – Corporate and Resources in their August meeting.

The Leader of the Council, Cllr Bill Revans, invited comments from Committee Members and other Members present, questions and points raised included: the unfairness and unsustainability of the council tax system; the potential for hardship among disabled people and carers; the likelihood of achieving the £12m savings; the importance of ensuring the public are aware of Somerset Council’s financial situation; support from central government for the Council Tax Reduction Scheme; ensuring the consultation is fair and good information will be gathered; whether a timetable could be put forward on the single person discount and moratorium; the possible benefits of a campaign to get more people on direct debit payments; the impact of the DWP inflation figure on council tax payments; the potential for government policy on council tax to change; collection rates; the need for a member briefing; the data from the 5 previous councils used in modelling; the implication for Care Leavers.

Cllr Theo Butt Philip proposed an amendment to remove Section 3 – Removing the Disregard of £25 a week from earnings, and Section 5 – Removing the disregards for certain incomes and families with disabilities, which was seconded by Cllr Federica Smith-Roberts. The motion was carried.

The Leader of the Council concluded the discussion and proceeded to vote on the recommendations, which were agreed.

Following consideration of the officer report, appendices, debate and an amendment, the Executive approved the consultation exercise on proposed changes to the Council Tax Reduction scheme for 2025/26, as set out in Appendix 2, following the removal of Part 3 – Removing the disregard of £25 a week from earnings, and Part 5 – Removing the disregards for certain incomes and families with disabilities from the consultation.