The Revenue Support Grant, which includes funding for Council Tax Reduction (CTR), has been subject to year on year reductions; and is expected to reduce further so that by 2020/21 it will cease entirely

The expanded scope of Universal Credit will significantly increase the administrative burden of the current CTR scheme for the Council and will create council tax collection difficulties

Following the decision of Executive (10 October 2017), public consultation on proposed changes to the CTR scheme to reduce cost and mitigate the administrative burden has been undertaken

The report of the Strategic director corporate Services (Document “AN”) sets out the results of that consultation; and makes recommendations to revise the CTR scheme for 2018/19 and that transitional support is put in place to help those that see a significant reduction in their CTR as a consequence of those proposed changes.

Recommended –

That Executive consider and agree the following recommendations to Council –

(1) That the outcome of the public consultation as set out in appendix 1 to Document “AN” is considered and noted

(2) That members have due regard to their responsibilities under the Public Sector Equality Duty and consider the potential impacts of the proposed changes on working age claimants as set out in the Equality Impact Assessment at appendix 3 to Document “AN”

(3) That the following amendments to the current Council Tax Reduction (CTR) scheme are adopted and take effect from 1 April 2018

(4) That the CTR discretionary support scheme as set out in Appendix 4 to Document “AN” is adopted from 1 April 2018

(Corporate Overview & Scrutiny Committee)

(Martin Stubbs – 01274 432056)

The Revenue Support Grant, which included funding for Council Tax Reduction (CTR), had been subject to year on year reductions; and was expected to reduce further so that by 2020/21 it would cease entirely

The expanded scope of Universal Credit would significantly increase the administrative burden of the current CTR scheme for the Council and would create council tax collection difficulties

Following the decision of Executive (10 October 2017), public consultation on proposed changes to the CTR scheme to reduce cost and mitigate the administrative burden had been undertaken

The report of the Strategic Director Corporate Services (Document “AN”) set out the results of that consultation; and made recommendations to revise the CTR scheme for 2018/19 and that transitional support was put in place to help those that saw a significant reduction in their CTR as a consequence of those proposed changes.

The Strategic Director introduced the report and referred to the responses received to the consultation.  The Equality Impact Assessment identified that people who were disabled would be disproportionally affected by the proposals, however he pointed out that there were measures in place in the Council Tax scheme that sought to provide additional support for disabled claimants and that there was a hardship fund available to that group.  He added that female claimants would also be disproportionally affected and that the hardship fund would also be available to them. 

The Leader pointed out that if the current scheme were unchanged it would cost the Council £37m next year which would equate to 1% of income.  She added that this was not sustainable as by 2020, the Council would receive no Government funding.  The new scheme would reduce by approximately £4m.  She acknowledged the need to protect vulnerable individuals and supported the hardship scheme.

The Strategic Director noted that in talks with Advice Centres they recognised the challenges faced by the Council and understood the reasons for the changes and had helped in developing the mitigation.

The Leader referred to the impact of welfare changes on individuals and  requested that the Strategic Director report to her on steps that could be taken to support individuals affected by the changes.

Resolved –

(1)          That the following recommendations to Council be agreed –

(a) That the outcome of the public consultation as set out in appendix 1 to Document “AN” is considered and noted

(b) That members have due regard to their responsibilities under the Public Sector Equality Duty and consider the potential impacts of the proposed changes on working age claimants as set out in the Equality Impact Assessment at appendix 3 to Document “AN”

(c) That the following amendments to the current Council Tax Reduction (CTR) scheme are adopted and take effect from 1 April 2018

(i) Set the maximum CTR for all working age recipients at 70% of a Band A property for all claimants

(ii) Limit entitlement of CTR to those that qualify for £4.00 or more per week

(iii) Remove the Second Adult Rebate

(iv) Introduce a £1 Minimum Change threshold

(v) Assess self-employed in receipt of UC on actual income for the first 12 months of self-employment, and on actual income or the National Living Wage, whichever is greater, thereafter

(d) That the CTR discretionary support scheme as set out in Appendix 4 to Document “AN” is adopted from 1 April 2018

(2)          That the Director of Corporate Services report to the Leader of Council recommending any proposals to support individuals affected by Government welfare changes.

Corporate Overview & Scrutiny Committee

ACTION: Strategic Director Corporate Services