Issue - meetings

Report of Director of Service Delivery

Lead Cabinet member: Councillor Zoe Nicholson

(Key decision):

That Cabinet, with the objective of implementing a revised Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2022/23:

(1) Authorise the Chief Finance Officer to enter into consultation with the major precepting authorities

(2) Authorise the drafting of a scheme that calculates a Council Tax Reduction of 100% of a person’s council tax liability, removes the Minimum-Income Floor for the self-employed and removes the £5.00 minimum award

(3) On completion of the consultation and drafting authorised under (1) and (2) above, authorise the Director of Service Delivery to consult with other interested parties.

The Cabinet considered the report of Director of Service Delivery, seeking their approval to commence the statutory consultation process that the Council would need to follow to make changes to the current Local Council Tax Reduction (LCTR) scheme.

The proposals would increase support for low-income families and people in financial difficulty.

The Council would aim to consult on adopting a scheme for 2022/23 that:

a)    Calculates LCTR on 100% of claimant’s council tax liability

b)    Does not apply the Minimum-Income Floor to self-employed claimants

c)    Does not have a minimum award value

Following the consultation process, the Cabinet could then make the relevant recommendations to Full Council in February 2022.

Policy and Performance Advisory Committee (PPAC), held on 3 June 2021, considered the report and were not supportive of the officer recommendations set out in the report. Councillor Linington, Leader of the Opposition, was in attendance to present PPAC’s discussion.

Resolved (Key decision):

That Cabinet, with the objective of implementing a revised Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2022/23:

(1) Authorise the Chief Finance Officer to enter into consultation with the major precepting authorities

(2) Authorise the drafting of a scheme that calculates a Council Tax Reduction of 100% of a person’s council tax liability, removes the Minimum-Income Floor for the self-employed and removes the £5.00 minimum award

(3) On completion of the consultation and drafting authorised under (1) and (2) above, authorise the Director of Service Delivery to consult with other interested parties.

Reason for decisions:

Any billing authority wishing to revise its Council Tax Reduction scheme for the working-age must follow the statutory process as set out in this report.