Issue - meetings

Report by the Service Director, Finance

Councillor John Thomson, Cabinet member for Adult Care, Communities and Housing introduced the report which provided options in response to the Coalition Government’s Welfare Reform changes that see a significant reduction in the Council’s funding of Council Tax Benefit.  It proposed a local, means tested, method of calculating a reduction in council tax; as well as a number of technical changes to council tax discounts and exemptions to go in part to meet that imposed funding gap.  A consultation had taken place and it was reported that there had been no significant changes to the results since the publication of the agenda and the conclusions therefore still stood, but that these would be reported in full to Council on 13^th November before the decision is taken.

Cabinet considered the options presented in appendix 1 of the report.

RESOLVED:

To recommend to Council that:

1.    A local council tax support scheme is introduced, as set out at paragraphs 16 to 18 of the report.

2.    Technical changes are made to the way in which council tax  discounts for second homes and exemptions for  properties in  classes A, C and L are applied from 1^st April 2013, as set out at Appendix 2 of the report, and paragraph 20.

3.    Council introduce a discretionary fund to be administered in conjunction with the discretionary housing payments (DHP) and ring fence the Social Fund grant allocation to mitigate the impact of transition from the old scheme to the new, in cases where householders may feel the impact of other changes to benefit entitlement, under-occupancy costs, for example.  Criteria for awards under this scheme to be approved by Cabinet and Council by January / February 2013 and implemented from 1^st April 2013.

Reason for the decision

For the purpose of setting 2013/14 council tax it is also important that a decision is made now to ensure that having maximised the period for consultation on the draft scheme, the council is able to introduce the scheme within its budgetary timetable and the statutory timetable ending 31 January 2013.