Agenda item

(Finance Portfolio Holder) To consider the attached report (C-044-2014/15).

(1)        That the responses to the consultation on the Local Council Tax Support Scheme for 2015/16 be noted;

(2)        That, in view of the consultation responses and the experience of the first two years of the scheme, no changes be made to the scheme for 2015/16, other than the annual uprating of premiums, allowances, non-dependant deductions and any changes to the national pension age scheme that need to be reflected in the Council’s scheme; and

(3)        That the proposed Local Council Tax Support Scheme for 2015/16 be recommended to the Council for approval.

The Finance Portfolio Holder presented a report concerning the Local Council Tax Support Scheme for 2015/16.

The Portfolio Holder reminded the Cabinet that, as part of the major changes to the Welfare Benefits system, from 31 March 2013 Council Tax Benefit had ceased and was replaced by a new scheme called Local Council Tax Support (LCTS). A key principle of the scheme was the protection of people who were of an age where they could claim Pension Credit. The Government introduced Regulations to ensure that pensioners who previously received Council Tax Benefit would continue to receive the same level of assistance they had prior to LCTS being introduced. The Pan Essex LCTS project group, comprising of all the billing authorities and the unitary authorities in Essex, was created in January 2012 to devise a modular approach upon which all Essex authorities could base their local schemes according to local needs. The precepting authorities of Essex County Council, Essex Fire Authority and Essex Police had been involved from the beginning of the project. The project was being managed by the Benefit Managers under guidance from the Essex Finance Officers Association.

The Portfolio Holder reported that the Council had approved the Epping Forest LCTS scheme for 2013/14 in December 2012 and, following consultation during 2013/14, the Council had approved an unchanged scheme for 2014/15 in December 2013. On 21 July 2014, the Cabinet had approved the general principle that the Local Council Tax Support scheme for 2015/16 should aim to be cost neutral for the Council and that public consultation should be undertaken on certain elements of the scheme. Consultation on the 2015/16 scheme was undertaken from 29 August 2014 to 19 October 2014 and, based upon the responses received and the experiences of the Scheme’s operation over the last two years, it was being proposed that the scheme remain unchanged for 2015/16. The only exception to this would be the annual uprating of premiums, allowances, non-dependent deductions and any changes to the national pension age scheme that had to be mirrored in the Council’s Scheme.

The Assistant Director of Resources (Benefits) reported that the Council’s scheme did vary slightly with some of the other schemes being implemented across Essex; the maximum of 80% Council Tax Support would be different by only a few percentage points across the County. All of the Councils across Essex, along with the other precepting authorities, were working together. The Portfolio Holder highlighted that the Scheme required final approval by the Council and put forward an extra recommendation to the Cabinet to that effect.

Decision:

(1)        That the responses to the consultation on the Local Council Tax Support Scheme for 2015/16 be noted;

(2)        That, in view of the consultation responses and the experience of the first two years of the scheme, no changes be made to the scheme for 2015/16, other than the annual uprating of premiums, allowances, non-dependant deductions and any changes to the national pension age scheme that need to be reflected in the Council’s scheme; and

(3)        That the proposed Local Council Tax Support Scheme for 2015/16 be recommended to the Council for approval.

Reasons for Decision:

The Local Council Tax Support Scheme for 2015/16 was required to be agreed by 31 January 2015 under the Local Government Finance Act 2012.

Other Options Considered and Rejected:

To reduce the maximum amount of Council Tax support from 80%, or to include Child Benefit in the calculation for household income. However, the current scheme offered stability for current recipients as they would already know the approximate amount of support that they would receive.