Agenda item

(Finance Portfolio Holder) To consider the attached report (C-010-2016/17).

(1)       That a public consultation exercise on the 2017/18 Local Council Tax Support Scheme be undertaken between August and October 2016;

(2)        That the following elements of the scheme be approved for inclusion in the consultation:

            (i)         a general principle that the Local Council Tax Support scheme for    2017/18 should aim to be cost neutral for the Council;

            (ii)        to seek views on alternative funding options for the Local Council Tax             Support scheme if the scheme was not cost neutral;

            (iii)       to remove the Family Premium in the calculation for new claimants in          line with other Welfare Reforms;

            (iv)       to reduce the period allowed for backdating to one month in line with             other Welfare Reforms;

            (v)        to limit the number of dependant additions to a maximum of two for all             cases where dependants were born on or after 1 April 2017, in line with other             Welfare Reforms; and

            (vi)       to withdraw Local Council Tax Support where a person leaves the   United Kingdom for 4 weeks or more in line with other Welfare Reforms.

The Finance Portfolio Holder presented a report on the Local Council Tax Support Scheme for 2017/18.

The Portfolio Holder reported that on 15 December 2015, the Council had adopted the Local Council Tax Support scheme for 2016/17. Consideration now had to be given to the scheme for the financial year 2017/18 which would require approval by the Council in December 2016. It was necessary to undertake public consultation on the Council’s scheme each year before the scheme was adopted by the Council. In view of the timescales, it would be necessary for the consultation to be undertaken between August and October 2016 in order to ensure that the Authority would have consulted correctly and that Council could adopt the scheme at the December meeting.

The Portfolio Holder stated that very few complaints had been received in respect of the Scheme and there was a general acceptance by residents that they needed to pay some portion of their Council Tax bill. When the Scheme was amended in 2016/17 to reduce the maximum amount of support available from 80% to 75%, there was very little complaint and Council Tax Officers had been pro-active in assisting those residents who were not paid monthly.

The Portfolio Holder listed the elements proposed to be included in the consultation for the Scheme in 2017/18. The first two elements were based on the principle that the Scheme should be cost neutral to the Council; the other four proposed elements would bring the Scheme in line with other Welfare Reforms introduced by the Government for Housing Benefit. Essex County Council had again agreed to host the online consultation for 2017/18 for Essex Authorities, and the ability to respond by paper would be made available to those who did not have internet access.

In response to questions from the Members present, the Assistant Director of Resources (Benefits) stated that the proposed changes were in line those proposed by other Essex Authorities. The consultation would be advertised as wide as possible to let as many people know as possible, but historically there was a low level of responses to this consultation. The Director of Resources clarified that, when referring to the scheme as being cost neutral to the Council, it was correct there was no longer a separate grant received by the Council for the Scheme, but any reduction received in the overall Revenue Support Grant was also applied to the amount of funding considered available for the Scheme.

Decision:

(1)       That a public consultation exercise on the 2017/18 Local Council Tax Support Scheme be undertaken between August and October 2016;

(2)        That the following elements of the scheme be approved for inclusion in the consultation:

            (i)         a general principle that the Local Council Tax Support scheme for    2017/18 should aim to be cost neutral for the Council;

            (ii)        to seek views on alternative funding options for the Local Council Tax          Support scheme if the scheme was not cost neutral;

            (iii)       to remove the Family Premium in the calculation for new claimants in          line with other Welfare Reforms;

            (iv)       to reduce the period allowed for backdating to one month in line with           other Welfare Reforms;

            (v)        to limit the number of dependant additions to a maximum of two for all         cases where dependants were born on or after 1 April 2017, in line with other Welfare Reforms; and

            (vi)       to withdraw Local Council Tax Support where a person leaves the   United Kingdom for 4 weeks or more in line with other Welfare Reforms.

Reasons for Decision:

The judgement given in the case of R v London Borough of Haringey on 29 October 2014, had highlighted the requirement for Local Authorities to consult on their Local Council Tax Support scheme annually, whether they intended to make any changes or not. The judgement also made clear that in their consultation, Local Authorities also needed to consult on how the scheme was to be funded. Respondents should be given the opportunity to give their views on whether the scheme should be cost neutral, or, if not, whether the scheme should be funded by making cuts to the scheme, increasing the Council Tax, cutting other Council services, or using Council reserves.

In view of the timescales, the consultation needed to be undertaken between August and October 2016. If the consultation was commenced any later, then it would not be possible to complete the consultation and make any amendments to the scheme in time for a further report to Cabinet on 1 December 2016. The Council’s scheme had to be agreed by the Council and be in place by 31 January 2017.

Other Options Considered and Rejected:

The Cabinet could either decide not to carry out a consultation exercise for the 2017/18 Local Council Tax Support scheme, or that the consultation should only be carried out on potential changes to the scheme, not the funding of the scheme. However, bearing in mind the judgement in R v London Borough of Haringey, the Council could be judicially reviewed.