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Agenda item
Council Tax Support Scheme
(Council Decision)
Minutes:
The Revenues and Benefits Service Manager presented a report which proposed changes to the council tax support scheme for Hastings, with effect for 2016/17.
All East Sussex local authorities had worked together to develop a county wide approach to council tax support, the original scheme has remain unchanged since it was first adopted in 2013. However, given the continued financial pressures facing the authorities, it was agreed that the present scheme should be reviewed.
Options to amend the present scheme included requiring people to pay a minimum amount of their council tax, a reduction in the capital limit from £16,000 to £6,000 or the assumption of a minimum level of income for anyone who has been self-employed for at least 12 months. Pensioners are still protected under the new scheme, so changes will only apply to working age customers. The potential options had been subject to a public consultation.
Following the public consultation, the four remaining East Sussex authorities intended to amend their support schemes by requiring householders to pay a minimum amount of their council tax. However, given the high levels of deprivation in the town, it was considered that this would not be an appropriate scheme for Hastings. Instead, the report recommended that the Council Tax Support Scheme for Hastings in 2016/17 assumed a minimum level of income for anyone who has been self- employed for at least 12 months. Also appended to the report was a draft exception hardship policy, which was intended to mitigate the impact of the changes to the scheme on vulnerable residents.
Cabinet agreed that it would not be appropriate to proceed with applying a requirement for people to pay a minimum amount of their council tax or amending the capital limit, but requested further time to consider how the assumed minimum level of incomes for anyone who has been self-employed for more than 12 months might be applied to ensure that the changes did not adversely affect vulnerable groups, before the recommendations were considered at the December meeting of Full Council.
Councillor Chowney amended the recommendations of the report, as set out in the resolution below, seconded by Councillor Cartwright, to allow Cabinet members more time to submit their comments on the draft scheme to the Assistant Director of Financial Services and Revenues.
RESOLVED (unanimously) that:
1) Cabinet agreed not to proceed with amending the council tax support scheme to include a requirement for householders to pay a minimum amount of their council tax
2) the capital limit should remain at £16,000 and not be reduced to £6,000
3) Cabinet members should submit their comments on the proposed draft scheme, including the proposed amendment to assume a minimum level of income for people who have been self-employed for longer than 12 months, to the Assistant Director Financial Services and Revenues by Friday, 13 November 2015, and;
4) Delegated authority be given to the Assistant Director Financial Services and Revenues, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, to agree any revisions to the draft Hastings Council Tax Reduction Scheme 2015/16 and proposed Exceptional Hardship Policy, before the documents are submitted to Full Council for approval at its meeting on 16 December 2015
The reason for this decision was:
The local authority is required to approve a scheme for the provision of council tax support in respect of 2016/17, by 31 January 2016.
Supporting documents:
- Council Tax Support Scheme, item 21. PDF 125 KB
- Appendix 1 - Consultation background information, item 21. PDF 89 KB
- Appendix 2 - Summary of consultation responses, item 21. PDF 55 KB
- Appendix 3 - Hastings Borough Council Draft Council Tax Reduction Scheme, item 21. PDF 1 MB
- Appendix 4 - Draft Exceptional Hardship Policy, item 21. PDF 241 KB
- Appendix 5 - Equality Impact Assessment, item 21. PDF 93 KB
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