Issue - meetings

Council Tax Reduction Scheme 2021/22

Meeting: 21/10/2020 - Council (Item 204)

Council Tax Reduction Scheme 2021/22

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability proposed a motion to support the recommendation of the Executive to Council on continuation of the Local Council Tax Support Scheme for 2021/22. He said the arrangement helped the most financially vulnerable citizens in the District, and he was pleased to recommend that it should continue unchanged.

 

Councillor Kemp seconded the motion.

 

Councillor Goldspink confirmed her Group’s support for this item.

 

On being put to the meeting, and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

 

RESOLVED - to continue the current local Council Tax Support Scheme for 2021/22.


Meeting: 06/10/2020 - Executive (Item 188)

188 Council Tax Reduction Scheme 2021/22 pdf icon PDF 134 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Williamson, the Executive Member for Financial Sustainability, submitted a report on the annual review of the local Council Tax Support scheme, which asked Executive Members to consider the latest available information on the scheme, and to consider whether any changes should be made for 2021/22. 

 

Councillor Williamson said the report set out the history of the scheme at East Herts and summarised the current scheme for 2020/21. The scheme replicated the previous Council Tax Benefit scheme, but limited the Council Tax liability which was used to assess entitlement to 91.5% for working age customers.

 

Councillor Williamson said the scheme was reviewed each year. Since its introduction, the same level of assessment had been maintained. It was necessary to be aware that making any change would come with risks, such as reducing income for the Council and precepting authorities, or, if entitlements were reduced, causing hardship. Any change would require modelling and consultation. Therefore the recommendation was to continue the current scheme.

 

There being no comments, Councillor Williamson proposed, and Councillor Rutland-Barsby seconded, a motion to support the recommendation in the report.  On being put to the meeting, and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED. 

 

RESOLVED – to recommend to Council that the current local Council Tax Support Scheme be continued for 2021/22.    

 


Meeting: 15/09/2020 - Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Item 163)

163 Council Tax Reduction Scheme 2021/22 pdf icon PDF 125 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability submitted a report that allowed Overview and Scrutiny Committee Members to consider the latest available information around the current local Council Tax Support (CTS) scheme at East Herts and whether any changes to the scheme should be considered for 2021/22.

 

The Shared Service Manager said that Members were being asked to support the approval of the Council Tax Support Scheme for 2021/22. The scheme had been operated since April 2013 and replaced Council Tax benefit under the provisions of the local government finance bill.  The scheme was required to be confirmed by  Council by the 11 March in the preceding financial year.

 

Members were advised that since the scheme had been introduced in 2013, various changes had been considered although the scheme had remained the same. The Shared Service Manager said that Appendix A set out the history of the scheme and she advised the Committee that modelling had proved that a banded scheme would be unviable.  She said many processes in respect of universal credit had been automated following changes in circumstances for customers on Council Tax Support.

 

The Shared Service Manager said that the current economic impact on residents due to Covid-19 was uncertain and due to the changes to the furlough scheme and employment uncertainty, the report recommended that the current Council Tax Reduction Scheme remain the same for the new financial year. She said that after further consideration, Officers might come back to Members next year with a possible change to the scheme. She said in conclusion that Members were invited to support the use of the current Council Tax Reduction Scheme into 2021/22.

 

Councillor Snowdon asked for clarity as to the changes that could be made next year. Members were advised that Officers felt that the changes that had been considered would not be beneficial and that the current scheme, which had been in place for the last 8 years, should continue.

 

The Shared Service Manager said that one option that had been considered was a change to a banded scheme. She advised that this scheme would have to be subject to a full public consultation and would require changes to software; there would be cost implications with no benefits to the Council.

 

Councillor Goldspink said that previously, the Council had been reimbursed for the cost of Council Tax Support Schemes and she wished to know if the Council received any reimbursement towards the cost of the Council Tax Reduction Scheme.

 

The Shared Service Manager confirmed that the Council received no direct funding for the scheme. Councillor Goldspink asked for clarity as to eligibility for universal credit as there were some many variables to be taken into account.

 

The Shared Service Manager said that housing benefit was included in universal credit in a majority of cases. She said it was imperative that customers tell the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) about housing costs when claiming universal credit. She said that it was also important that claims  ...  view the full minutes text for item 163