The report is at item 5 of the agenda for the Cabinet’s meeting on Tuesday 7 November 2017 and its three appendices are in the first agenda supplement.
The Cabinet made the following recommendation to the Council at this meeting:
That the proposed Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2018-2019 be approved.
Minutes:
The Council considered the recommendation made to it by the Cabinet at its meeting on Tuesday 7 November 2017 as set out on the face of the Council agenda, the details in respect of which were contained in the Cabinet report on pages 8 to 12 and its three appendices on pages 1 to 52 of the agenda supplement for that meeting.
Mrs Hardwick (Cabinet Member for Finance and Governance Services) formally moved the recommendation of the Cabinet and this was seconded by Mr Dignum (Leader of the Cabinet).
Mrs Hardwick said that CDC had maintained the same level of support for its communities under the Council Tax Reduction Scheme (CTRS) since the localisation of the CTRS for working age people in 2013. The full implementation of the roll out of Universal Credit (UC) would start in Chichester District in April 2018 and as a result CDC had undertaken a review of its CTRS in order to ensure it was up-to-date, well-targeted, minimised disincentives to work and provided the best value for money for the benefit of all tax payers. The revised CTRS would continue to provide the all-important safety net for those on low incomes and retain important protections for war widows’ and widowers’ pensions and war disablement pensions and offer earned-income disregards and a taper for removing support. The main change was a proposed new Class F category for claimants in receipt of the new UC. By introducing banding, the administration would be simpler, more economic and as straightforward for the claimants as possible. The consultation on the review had received broad support. The major financial impact of the CTRS was the resulting deduction from the tax base. In the 2017-2018 financial year the scheme was costing in the order of £6.9m overall in terms of tax base deductions having remained fairly constant since the local scheme’s introduction in 2013. It was recognised that wider economic downturns and welfare reform might raise CTR demand. The cost of the local CTR was shared by all the precepting authorities. CDC’s share was approximately 9% with the rest being funded by West Sussex County Council, Sussex Police and parish councils. The revised scheme had to be approves by the Council by 31 January 2018. She acknowledged the work done by Mrs M Rogers (Benefits Manager) on the CTRS.
Mrs Hardwick, Mr Dignum, Mrs Rogers and Mr Ward (Head of Finance and Governance Services) responded to members’ questions and comments on points of detail such as (a) what impact, if any, the proposed changes to the scheme and the consequent effect on the council tax base of customers joining or leaving the CTR scheme might have on parish councils; (b) whether housing associations had been involved in the consultation, since their tenants were likely to be recipients of the CTRS (a question raised at the Cabinet earlier in the month and subsequently answered by Mrs Rogers); (c) clarification of paras 9.2 and 9.3 in the community impact and corporate impact section of the Cabinet agenda report; (d) how, if at all, the roll-out of UC might affect the CTRS; (e) the commendable approach taken by CDC since to ensure that residents in its area who were on the lowest incomes would remain protected; (f) the reason for the introduction by CDC of a banding system; (g) CDC’s recently adopted Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction Risk Based Verification Policy 2018-2019; and (h) the annual cost to CDC of the CTRS.
Decision
The Council voted with respect to the recommendation made to it by the Cabinet and on a show of hands it was in favour of making the resolution set out below, with no votes against and one abstention.
RESOLVED
That the proposed Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2018-2019 be approved.