To agree amendments to the Council Tax Reduction Scheme as recommended by the Cabinet Member.

(The recommendations below are subject to a Cabinet Member decision to be taken on 13 January; should any changes to the recommendations result, these will be published as a supplement to this Council Agenda.)

Council received a report on amendments to the Council Tax Reduction Scheme as recommended by the Cabinet Member.

The Leader said that the rationale behind the decision to amend the scheme was that where appropriate, those who were able to make a contribution to Council Tax should do so.  There was a hardship fund in place to ensure that those who were not in a position to pay would not be penalised. He pointed out that neighbouring councils had brought in a figure of 20% for those currently receiving support, rather than the 16% proposed by the council. During the ensuing discussion, the following points were raised:

·         That residents in South Wye lived in one of the twenty five most deprived areas in England, and were still adjusting to the impact that the ‘Bedroom Tax’ had as a result of the changes in housing benefit rules by central government.  They would need time to readjust, possibly into smaller accommodation, before being asked to pay additional costs through Council Tax.

·         That the benefits of such a policy would be far outweighed by the damage that would be done to households on low incomes.

·         The amendments would not be cost effective in the long run as additional charges of this nature on those least able to pay would mean that the collection rates for Council Tax would drop, and that there would be a rise in court cases  for collection, with all that the costs that this would entail for the council. 

·         That consideration be given to admitting that the attainability of a balanced budget was less likely.  Council could give consideration to a rise in council tax in order to protect the most vulnerable within the community.

In reply to a comment, the Cabinet Member (Health and Wellbeing) said that there were no further savings to be had in the Adult Social Care budget for the year.  He had explained to service users that the council was no longer in a position to be able to provide care to all those who had received it, as some users would no longer be eligible for the level of care that they had received.

·         That an additional five thousand people in the county had been asked to pay Council Tax in 2013, and the default rate had not increased.  Should this measure not be taken, the necessary £400k to balance it would have to be found elsewhere in the budget. 

·         That there would be funds available to support the most vulnerable, as they would be available to apply to the hardship fund.

·         That secure continuity of the tax base was required in order to provide services for the residents of the county, and especially for those who needed care and support.

·         That this was a decision for one year only in the first instance, and Council would be in a position to reverse it for the financial year 2015-16.

·         Concern was expressed that the figures for the hardship fund were not available for members as part of the report, as many members did not feel that they had all the information required to allow them to vote on the recommendations.

After further discussion, the Leader said that whilst recommendation (b) in the report before Council did not have to be agreed at this meeting, Recommendations (a) and (c) would have to be agreed by the end of January.  

Councillor A Seldon proposed that the item be deferred to a future meeting of Council, to allow officers time to provide the relevant information.  The proposal was seconded by Councillor JLV Kenyon, who asked how well the fund was publicised as he had been unaware of it and would like to be in a position to tell the public in his ward of its existence.  It was resolved unanimously that resolution (b) ‘Agreement is given to further phased reductions, in support in the following two financial years, 76% from 1^st April 2015 and 70% from 1^st April 2016’ should be deferred to a future meeting.

It was proposed that there should be a named vote on resolution (a) ‘the minimum support rate for those working age applicants who currently receive 91.5% council tax support is reduced to 84% from 1st April 2014.  Claimants having a maximum liability of 16% of council tax’.  The resolution was put to the vote and was passed on the Chairman’s casting vote.

For: 23                                                                     Against:  23                    

It was proposed that the resolution ‘Further changes to the scheme are approved which caps the council tax reduction to a level of Band D for working age claimants’ should be put to the vote.  It was passed with 25 for, 4 against and 14 abstentions.

RESOLVED:

THAT:

(a)  The minimum support rate for those working age applicants who currently receive 91.5% council tax support is reduced to 84% from 1st April 2014.  Claimants having a maximum liability of 16% of council tax;

(b)  Further changes to the scheme are approved which caps the council tax reduction to a level of Band D for working age claimants.