Decision details

To approve:

(a) the Council’s scheme of discretionary discounts to deliver additional financial support in 2023/24 to council tax payers in the Borough of Gedling as detailed in the report at paragraph 2.1 and devised in accordance with the Council Tax Support Fund guidance issued by the Government;

(b) The establishment, by virement, of a Council Tax Support Fund budget of £172,600 to be funded by Government Grant;

(c) The delegation to the Director responsible for Welfare Support Services the authority to determine applications for discretionary reduction in council tax under section 13A(1)(c) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 in relation to the additional financial support for council taxpayers 2023/24 scheme in the Borough of Gedling in line with the scheme outlined in this report;

The Council is expected by Government to use its discretionary powers and provide additional support economically vulnerable council tax payers in line with the guidance it has published to be funded by the grant allocation provided.

The delegation is requested in order to ensure that no unnecessary burden is placed on the Executive.

There is a strong expectation from Government that support is provided for council taxpayers by a reduction in their council tax bill in recognition of expected council tax increases, with the proposal at 2.1 (i) to be implemented as a minimum. An alternative to the proposed wider local support scheme could be to increase the maximum reduction in council tax liability to £85 for existing claimants only (i.e. close the scheme to new claimants) and to remove the fund for additional hardship relief at 2.1 (iii). This option, whilst increasing support for existing claimants, would not support our households that are more recently experiencing financial hardship and therefore overall it may not reach all of our most economically vulnerable households in paying increases in council tax, which is the primary purpose of the grant funding.

An alternative to the proposal at paragraph 2.3 would be to report each decision for discretionary reduction to the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Resources and Performance for his determination. Currently this would mean that the Portfolio Holder would have to consider approximately 2000 cases. This would place an unnecessary burden on the Executive which is not considered necessary where there is criteria for eligibility and policies available for the determination of the reductions proposed at 2.1 above.