Agenda item

Each year the Council is required to review its Council Tax Support (CTS) Scheme. This report advises Overview and Scrutiny of the progress of the 2021 annual review and the proposals to amend the scheme for 2022-23.

Members considered the Council Tax Support 2022/23 scheme presented by Adrian Mills.

Members asked questions, made comments and received responses as follows:

·         Councillor Booth asked for clarification that the new threshold for the Capital Assessment Loan meant that those with more than ten thousand pounds in capital would no longer be eligible. Adrian Mills confirmed this and noted that individuals would be able to claim once their capital dropped below the ten thousand pound threshold.

·         Councillor Boden clarified that the adjustment to the Capital Assessment Loan was only a single part of a two-part recommendation and that there was also going to be an abolition of tariff income calculations alongside this. He noted that based on last year’s figures as many residents will gain from this alteration as will lose. He raised that the reason behind this change were to simplify the process for both administrators and claimants and not to generate more money for the Council.

·         Councillor Mason asked for further clarification on non-passported aspects and the effect it will have on claimants. Adrian Mills answered that the Fenland scheme requires working aged customers to contribute a minimum of twenty percent towards their Council Tax. When they are on a passported benefit which includes Income Support, Job Seekers Allowance, and Income Support Allowance they will have the full eighty percent rebated on their Council Tax but will still have to contribute the twenty percent. Customers who are deemed to be non-passported will have a means-tested assessment against that eighty percent.

·         Councillor Booth further enquired whether the new ten thousand pound threshold was in line with DWP’s thresholds. Adrian Mills clarified that the DWP still maintain a sixteen thousand pound threshold however many schemes across the country had also chosen to reduce the threshold. He noted that the DWP data share does not inform the Council about customers capital and customers can forget to report capital changes to the Council in certain cases.

·         Councillor Booth questioned whether the difference in thresholds was more likely to cause confusion. Adrian Mills suggested that it would not create confusion.

·         Councillor Booth asked whether the non-dependent reduction would have an adverse effect on a household with multiple non-dependents. Adrian Mills answered that potentially in a band A property with multiple non-dependent workers they may be expected to contribute towards household bills which would be taken as income. This could have a detrimental impact on the amount of Council Tax support provided.

·         Councillor Boden clarified that the only proposal so far is the fixed non-dependent deduction being set at seven pounds forty and that almost twice as many households would benefit as opposed to being harmed by the change.

·         Councillor Boden noted that the averaging provisions introduced previously had resulted in no hardship intervention so far. He noted that it had been suggested to increase the tolerance from sixty-five pounds to one hundred pounds a month to streamline and simplify the process further.

·         Councillor Booth queried maintaining the contribution rate at twenty percent as the Council are also receiving a government grant. He noted that the grant was not attached to Council tax and expressed a concern that this money may be used in other areas across the Council. Councillor Boden explained that the money would not be distributed across the Council. He noted that all funds made available previously were fully utilised and provided to the claimants and that any future schemes would be treated similarly. He noted that the Council was not prepared to make any changes to the contribution rate at this moment due to the short time period and novel situation that the previous change took place in. He stated that he was pleasantly surprised with how well the scheme had gone so far.

·         Councillor Booth asked for clarification on whether the grant received last year was predominantly used for hardship cases. Councillor Boden replied that the grant was applied across the board as a pro rata scheme which was made equal for everyone. Councillor Booth further enquired as to the percentage of the reduction to which Councillor Boden replied that this varied from applicant to applicant with some having to pay no Council Tax in the end. Peter Catchpole confirmed that the reduction was a maximum of one hundred and fifty pounds and that no one was reduced beyond zero pounds.

·         Adrian Mills noted that the residual balance at the end of the previous financial year was taken over into this financial year and used to provide further discounts. He stated that the current residual finances were being distributed on a claims basis with an aim to exhaust the supply by the end of the year.

·         Councillor Conner asked what the current percentage rate successfully collected was for 2021-22 so far. Adrian Mills replied that he did not currently have this information but that he would be happy to supply it when he did.

·         Councillor Miscandlon questioned whether there would be issues at the end of the year if scheme was not extended. Adrian Mills replied that there may be an underspend of the current finances and that this could be used to help those most in need at the beginning of the next financial year. He noted that the scheme completed on the 31^st March 2021 and it was only on an exceptional basis that the Council could carry this over to the current financial year.

·         Councillor Booth noted that due to the grant scheme individuals had not been paying the twenty percent this year. Therefore, the Council would not be able to understand the impact of the rise until the next financial year when the funding runs out. Councillor Boden confirmed this and further noted that changes in the labour market may affect this.

·         Councillor Booth commented that the changes in the labour market is likely to move people away from needing extra support but that there will still be a proportion of individuals.

·         Councillor Booth put forward an amendment that the basic contribution rate should be dropped back down to fourteen percent. Councillor Boden noted that recommendations for change to the contribution rate need to be made before July due to the extended consultation period required. The amendment failed.  

The Overview and Scrutiny Panel AGREED to recommend Cabinet:

1.    To reduce the capital threshold to £10,000 and abolish tariff income

2.    To introduce a fixed rate deduction of £7.40 for non-passported non-dependents

3.    To streamline the claim process

4.    To increase the tolerance for Universal Credit data reassessments.