The Executive Director Organisational Development & Corporate Services submitted a report to the City Executive Board on 20 December 2017 consider the feedback from the recent consultation on the proposed changes to the Local Council Tax Support Scheme and to agree the principles of the new scheme to be drawn up for approval by Council on 29 January 2018.

The City Executive Board agreed to

1.    Note the outcome of the consultation on the proposed Council Tax Reduction Scheme.

2.    Instruct the Executive Director Organisational Development & Corporate Services  to draft the details of the new Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2018/19, including provision for uprating the proposed income band scheme, and submit the new Local Council Tax Support Scheme to Council for approval at its meeting on the 29 January 2018;

3.    Recommend Council to resolve to adopt the new Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme.

The full draft scheme is available as a background paper to this report.

Councillor Brown, Board Member for Customer and Corporate Services, will move the recommendations.

Recommendation: the City Executive Board recommends Council to resolve to

adopt a Council Tax reduction scheme for 2018/19 comprising that in place as at 1 April 2017 with changes as set out in the options in the report to:

1.    Create an income band scheme for Universal Credit  customers

2.    Remove second adult reduction provision

3.    Limit backdating to one month

4.    Introduce a minimum income floor for self-employed claims

5.     Reduce period where someone can claim whilst abroad

6.    Remove family premium for new claims

Councillor Tanner arrived for the start of this item.

Council considered a report from the Executive Director Organisational Development & Corporate Services to the City Executive Board on 20 December 2017 asking the Board to consider the feedback from the recent consultation on the proposed changes to the Local Council Tax Support Scheme and to agree the principles of the new scheme to be drawn up for approval by Council.

The full draft scheme was also available to Council.

Councillor Brown, Leader of the Council, presented the report and moved the recommendations which were adopted on being seconded and put to the vote.

Council resolved to:

adopt the Council Tax reduction scheme for 2018/19 comprising that in place as at 1 April 2017 with changes as set out in the options in the report to:

1.    Create an income band scheme for Universal Credit  customers

2.    Remove second adult reduction provision

3.    Limit backdating to one month

4.    Introduce a minimum income floor for self-employed claims

5.     Reduce period where someone can claim whilst abroad

6.    Remove family premium for new claims.

The Executive Director Organisational Development & Corporate Services has submitted a report to consider the feedback from the recent consultation on the proposed changes to the Local Council Tax Support Scheme and to agree the principles of the new scheme to be drawn up for approval by Council on 29th January 2018.

Recommendation: That the City Executive Board resolves to:

1.    Note the outcome of the consultation on the proposed Council Tax Reduction Scheme.

2.    Instruct the Executive Director Organisational Development & Corporate Services  to draft the details of the new Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2018/19, including provision for uprating the proposed income band scheme, and submit the new Local Council Tax Support Scheme to Council for approval at its meeting on the 29th January 2018;

3.    Recommend Council to resolve to adopt the new Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme.

The Executive Director Organisational Development & Corporate Services had submitted a report to consider the feedback from the recent consultation on the proposed changes to the Local Council Tax Support Scheme and to agree the principles of the new scheme to be drawn up for approval by Council on 29th January 2018.

Councillor Susan Brown, Board Member for Customer & Corporate Services, introduced the report. While there had been relatively few responses to the consultation they had been well informed and of high quality.  The report’s recommendations were supported by the majority of respondents; would allow officers to respond to some of the consequences of the introduction of Universal Credit for hard pressed families; and represent a significant contribution to financial inclusion. It was noteworthy that the City was one of only a few to provide such support.

In discussion it was observed that the opportunity to raise Council tax referred to in the previous item could have cumulative consequences for families if, for example, the City Council,  County Council and Thames Valley Police all chose to take advantage of it. This was something which Members and officers would have to have regard to.

The City Executive Board resolved to:

1.    Note the outcome of the consultation on the proposed Council Tax Reduction Scheme;

2.    Instruct the Executive Director Organisational Development & Corporate Services  to draft the details of the new Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2018/19, including provision for uprating the proposed income band scheme, and submit the new Local Council Tax Support Scheme to Council for approval at its meeting on the 29th January 2018; and

3.    Recommend Council to resolve to adopt the new Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme.

The Revenue and Benefits Programme Manager introduced this item, which the Panel had previously considered at the pre-consultation stage.  He said that the Council was proposing to make 6 changes to the scheme and explained what these were.  The Board Member for Customer and Corporate Services added that the scheme represented a major investment in the Council’s Financial Inclusion Strategy but it was important to continue ensuring that the scheme was the best way of delivering support to the right people.  There were costs to not providing this support.

The Board Member and the Panel noted that the number of consultation responses was somewhat low, which perhaps reflecting the relatively small proportion of the local population that benefitted from the scheme.  Some key stakeholders had not responded to the consultation. 

The Panel noted that there was no formal recording of the impacts of different schemes across the country but evidence suggested that where councils had introduced higher minimum charges, collection rates had dropped.  The ‘cost’ of the scheme in terms of reduced Council Tax income was also borne by the County Council and Police and Crime Commissioner, who had raised no objections.

The Panel queried whether any work had been done on understanding the impacts of the overall package effect of the Council Tax Reduction Scheme (CTRS) together with other Council Tax reliefs.  The Panel raised some concerns about suspended students falling through the net and heard that officers were doing some work in this area.  The teams administering the CTRS scheme and other reliefs worked closely together and looked holistically at the circumstances of each case.  Work was also taking place around checking single persons’ discounts, of which 20,000 were currently awarded in the city, which seemed like a very high number.

The Panel supported the proposed changes to the CTRS, noting that the income banded approach would provide the Council with flexibility in the future while simplifying administration and contributing to efficiency savings.

Report to follow

Cllr Fry, Chair of the Scrutiny Shareholder Group and Finance Panel presented the report. He noted that the benefits of the scheme were potentially greater for the County  Council. He suggested that the scheme was of sufficient significance to warrant that the wider community be consulted about its introduction. Cllr Brown, Board member for Customer and Corporate Services agreed that all those affected should be consulted.

The Executive Director of Organisational Development and Corporate Services has submitted a report to approve the proposals made for consultation on changes to the Council’s Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2018/19

Recommendations: That the City Executive Board resolves to:

1.    Agree which options as set out in the table at paragraph 9 should be subject to public consultation.

2.    Agree to consult on the proposals for an 8 week period form 19 July 2017 and;

3.    Instruct the Executive Director of Organisational Development and Corporate Services to bring a further report to December CEB subject to the outcome of the consultation process.

The Executive Director of Organisational Development and Corporate Services submitted a report which approved the proposals made for consultation on changes to the Council’s Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2018/19.

Cllr Susan Brown, Board Member for Customer & Corporate Services presented the report. She said the scheme reflected the Council’s believe in financial inclusion and a recognition that  seeking to secure money owed from residents who do not have much is rarely cost-effective as it cost more in officer time to chase late payments than the money collected. The reviewed scheme takes into account the changes in the benefit system, in particular, the introduction of Universal Credit.

Having spoken to Cllrs there is a clear view that it would not be preferable to consult on all the options given in the paper but, rather, to focus only on those which the Council would countenance.

She recommended the Council consult on the following options

The consultation document will acknowledge the existence of options which have, effectively, been ruled out. 

The Programme Manager for Revenue and Benefits said the proposed consultation document would be amended to reflect the options agreed by the Board.  The consultation will run for  2 months and papers will be available on the Council’s website, in Templar Square shopping centre and the Town Hall.

The Board  discussed  the nature of the consultation and made the following suggestions:

·         The consultation document needs to be sufficiently ‘user friendly’ to engage the wider community without, at the same time simplifying this complex matter to a degree that it ceased to become meaningful. 

·         Workshop activities to promote the consultation in community centres

·         Council’s Communications team could create a video to explain the complex concepts.

·         Briefing note for councillors so they can explain the proposals to constituents

·         Focus groups sessions to get people’s feedback.

Cllr Brown agreed to set up a focus group with a cross section of key customers to complement the wider consultation. The Programme Manager for Revenue and  Benefits agreed to review the consultation document to make it more user friendly,  and  agreed that all Councillors would be a provided with a ‘one page’ briefing note to inform conversations with constituents.

The City Executive Board resolved to:

1.    Agree that  options 1, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 9  as set out in the table at paragraph 9 should be subject to public consultation.

2.    Agree to consult on the proposals for an 8 week period form 19 July 2017 and;

3.    Instruct the Executive Director of Organisational Development and Corporate Services to bring a further report to December CEB subject to the outcome of the consultation process.

The Revenue and Benefits Programme Manager introduced the report.  He said that significant reductions in a range of benefits are making it harder and harder for people to live in the city.  Responsibility for supporting low income working age households with Council Tax was passed to local authorities from the Department for Work and Pensions in 2013 with 10% of the funding removed.  The devolved funding was subsequently subsumed into the Revenue Support Grant, which is on course to reduce to zero in April 2019.  The Council is one of only 37 local authorities to maintain a local Council Tax Reduction (CTR) scheme that provides the same level of support as the Council Tax Benefit it replaced.  CTR currently costs the Council £1.2m and this figure will rise to at least £1.8m in April 2019 when the Council bears the full cost of the scheme (this is already built into the Council’s Medium Term Financial Plan).  The Panel note that the cost of the scheme is likely to increase in the event of an economic downturn.

The Panel note that the cost of the scheme is shared between the precepting authorities and that the total notional income foregone by these authorities will be in the region of £11m by 2019.  The Panel received assurances that the County Council and Thames Valley Police were fully involved in the original detailed design of the scheme and are aware of the direction of travel.  The Panel heard that the Council has a duty to consult with the other precepting authorities and wants to work with them but those authorities have no veto or recourse to challenge the Council’s scheme if they are consulted.

The Panel voiced support for the Council’s CTR scheme and the principle of supporting the lowest income households in the city with a full Council Tax reduction rather than billing those who genuinely can’t afford to pay.  This approach contributes to wider Council aims such as homelessness prevention. 

The Panel noted the difficulty in ensuring a worthwhile response to consultation on the options. The reasons for favouring options that continue the CTR scheme will need to be explained carefully, as the apparent savings from scrapping the scheme may appeal to residents who see this as a way in which to cut Council spending.

The Panel considered the merits of the various options for changing the scheme and made the following observations: 

·         Option 1: Introducing a banded scheme that is calibrated to income for Universal Credit recipients and provides the greatest level of support to households with the lowest incomes seems very sensible.  While this option would add costs in the short term it would over time simplify administration and release efficiency savings as Universal Credit is rolled out more widely.  The Council would retain flexibility to adjust the income parameters in future years should it wish to do so.

·         Option 2: This is a stand alone cost-saving option that is not linked to Housing Benefit.

·        Options 3-7 & 9: These options  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52