Agenda item

To receive a report from the Director of Finance, Resources & Customer Services reviewing and seeking approval to changes in the local Council Tax Support Scheme for 2016/17, which the Council is required to produce under section 13A(1)(a) and meeting 1A of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.

 

The report also recommends the 2016/17 council tax and business rate bases (Appendices D and E).                                                                                                             (Report No.168)

(Key Decision – Reference No. 4255)

 

Members are asked to note that the NNDR 1 DCLG Business Rate Base Return (Appendix E) has been marked as “To Follow”.

Councillor Stafford moved and Councillor Brett seconded the report (Report No.168) of the Director of Finance, Resources and Customer Services reviewing and seeking approval to changes in the local Council Tax Support Scheme for 2016/17, which Council was required to produce under section 13(A)(a) and 1A of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.  In addition approval was being sought to the Council Tax and Business Rate Taxbases for 2016/17.

 

NOTED

 

1.         As part of the Government’s welfare reform programme, the Council had adopted (in January 2013) a local Council Tax Support Scheme and was now required, on an annual basis, to consider whether it wished to revise or replace the scheme.

 

2.         Having reviewed operation of the scheme and undertaken a programme of consultation (as detailed in sections 4 and 5 and Appendix C of the report) along with an Equalities Impact Assessment (as detailed in Appendix B of the report) a number of amendments had been recommended to the Council Tax Support Scheme, as detailed in section 6 of the report.

 

3.         The following key amendments proposed to the Council Tax Support Scheme for 206/17:

 

a.      To reduce the savings threshold from £16,000 to £6,000;

 

b.      To increase the minimum contribution for working age households, not in a protected group, from 19.5% to 25%.  This would increase to 26.5% in 2017/18 to reflect a year’s worth of wider council funding reductions;

 

c.       The Council would continue to provide a level of subsidy to the scheme, in order to reflect the full loss in government grant from the Council Tax benefit scheme.  In order to ease transition and ensure the scheme remained self-financing a one off contribution of £500,000 had been recommended to the Council Tax Hardship Scheme reserve, which would be reviewed in January 2017.

 

4.         The full Council Tax Support Scheme had been included as Appendix A to the report. 

 

5.         The amendment to the amount calculated as the Council’s Tax Base for 2016/17 from 93,432 Band D equivalents, as stated in the report, to 94,317.

 

6.         In response to initial concerns raised regarding consultation on the proposed reduction in savings threshold, the Leader of the Opposition advised that he had received confirmation that the proposal had been included as part of the consultation process and the Opposition Group were therefore minded to support the proposed amendments on the basis they had been subject to full consultation.

 

The recommendations in the report were then put to the vote and agreed as follows:

 

AGREED

 

(1)          To approve the Local Council Tax Support Scheme for 2016/17 to provide financial support for households on low incomes in paying their Council Tax as detailed in Appendix A of the report, taking into account the consultation responses (detailed in Appendix C of the report) and the Equality Impact Assessment (detailed in Appendix B of the report).

 

(2)          For the 2016/17 scheme, the minimum contribution for working age households, not in a protected group, be increased to 25% and the savings threshold reduced to £6,000.  For the 2017/18 scheme, the minimum contribution would increase to 26.5% to ensure that the scheme retained the principle of being a fully-funded scheme.

 

(3)          The statutory regulation amendments and national uprating of social security benefit rates that had been incorporated into the scheme, as set out in Section 6 of the report.

 

(4)          In recognition of the potential for increased hardship a one-off contribution be made to the Council Tax Hardship Scheme reserve of £500,000.  This would be reviewed in January 2017.

 

(5)          Pursuant to the report (as detailed in Appendix D) and in accordance with the Local Authorities (Calculation of the Tax Base) (England) Regulations 2012, the amount calculated by the London Borough of Enfield as its Council Tax Base for 2016/17 shall be 94,317 (as amended) Band D equivalents.

 

(6)          The Department for Communities and Local Government NNDR1 Business Rate base return for 2016/17 as set out in Appendix E to the report.

 

In accordance with the requirements introduced in February 2014, under the Standing Order Regulations 2014, a recorded vote was taken in relation to decisions 1-6 above, given their relevance to the budget setting process, with the result as follows:

 

For 51

 

Councillor Abdul Abdullahi

Councillor Daniel Anderson

Councillor Ali Bakir

Councillor Dinah Barry

Councillor Yasemin Brett

Councillor Alev Cazimoglu

Councillor Nesil Cazimoglu

Councillor Erin Celebi

Councillor Lee Chamberlain

Councillor Bambos Charalambous

Councillor Jason Charalambous

Councillor Katherine Chibah

Councillor Lee David-Sanders

Councillor Nick Dines

Councillor Guney Dogan

Councillor Sarah Doyle

Councillor Christiana During

Councillor Nesimi Erbil

Councillor Turgut Esendagli

Councillor Peter Fallart

Councillor Krystle Fonyonga

Councillor Achilleas Georgiou

Councillor Alessandro Georgiou

Councillor Christine Hamilton

Councillor Ahmet Hasan

Councillor Suna Hurman

Councillor Jansev Jemal

Councillor Doris Jiagge

Councillor Nneka Keazor

Councillor Adeline Kepez

Councillor Joanne Laban

Councillor Michael Lavender

Councillor Derek Levy

Councillor Mary Maguire

Councillor Don McGowan

Councillor Andy Milne

Councillor Terence Neville

Councillor Ayfer Orhan

Councillor Ahmet Oykener

Councillor Daniel Pearce

Councillor Vicki Pite

Councillor Michael Rye

Councillor Toby Simon

Councillor Alan Sitkin

Councillor Edward Smith

Councillor Andrew Stafford

Councillor Claire Stewart

Councillor Jim Steven

Councillor Doug Taylor

Councillor Ozzie Uzoanya

Councillor Glynis Vince

 

Against: 0

 

Abstention: 0