Agenda item

A report seeking approval for a number of amended Local Taxation and Benefits Discretionary Policies.

The Cabinet considered a report of the Director of Finance seeking approval for a number of amended Local Taxation and Benefits Discretionary Policies.

The report provided full details of proposed updates to the discretionary policies used to support Local Taxation and Benefits administration i.e., Council Tax, Business Rates, Housing Benefits and Council Tax Reduction administration. The policies and proposed changes were:

The Discretionary Council Tax Discount Policy - To introduce the option to award a discretionary discount under the Exceptional Hardship Payment (EHP) scheme to Council Tax arrears accrued outside of the current financial year. The EHP scheme was the means by which the Council considered requests for discretionary discounts from residents in Exceptional financial hardship under Section 13A (1)(c) of the Local Government Finance Act. - The proposed Discretionary Discount Policy was presented at Appendix 1 of the report.

The Discretionary Rate Relief Policy - Central Government had introduced additional discounts and reliefs for the 2024/25 financial year. They had been incorporated into the proposed Discretionary Rate Relief Policy 2024/25 which was presented at Appendix 2 of the report.

The Empty Property Premium Policy - The Council currently applied an empty property premium for property unoccupied and unfurnished for over 2 years. From April 2024, the premium would be applied for properties unoccupied and unfurnished for at least 1 year. That would mean empty property premiums would be applied as followed.

• 100% premium on properties unoccupied and unfurnished for at least 1 year.
• 200% premium on properties unoccupied and unfurnished for at least 5 years.
• 300% premium on properties unoccupied and unfurnished for at least 10 years.

 The policy had been amended to reflect the premium being applied to unoccupied and unfurnished after 1 year.

During the 2023/24 financial year, the Council had received ten applications for an exception to the premium. Decisions were made regarding these applications within an average of 10 working days. It was proposed that decisions regarding requests for an exception to the premium be delegated within the Council Tax team as followed:

• Any applications received from property owners are determined by the Revenues Manager or Revenues Team Leader(s).
• Any appeals are considered by the Exchequer Client Manager (Revenues) or the Assistant Director for Revenues and Benefits.

This was included at Appendix 5 of the report.

Local Welfare Provision - The policy had been amended to include the Council’s commitment to reducing its carbon footprint. As part of this initiative, items awarded via the Local Welfare Provision scheme may be pre-loved. Any pre-loved items awarded are fully reconditioned and checked prior to being offered and would come with a 12-month warranty.

Discretionary Housing Payments - The Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) policy had been subject to an annual review. - No proposals for changing the policy had been identified for 2024/25.

Options/Alternatives considered:

Option 1 – Do Nothing

Option 2 - To approve the updated Local Taxation and Benefits Discretionary Policies 2024/25 financial year.          

Resolved – That:

1. The proposed amendments to the existing Local Taxation and Benefits Discretionary Policies for 2024/25 be approved.
2. The Discretionary Policies presented as appendices 1-5 of the report be adopted for 2024/25.