Issue - meetings

Background:

This report presented details of a Discretionary Council Tax Relief Policy. It was recognised that there may be particular cases of hardship which were not adequately covered by the proposed new localised council tax reduction scheme, or discounts and exemptions, especially given the number of welfare reform changes being implemented from 1 April 2013. Therefore, it was proposed to put in place a discretionary relief fund, utilising powers under section 13A of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, although it was anticipated that this would only apply in limited exceptional circumstances such as:

·         circumstances unusual/exceptional to the taxpayer;

·         costs that are beyond their control and do not arise through the actions or failures of others;

·         extreme and temporary situations which make it difficult to meet the Council Tax liability that is due;

·         imminent recovery action that will have a major detrimental effect on the resident’s capacity to support or maintain their family.

A Diversity Impact Assessment (DIA) screening had been completed as set out in Appendix 2 to the report. Given that the fund was equally accessible to all council taxpayers there were no concerns that any particular groups would be adversely affected by this policy, but monitoring would be needed to ensure that relief was awarded in an equal manner.

Reasons:

The Government’s welfare reform policy will see the biggest changes to the welfare system for over 60 years. Some recipients of benefit may be affected by one change, whilst others may be affected by multiple changes. Given this, and the launch of a new localised council tax reduction scheme, it is possible that some council taxpayers could face financial hardship and as such a contingency fund could prove a lifeline in those particular cases.