Issue - meetings

Background:

This report provided details of of a number of Government measures in relation to Council Tax and Business Rates Relief which had been put in place to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, to which the Leader’s approval, under urgency provisions, was sought.

The report also sought the Leader’s approval to authorise the Chief Finance Officer, in consultation with the Leader and Portfolio Holder for Business Management, to implement any further measures introduced by the Government to provide relief for Council Tax and Business Rate payers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic insofar as these measures would be 100% funded by Government.

The report noted that the urgency provisions were set out in the Constitution (paragraph 3.2 of Part 3 (Responsibility for Cabinet functions) of Chapter 3 (Responsibility for Functions) of the Constitution.

The Chairman of the Business Support Overview and Scrutiny Committee agreed that the taking of these decisions were urgent and could not be reasonably deferred until the next Cabinet meeting on 7 April 2020, in accordance with Section 11 (Cases of special urgency) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements)(Meetings and Access to Information)(England) Regulations 2012 and Rule 17 (Special Urgency) of the Access to Information Rules (Part 2 of Chapter 4 in the Constitution). This was because it was imperative that the Council took urgent action to support both individuals and businesses in line with the Government’s announcements on a range of measures in respect of Council Tax and Business Rates Relief in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Additionally and in line with rule 15.11 of Chapter 4, Part 5 of the Constitution, call-in could be waived where any delay likely to be caused by the call-in process would seriously prejudice the Council’s or the Public’s interests. The Chairman of the Business Support Overview and Scrutiny Committee agreed that the decisions proposed were reasonable in all the circumstances and to them being treated as a matter of urgency and to waive call-in.

Reasons:

Given the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of cost to the local taxpayer it is appropriate  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1