The Head of Finance and S151 Officer presented a report, the purpose of which was to provide Council with information regarding the implementation of the 2017-18 Council Tax Reduction Scheme (CTR) (to be adopted by 31 January 2017), together with the funding implications.

He confirmed that on 20 January 2016, the Council adopted the CTR for 2016-17 in accordance with the Council Tax Reduction Schemes and Prescribed Requirements (Wales) Regulations 2013, with this scheme ending on 31 March 2017.

There were currently 14,251 households receiving CTR, 8,616 of these were working age and 5,635 were of pensionable age. Of the 14,251 households receiving CRE, 10,848 were entitled to a full CTR reduction. 

The Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Prescribed Requirements and Default Scheme) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2017 had now been laid. These regulations uprated the financial figures used in the CTR schemes and made amendments to:

·         Explicate   how a local authority should calculate an applicant’s weekly income (i.e. to consider income that the person expects to receive as well as income that has been received). 

·         Ensure consistency with other inter-related social security legislation by taking tax reliefs into account when determining net earnings, and with regards the treatment of the Universal Credit carer’s element in determining the applicable amount.

·         Correct inconsistencies between the Welsh and English language versions of the 2016 Regulations.

The new regulations did not contain any significant changes from the claimants’ perspective to the current scheme, and the maximum level of support that eligible claimants could receive remained at 100%.

The Head of Finance and S151 Officer explained the limited discretion given to the Council, to apply discretionary elements that were more generous than the national scheme. These discretionary elements were contained in the report.

The last consultation on the three discretionary elements was undertaken in 2013, and therefore a new consultation exercise was undertaken between 31 October 2016 and 18 December 2015 for the 2017-18 scheme. A total of 681 responses were received, with the minority of respondents (16.6%) indicating that they were currently in the receipt of CTR.

The total estimated cost to the Council for the most supported options was £22k, and it was therefore proposed, that the discretionary elements be as follows:-

·         The extended payment period is maintained at the minimum standard of 4 weeks.

·         War Disablement Pensions and War Widows Pensions are fully disregarded when calculating entitlement to CTR. The estimated cost of this proposal is £22,000.

·         Backdating was reduced to the minimum standard of 3 months.

Members raised concerns that on occasions there were extenuating circumstances for late applications and 6 months rather than 3 months should be allowed.

The Corporate Director Operational and Partnership Services confirmed that there was already discretion to backdate claims in extreme circumstances. 

RESOLVED:                          That Council:

(a)   Noted the Council Tax Reduction Schemes and Prescribed Requirements (Wales) Regulations 2013, and the 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 amendment regulations.

(b)    Noted the outcome of the consultation exercise undertaken by the Council on the discretionary elements of the Council Tax Reduction Scheme.

Adopted the scheme, details of which were given in paragraphs 4.24   to 4.29 of the report.