The Cabinet considered a report of the Corporate Director for Corporate Services concerning:

(a) The Council Tax policy for Discretionary Reduction in Liability under Section 13a of the Local Government Finance Act 1992

(b) The granting of discretionary Council tax discounts to households affected by flooding

(c) The implementation of further amendments to Council Tax discounts and exemptions with effect from 1 April 2016.

Recommended:-

1. That the introduction of the Discretionary Reduction in Liability Policy, as set out in Appendix 1 to the submitted report, be approved.

2. That the award of discretionary discounts to Council Tax payers who have suffered exceptional hardship or misfortune due to flooding, be approved with applications being determined by the Head of Finance and Resources.

3. That the following changes to Council Tax discounts and exemptions be implemented with effect from 1 April 2016 and be incorporated into the Council Tax base:

(I)  Properties requiring or undergoing structural alteration or major repairs (Class D) as allowed by Section 11a of the Local Government Finance Act 2012 will be set at 0%; and

(ii)  Vacant and substantially unfurnished properties (Class C) as allowed by Section 11a of the Local Government Finance Act 2012 to be entitled to receive a discount of 100% for up to 1 month. If Class D is applicable then there is no entitlement to Class C.

Reason for Decision

1. In respect of the Discretionary Policy, the Council should have a clear policy for dealing with requests for Discretionary reduction in liability in line with Government guidelines.

2. In respect of Flooding, Central Government expects local authorities to grant relief to qualifying Council tax payers in relation to flooding and will fully reimburse billing authorities for the actual cost to them by paying grants to the Council under section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003.

3. In respect of amendments to existing Council Tax discounts and exemptions, this will increase revenue to the Council in 2016/17 and will have a limited impact on the majority of Council Tax payers.

Other Options

There is the option to keep the discounts unchanged, but this will mean a lost opportunity to increase the Council Tax base in 2016/17.

Note:- This is a Council Function.

Eligible to call-in to Policy and Resources Scrutiny Committee

Executive Councillor:- Cllr Woodley