The Cabinet considered a report of the Corporate Director for Corporate Services concerning the calculation of the Council Tax Base for 2016/17 and the submission of the National Non Domestic Rates (NNDR1) form to the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) by 31 January 2016.

Resolved:-

1.    That in accordance with the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) Regulations 1992 (as amended by the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2003) and Local Government Finance Act 2012 (Calculation of billing authority’s council tax base Section 15):

(i)            The Local Council Tax Support Scheme for 2016/17 approved by Council on 10 December 2015, be incorporated into the Council Tax base setting as outlined in Appendices A and B to the submitted report.

(ii)          That the changes to Council Tax discounts and exemptions approved by Cabinet on 5 January 2016 be introduced with effect from 1 April 2016 and these will be incorporated into the Council Tax Base:-

§  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%;

§  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:

(iii)         That the following discounts and exemptions that were originally approved by Council on 13 December 2012 will remain unchanged from 1 April 2016 and these will also be incorporated into the Council Tax Base:

§  Second homes (Classes A and B) as allowed by Section 11A of the Local Government Finance Act 2012 will be set at 0%;

§  Long-term empty homes (Class C) as allowed by Section 11A of the Local Government Finance Act 2012, a surcharge of 50% will be set allowing a full charge of 150% where they have been unoccupied for more than 2 years;

§  That a continuous 6 week period of occupancy is required between empty periods before a further discount can be awarded.

2.    That the amount calculated by Southend-on-Sea Council as its Council Tax Base for the year 2016/17 shall be 55,701.27.

3.    That the amount calculated by Southend-on-Sea Council as the Council Tax Base in respect of Leigh-on-Sea Town Council for the year 2016/17 shall be 8,645.94.

4.    That the NNDR1 form attached at Appendix C to the report be approved for submission to the DCLG.

5.    That it be noted, however, that in the event the final NNDR1 form is not made available by DCLG in a timely fashion, it will be necessary for the Head of Finance and Resources, in conjunction with the Leader of the Council, to approve the NNDR1 form for submission to the DCLG, (the Head of Finance and Resources will include an explanation in a subsequent report to Council as to why it was not practical for Cabinet to use its own delegation)

Reason for Decision

To comply with the relevant statutory requirements

Other Options

None

Note:- This is an Executive Function,
Referred direct to Policy and Resources Scrutiny Committees.
Executive Councillor:- Woodley