Agenda item

The Council considered a report, presented by Councillor Jane Nightingale, Cabinet Member for Customer and Corporate Services, which sought approval of the proposals for the Localised Council Tax Support for 2018/19.

It was reported that from 1st April, 2013 Council Tax Benefit was replaced by Local Council Tax Support (LCTS).  Under LCTS, billing authorities had to decide for working age claims, who was eligible for a reduction in their Council Tax and what level of support they should receive.  Support for people of pensionable age and other aspects of the scheme were prescribed by regulations and the Council had no discretion in relation to these matters.  Pensioners would continue to receive the same level of support as they would have received under the former Council Tax Benefit system.

Members were informed that approximately 25,940 households currently received a reduction in their Council Tax from Doncaster Council’s Local Support Scheme; of these 11,340 were of pension age and 14,600 were of working age on a low income.

It was noted that the Authority was required to consider whether to revise or replace its scheme on an annual basis.  The main revisions to the scheme being proposed from the 1st April, 2018 were those the Authority legally had to make under the Prescribed Requirements Regulations which were laid before Parliament on 21st December, 2017 that came into force on the 12th January, 2018.  The only other changes proposed were to uprate some of the rates and allowances used to work out support for claims from those of working age.  These were uprated in line with the Government’s rates that applied to Housing Benefit, and the Authority’s local scheme had stipulated that it would apply this uprating on an annual basis since it was introduced in 2013.

In conclusion, the proposed LCTS scheme for 2018/19, continued to provide 100% support to the poorest households in receipt of ‘passported’ benefits such as Income Support which remained a priority for Doncaster Council.  It was noted that this Authority was one of only 37 Councils out of 326 that continued to provide maximum support to those on the lowest income levels.

RESOLVED that

(1)       the protection for Pensioners as a result of the annual uprating of allowances, premiums and non-dependant deductions which are prescribed by the Government and the associated change in expenditure which is funded locally, be noted;

(2)       the Authority will uprate relevant allowances and premiums for those of working age in line with the annual uprating set by the Government and used in the current scheme, and in other forms of support including Housing Benefit; the Government has decided to freeze certain allowances for 4 years from April 2016;

(3)       it be noted that any increase in Council Tax liability for the Council, its major preceptors and local parish preceptors, will increase the cost of Local Council Tax Support;  the assumptions used in the cost of the scheme for 2018/19 are an increase of 3.99% for Doncaster’s Council Tax;

(4)       the Equality analysis and Due Regard Statement attached at Appendix 1 to the report, be considered as part of the decision making; and

(5)       the revised scheme which is linked at Appendix 2 and has been amended to take into account The Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2017 which include amendments to the Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2012, be approved; these amendments in the main are to ensure consistency with changes to social security legislation and also increase certain figures which are used in calculating whether a person is entitled to a reduction and the amount of that reduction.  These increases relate to pensioner claims and most of the rates used in the calculation of working age claims have been frozen in line with the rates for Housing Benefit.  The Regulations were laid before Parliament on 21st December, 2017 and come into force on the 12th January, 2018 for application in the Council’s revised local scheme from the 1st April, 2018.