Agenda item

The Council considered a report of the Interim Corporate Director of Resources which sought approval for the continuation of the current Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme (LCTRS) for a further year into 2022/23, which would continue the protection afforded to all claimants in line with what their entitlement would have been under the former Council Tax Benefit system (for copy see file of Minutes).

In Moving the report, Councillor R Bell, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Finance informed the Council that the report set out the details of the Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2022/23 with a recommendation that the Scheme remains unchanged.  Durham was the only Council in the north-east that had a scheme which continued to provide support equal to that which was available under the Council Tax Benefit Scheme and the Council should be proud that it had continued to support such an important benefit for people across the County.  Durham County Council was supporting those on low incomes but it must be recognised that this decision came at a cost in terms of lost Council Tax revenues compared with virtually every other Council in the Country and therefore the decision would need to be reviewed in one year’s time.

In Seconding the report Councillor A Shield, Portfolio Holder for Equality and Inclusion thanked all relevant officers and Councillor Bell for the report and thanked the staff who administered the Scheme and had worked tirelessly to deal with an increase in applications during the last year.

All Members, past and present, should be proud that the Council had been able to retain a Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme that maintained support to vulnerable and disadvantaged households equal to that which was available under the Council Tax Benefit Scheme.  Durham was only one of a handful of Council’s across the Country and the only Authority in the north-east which continued to retain a Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme at the same level as the former national Council Tax Benefit System.  Durham had ensured that the Government’s funding had been specifically allocated to support the Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme as it was believed that some local authorities in England may have used Government funding for other budgetary purposes.

The level of protection afforded to working aged claimants, many of whom were in work but suffered low wages, had been a godsend during the last year.  While the Scheme came at a cost of foregone Council Tax revenues, now was not the time to consider making changes to the Scheme.

Councillor Crute informed Council that he was in support of retention of the Scheme.  Paragraph 8 of the report referred to regular monthly recalculations of Universal Credit and the Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme and Councillor Crute asked whether it was too early to tell whether there would be an impact on the Scheme from the removal of the £10 Universal Credit uplift.

The Interim Corporate Director of Resources replied that it was too early to tell the impact, but as the income had reduced the Council would be recalculating people’s entitlement to Council Tax support.

Councillors C Marshall and A Surtees both spoke in support of retention of the Scheme.

Resolved:

(a) That the current Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme be continued into 2022/23, which would retain the same level of support to all working age council taxpayers on low incomes as was the case under the previous Council Tax Benefit Scheme;

(b) That the extension to the Scheme be initially for a further year only and be kept under continuous review with a further decision on the scheme to apply in 2023/24 to be considered by Cabinet in summer 2022 and Full Council by 11 March 2023.