Agenda item

The Cabinet considered a report of the Corporate Director of Resources to determine the council’s tax base for domestic properties liable to pay council tax, an important component in the council’s budget setting process for 2023/24 and to report on the estimated collection fund deficit as at 31 March 2023 (for copy see file of minutes).

In moving the recommendations, Councillor R Bell, Deputy Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Finance thanked the Corporate Director of Resources and his team for the comprehensive and very important report. Councillor Bell referred to the limited council tax raising capacity of the Council compared to many other areas, which the report illustrated. 83.2% of all domestic properties across County Durham were in Band A-C. This was well above the national average of 65.4% which placed the Council at a disadvantage compared to other authorities. The Government had been lobbied and continued to be lobbied on this issue. The report also proposed the continuation of grant payments to Town and Parish Councils of £1.5m next year, however, Councillor Bell commented that this continued concession would need to be seriously reviewed moving forward given the financial situation the Council faced.

The Leader of the Council seconded the report and was pleased to be able to agree a tax base with some modest growth next year. Colleagues in Police and Fire would welcome notification of the initial estimates to aid their budget planning. The Leader supported the proposal to defer declaring the financial position for budget setting purposes until January 2023 to allow officers to consider the Q3 position on the collection fund.

Resolved:

That the recommendations in the report be approved.