The Cabinet considered
the Corporate Director's Report No. CD1601, which set out the outcome of the
recent public consultation exercise and the recommendations and comments of the
Council’s Welfare Reform Task and Finish Group in respect of potential changes
to the Council Tax Support Scheme. Prior to commencing this item, the Cabinet
was advised of a request from Cr. A.H. Crawford to address the Cabinet on this
issue. However, as Cr. Crawford’s representation had already been distributed
to all Cabinet Members for consideration during the item, the Cabinet did not
support the request.
Members heard how the
Council had developed its own Council Tax Support Scheme, which had run since
1st April, 2013, to replace the previous national Council Tax Benefit
Regulations. The Scheme had been well received and had operated successfully
but, in light of the Government’s ongoing reform of the welfare system, the
Cabinet had agreed, at its meeting on 20th October, 2015, to carry out a public
consultation on options to make changes to the Scheme. The public consultation
exercise had run for a six week period starting on 9th November, 2015 and had
been sent to all 2,565 working age Council Tax Support claimants and a randomly
selected 3,000 Council Tax payers. The survey had also been available online
throughout the consultation period. A total of 791 completed surveys had been
returned, which the Welfare Reform Task and Finish Group had considered to be a
good rate of return, considering the complexity of the survey. It was reported that
a wide range of views had been expressed and these were set out in Appendix 3
to the Report. A clear view had been expressed that residents did not wish for
the Scheme to be funded by either an increase in Council Tax or a reduction in
service provision.
The Welfare Reform
Task and Finish Group had met six times during 2015 and its work had included
considering potential changes to the Council Tax Support Scheme, taking into
account the results of the public consultation. The Group recommended five changes
to the Scheme, summarised as:
·
To
increase the minimum contribution from 8% to 10%
·
To
remove the Family Premium for new working age claimants
·
To
reduce the amount of savings from £16,000 to £6,000 before claiming Council Tax
Support
·
To
limit support at the level applicable for a Band D property, for those living
in properties banded higher than Band D
·
To
reduce the limit of backdated claims to four weeks
Furthermore, the
Group considered a number of issues that were raised in the consultation that
were not being recommended for adoption and these were set out in the Report.
In endorsing the
recommendations of the Welfare Reform Working Group in relation to potential
changes to the existing Scheme, the Cabinet expressed satisfaction that the
Council’s amended Scheme would continue to ensure that residents in Aldershot
and Farnborough were treated fairly. In particular, it was noted that the
exceptional Hardship Fund would remain in place for those adversely affected by
the changes during a period of transition.
The Cabinet
(i)
NOTED
the information set out in the
Corporate Director’s Report No. CD1601 and the work and the recommendations of
the Welfare Reform Task and Finish Group in relation to potential changes to
the Council’s Council Tax Support Scheme; and
(ii)
RECOMMENDED TO THE EXTRAORDINARY MEETING OF THE
COUNCIL ON 27TH JANUARY, 2016 that the changes to the Council Tax
Support Scheme, as set out in the Report, be approved to take effect from the
financial year 2016/17.