Decision

Salford City Council - Record of Decision

I, Councillor Youd, Deputy City Mayor and Lead Member for Finance, Support Services and Regeneration, in exercise of the powers contained within the Council Constitution, do hereby:

Note the information provided in this report and the Equality Impact Assessment at Appendix A; and

Determine a new locally determined discretionary Council Tax Support Class. 

The Reasons are:

In 2024, Marie Curie, the UK’s leading end of life charity, issued their Dying in Poverty report. The report explored the impact a terminal illness can have on income, as those affected are often less likely to be in work, and expenditure on costs like energy, transport and childcare often increase dramatically.

This report explores the information highlighted by Marie Curie and a proposal for Salford City Council’s response to their request.

Options considered and rejected were: Not to undertake the above actions.

The source of funding is: As detailed in the report.

Legal Advice obtained: Supplied by Lauren Armstrong, Commercial Legal

This report sets out the Council’s considerations in response to the Marie Curie ‘Dying in Poverty’ report and the recent decision of Manchester City Council to apply an exemption to households with an SR1 form.

Local authorities have a duty under Section 13A(1)(a) to provide a Council Tax Reduction scheme to support households in financial need. They also have the broad power under Section 13A(1)(c) to reduce a bill to such extent as they think fit.

This report sets out calculations to illustrate financial impact a policy decision to reduce or exempt a bill would have on Salford’s current council tax requirement. It also sets out a proposed process for how an exemption could be implemented and applied, if approved. The report highlights that Council officers have spoken with policy officers at Manchester City Council to support their understanding of how the exemption policy has been implemented elsewhere and considered as part of the proposals in this report, demonstrating that the Council’s exercise of its discretion (if it chose to implement the exemption) has been appropriately evidenced.

Financial Advice obtained:Supplied by David Eden, Finance Manager

Salford’s share of the council tax fund for 2025/26 is 83.7% with GMCA Police and Fire’s preceptor shares being the remaining 16.3% combined. As highlighted in the report, the awarding of a discretionary relief under Section 13A(1)(c) requires the billing authority (Salford City Council) to fund 100% of the cost of a relief with local preceptors (GMCA Police and Fire) being unaffected.

Salford’s council tax requirement set within its revenue budget for the 2025/26 financial year is £161.401m. The estimated costs of awarding the relief set out in the report would represent the following proportions of Salford’s council tax requirement:

·       £0.176m = 0.11% for a 12-month exemption to all households with an SR1 form.

·       £0.022m = 0.01%for a 12-month exemption to households with an SR1 form and receiving Council Tax Reduction.

Procurement Advice obtained: N/A

The following documents have been used to assist the decision process:

Report

Contact Officer:Penny Mitchell, Service Manager – Council Tax

Email  - penny.mitchell@salford.gov.uk

This decision is not subject to consideration by another Lead Member.

The appropriate scrutiny panel to call-in the decision is the Overview & Scrutiny Board.

Signed:  Councillor Jack Youd                          Dated: 14th October 2025  

Deputy City Mayor and Lead Member for Finance & Support Services

This decision was published on 17th October 2025.

This decision will come into force at 4.00 p.m. on 24th October 2025, unless it is called-in, in accordance with the decision-making process rules.