Purpose

Purpose: to approve how some
remaining funding is to be allocated against certain council tax
accounts.

Decision

Arrangements approved for the
allocation and distribution of the remaining £87,400 grant
funding available, following the bulk award process under the
government’s mandatory Council Tax Support Fund award
scheme.
 
Background summary
Under the government’s
mandatory Council Tax Support Fund scheme the council was required
to grant to all households in receipt of Council Tax Reduction
(CTR) an initial award of up to £25 against their 2023/24
council tax bill. With the initial mandatory exercise having been
successfully undertaken and that tranche of awards made, it has
left surplus funding available which government (Department for
Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) (DLUHC) does not require to
be repaid. Instead, in accordance with their Council Tax Support
Fund guidance, it is expected that local authorities will use as
much of the remaining allocation as possible to further support
economically vulnerable households with their 2023/24 council tax
bill.     
 
This ICMD specifically provides
approval for the following:
•         To
utilise up to 85 per cent of this remaining funding to apply a one
off ‘top up’ award of up to £35 against all
household accounts in receipt of CTR that do not already have a nil
liability following the initial mandatory award.
•         To
utilise the remaining funds to continue to make awards (mandatory
and ‘top up’) to any new CTR cases throughout the
remainder of the 2023/24 financial year.