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The Council:
 
§    
AGREED that the current Council Tax Support Scheme
as outlined in 4 below continues; whereby the maximum award
available to working aged people receiving support remain at 85%
from 1 April 2024.
 

§    
NOTED that like Housing Benefit the scheme will
continue to fully disregard War Widows & War Widowers pensions
for all applicants. Various other incomes, for example, Child
Benefit, Disability related benefits such as Personal Independence
Payments, will also continue to be ignored when calculating
entitlement to Council Tax Support. 
§    
NOTED that the projected cost of the whole scheme is
identified as £19.92 million which is £1.632 million
more than the 2023/24 MTFS provision. This will be reflected in the
calculation of the council tax base for 2024/25 and included within
the next MTFS as part of the budget setting process. The additional
£1.632 million needed to fund the scheme will come from
dedicated earmarked reserve of recovered housing benefit
overpayment debts.
 

§    
AGREED that the Council continue with a
Discretionary Council Tax Hardship Scheme under section 13A(1)(c)
of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (as amended by the Local
Government Finance Act 2012), to offer additional help  to those suffering the greatest financial hardship
as defined in the Discretionary Housing Payment and Council Tax
Hardship Scheme as published on the Council’s website.
Current 2022-23 scheme attached (Appendix 2). This is subject to an
aggregate of £750,000. 
 
§    
AGREED that the detailed provisions of the council’s
final scheme remains broadly similar to that currently published on
the Council’s website with the exception other amendments
required to reflect continued changes to welfare benefits and
Universal Credit.
 

§    
DELEGATED responsibility to make any minor and
consequential changes, including the correction of accidental
errors, necessary to the detailed provision as a result of any
changes in the regulations upon which the scheme is based to the
Strategic Director of Resources following consultation with the
Portfolio Lead Member for Finance and Resources.

§    
NOTED that before any significant changes to the scheme
reducing or removing support could be made that a statutory
consultation would need to be carried out.