Agenda item

The Resources Scrutiny Commission will discuss the report on the Council Tax Reduction Scheme, which is due to be submitted to the Cabinet on 5 December 2023 with a view to comments from the Commission being forwarded to the Full Council on 12 December 2023.  The Cabinet report on this matter will be circulated to Resources Scrutiny members as soon as it is available.

The Chair advised members that since the publication of the agenda for this meeting of the Resources Scrutiny Commission, the Cabinet, on 5 December (following the conclusion of the second phase of public consultation and engagement) had taken a decision not to change the Council Tax Reduction Scheme (CTRS) for 2024/25.

Summary of main points raised/noted in discussion of this item:

1. It was noted that as per previous comments submitted to the Cabinet and to Full Council, a majority of members of the Resources Scrutiny Commission/Finance Task Group had not supported a change to the CTRS.

2. A point was raised about the fact that the wide number of options for changing the CTRS, as included in the consultation, had produced a scenario where it had been difficult to identify a clearly favoured option to take forward based on the responses received.  It was suggested that lessons could be learned from the process followed and it would be appropriate to avoid running any future consultations in this way. 

3. In response to a question, it was noted that consideration had been given by the administration to using a ‘slider’ tool, to enable comparison of the impact of different options.  A view had been reached, however, that the tool (the use of which would also have incurred additional cost) would have been difficult to deploy in this case given the number of options involved and the related complexity.  The tool had been used previously as part of a council budget consultation, but experience had shown that some people had found it difficult to use in practice.

4. It was noted that the consultation materials had attempted to show the impact of different scenarios on households, but it was recognised that the information provided was complex.  Officers had conducted a ‘lessons learned’ exercise following the consultation, which could be shared with members.  The approaches taken by other local authorities in carrying out consultation on CTRS reviews would also be examined.

5. A number of members flagged the importance of the CTRS in assisting people on low incomes who may also be vulnerable or responsible for vulnerable individuals and welcomed the Cabinet decision not to change the scheme in 2024/25, especially in light of the fact that the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement had given no indication that the Household Support Fund would be extended into the next financial year.

6. A point was also raised reiterating a previous concern raised by members that, if a revised CTRS had been introduced for 2024/25, difficulties could have been faced around deliverability of the envisaged saving with a potential negative impact on Council Tax collection rate and cost.  In response to this point, the Director: Finance clarified that the additional administration that would have been involved in collecting additional funds under a changed scheme was not considered to have represented a challenge that the authority could not have overcome (as per the experience of a number of other local authorities who had changed their CTRS in recent years).

7. The Deputy Mayor for City Economy, Finance and Performance advised that the administration was acutely aware of the positive impact the CTRS has had in assisting people on low incomes.  He pointed out that this formed the Council’s largest area of discretionary spend; it was important to recognise that this spend would potentially come under renewed pressure in future years.

8. It was noted that as a consequence of the decision not to change the CTRS for 2024/25, an additional £3m of compensatory savings would need to be identified through the current budget development work for the next financial year.