Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Aldred.

Although not a member of the Commission, Councillor Waddington, (Assistant City Mayor – Jobs and Skills), also submitted her apologies for absence, as she normally would have attended the meeting.

Members are asked to declare any interests they may have in the business to be discussed.

No declarations of interest were made.

The Chair announced with regret that Mr Allan Gratrix, a well-known community campaigner who had attended meetings of this Commission on many occasions, had died.

The City Mayor noted that, although he had known Mr Gratrix as a City Councillor, he was better known as an active campaigner within the community and would be greatly missed.

The Commission endorsed these comments.

The Director of Finance submits a report setting out a request that is to be made to the full Council meeting of 24 November 2016 that a Council Tax Reduction Scheme be adopted for 2017/18.  The Commission is recommended to make observations as it sees fit, which will be reported to the Council meeting on 24 November.

The Director of Finance submitted a report setting out a request to be made to full Council on 24 November 2016 that a Council Tax Reduction Scheme (CTRS) be adopted for 2017/18.

The City Mayor introduced the report, reminding Members that reductions in funding from the government meant that the Council had to make savings of £155 million in the Council’s revenue budget between 2010 and 2020.  Of this, £100m already had been delivered.  To find the balance, the Council was reviewing where savings could be made and how income could be increased

Initially, the government had funded a national scheme for Council Tax benefit, but since 2013 the Council had had to meet this cost with a reduced funding envelope.  Given the Council’s very difficult financial position, consideration therefore needed to be given to whether the current level of contribution being made by recipients of relief under this scheme should be increased to contribute to the savings the Council needed to make.

Before a decision could be taken on this, the Council was required by statute to consult residents.  This had been done, with three options being offered, details of which were set out in the report.  However, the consultation had generated a low level of response, with half of respondents favouring option one (no change) and the preferences of the remainder being split fairly evenly between options two and three.

The City Mayor therefore suggested that, having considered the results of the consultation and the Council’s financial situation, it would be possible to continue with the current CTRS for a further year.  However, if it was decided at that time not to reduce the relief given on Council Tax, this decision would need to be reconsidered next year, at which time further consultation with residents would be required.

The City Mayor reminded Members that people over state pension age were exempt from the scheme, and so were able to still receive 100% reduction, (dependent on income levels).  Working age residents could only receive a maximum 80% reduction.  When the CTRS was next reviewed, the Council would seek to retain a “safety net” for those in greatest hardship, but it could not guarantee that there would be no change to the level of support provided.

The Director of Finance confirmed that an active marketing programme had been undertaken, to increase awareness of the proposals for the CTRS.  This included undertaking consultation on the scheme in conjunction with Leicestershire County Council and the seven district authorities within the county area. 

During the consultation period, a flier had been included with all letters sent out by Finance services.  Approximately 30,000 such communications had been sent.  Other communication methods included adding the consultation to the City Council’s consultations website, putting up posters in neighbourhood centres and attending community events.

It was acknowledged that the language used in the consultation could be a barrier to people responding, as it was difficult to describe some of the terms.  Consequently, a lot of work had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.

The meeting closed at 6.55 pm