The Committee considered a report recommending that the Committee recommend to Full Council that the Council Tax Support Scheme for 2022/23 to be implemented from 1 April 2022 should continue in its current form with no changes other than statutory changes and uprating. This Scheme applied to those of working age only.  Pensioners, subject to their income, could receive up to 100 per cent support towards their Council Tax and the Council had no power to change the level of support provided to pensioners. 

The Government had announced Regulations uprating various amounts which had to be included in the pension age Scheme and be adopted by Runnymede for the working age Council Tax support scheme for 2022/23. The details of the Regulations were noted by the Committee. They included changes to non-dependant deductions, applicable amounts, premiums, income and capital disregards and the habitual residence test. In addition, the Government had announced, on 3 February 2022, that it would provide funding for billing authorities to give all households in England whose primary residence was valued in Council Tax bands A-D a one-off Council tax energy rebate payment of £150.  The Government would lay regulations to require these payments to be disregarded as income for the purposes of calculating eligibility for Council Tax support.    

At its meeting on 12 February 2019, Full Council had agreed a Council Tax Support

Scheme to be implemented from 1 April 2019.  At its meeting on 24 September 2020, the Corporate Management Committee considered a report reviewing the Scheme and decided to keep the Scheme unchanged and create a £50,000 discretionary hardship fund.  The Corporate Management Committee had agreed at that meeting that the discretionary hardship fund would commence in April 2021 and would be administered over two years and would be used to help those most in need due to the economic impact of coronavirus but were excluded from Council Tax Support or were receiving less than their full liability.  It was agreed at that meeting that the Council would review the Council Tax Support Scheme and the discretionary hardship fund in two years’ time.

Officers would be considering options for a full scale review of Runnymede’s Council Tax Support Scheme during 2022.  This was to ensure that the Scheme incorporated the roll out of Universal Credit and to take the opportunity to simplify the administration of claims and make it easier for the Council’s most vulnerable residents to understand how their financial assistance had been calculated and what help those of working age were entitled to with their Council Tax.  Any changes would come into effect from April 2023.

As the Scheme had been in its current form since April 2019, proposals for a full scale review of the Scheme would be submitted to a future meeting of the Committee, so that the Council’s decision on the Scheme for 2023/24 could be informed by the findings of that review. A Member suggested that any proposals for a full scale review of the Scheme should be considered first by the Housing Committee as that Committee’s functions included Housing and Council Tax benefits. However, the Committee was advised that this was a support scheme not a benefits scheme and support schemes did not fall within the Housing Committee’s functions.  The Committee indicated that before it considered proposals for a full scale review the proposals should be discussed in another meeting first and sought advice from officers outside the meeting on whether this should be the Housing Committee or one of the Member Working Parties.

One of the elements of the current Scheme was that Council Tax Support entitlement calculated at less than £10.00 per week was not paid except for those classed as vulnerable and the previous level of £5.00 per week was maintained.  Some Members of the Committee considered that this element of the Scheme should be looked at again as part of the review and either did not support this element of the scheme or indicated that they would wish to have details of how vulnerability was determined in this context when the Scheme was reviewed.           

As the Corporate Management Committee on 24 September 2020 had decided to maintain the Scheme in its current form until April 2023, the Committee recommended that the Scheme be kept in its current form and uprated according to Regulations set out in the Statutory Instrument SI 25/2022 issued by the Government and the Housing Benefit uprating circular A11/2022.   

            Recommend to Full Council on 3 March 2022 that –

the Council Tax Support Scheme for 2022/23 to be implemented from 1 April 2022 continues in its current form with no changes other than statutory changes and uprating.