Agenda item

6.1  The Chair explained that the Scrutiny Panel set up the Council Tax Reduction Scheme (CTRS) Task and Finish Group to review the CTRS model in Hackney.  It had looked at the options and costs to the Council to reduce the liability of council tax contributions for relevant working age adults and the cost implications of implementing a zero based CTRS model in Hackney. Also present for this item were:

Ian Williiams (IW), Group Director Finance and Corporate Resources

Jackie Moylan (JM) Director of Financial Management

Cllr Robert Chapman (RC), Cabinet Member for Finance, Insourcing and Customer Service

6.2  Members gave consideration to a TABLED presentation from the Chair ‘CTRS Task Group’.  The Chair took members through the presentation which covered:

Task Group objectives

Contributors to the review

Background to the review

Council Tax as a % of local authority funding

Input from Child Poverty Action Group and Institute for Fiscal Studies

Admin; income changes, banding

Council Tax Reduction Scheme caseloads by borough

Hackney CTRS Scheme

CTRS in Camden

CTRS in Lambeth

CTRS in Tower Hamlets

Collection rates in Hackney

Hardship Fund in Hackney

View of the local CAB

View of Deaf Plus

View of Age UK in Hackney

Key Finding from the Review

Recommendation Areas

Next Steps

6.3  The Recommendation Areas from the review covered: Communication and Consultation; engagement with advice services, equalities data; hardship fund; the money hub - advice and support to residents; and Care leavers. As regards next steps it was noted that it was the ambition of the Council to provide low income households with a 90% discount on council tax by 2026 and a full discount by 2030.  The proposal will be subject to consultation and eligibility will still be means-tested.

6.4  JM commented that the uptake on the discretionary Hardship Scheme had historically been low, the fund however had been topped up by £400k and there had also been an improvement in its uptake. They had also included foster carers in the exempted list. She added that the plan was to go to a 90% discount by April 2024. Cllr Chapman added that they would go out to consultation this spring on the future of the scheme and to make provision for this in the 24/25 budget.

Questions from Members of Scrutiny Panel

6.5  Would it be possible to target those on the lowest incomes with a lower capital threshold sooner e.g.  savings of just £6k rather than £16k before support kicked in. IW replied that anyone with savings of less than £16k would be eligible for some reduction. They were going out to consultation in the spring on the rates and the savings thresholds and were looking at the underlying drivers here. Benchmarking other councils had revealed that, while at first other councils’ schemes appeared to be more generous, when their rules were applied to Hackney’s various cohorts, they had found that many of our residents would end up worse off, so it all depended on the finer detail of the scheme.

6.6  Is it possible to target more subsidies to the poorest residents sooner. IW replied that they would look at this as part of the consultation. On previous updates to the scheme they had brought in support for those not previously considered. REC added that the findings of this review would be incorporated into the consultation findings and offered to bring back a revised draft scheme prior to implementation.

6.7  The Chair thanked all those who had contributed to the work of the Review and it was noted that the final report would come back for approval.

RESOLVED:

That the reports and discussion be noted.