Issue - meetings

To approve the Council’s Discretionary Rate Relief Policy for the duration of the new Local Rating List.

Approve:

  i.  the Discretionary Rate Relief Policy as detailed in Appendix 1 (Charities, Community Amateur Sports Clubs and Non-Profit Making Organisations), and Appendix 2 (Section 44a “Part-Occupation” Relief and Section 49 “Hardship” Relief) of the submitted report;

  ii.  the Discretionary Rate Relief Policy of awarding relief under Government Proposals in all instances where the Council is 100% reimbursed by Section 31 “Burden Grant” pending the required change in primary legislation;

  iii.  the granting of Discretionary Rate Relief for qualifying ratepayers (subject to state aid rules) in the Alconbury Weald Enterprise Zone;

  iv.  the award of Section 47 “Localism Reliefs” only in highly exceptional cases where no other alternative relief is applicable, and the ratepayer aids benefit to the amenities of the community and/or to the aims   of the Council’s Corporate Plan

  v.  that the Head of Customer Service and the Local Taxation Manager be delegated authorisation to approve the award of Discretionary Rate Relief; and

  vi.  that the Corporate Director be delegated authorisation to deal with appeals against Discretionary Rate Relief decisions.

The Cabinet considered a report (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) presented by the Executive Councillor for Strategic Resources to establish the Council’s Discretionary Rate Relief Policy for the term of the new Local Rating List which was expected to be until 31 March 2022.

The Council had the power to set its own Discretionary Rate Relief Policy.  Every rating assessment was undergoing revaluation by the Valuation Office Agency, in its statutory duty of compiling and maintaining Local Lists which billing authorities had to bill according to, with the new list becoming effective from 1 April 2017.

The revaluation might create significant changes in rateable values, especially after the last revaluation was conducted seven years previous, and with the Government changing other mandatory reliefs from 2017/18, it was essential that the Council reviewed its Discretionary Rate Relief Policy to ensure against inequalities, anomalies, and unintended consequences. 

The Cabinet agreed that to support economic growth in rural communities the Council should continue its current policy of awarding 100% relief in all cases where the Council was fully reimbursed by way of Section 31 (Burden) Grant.

The comments of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Performance and Customers) had been circulated to the Cabinet separate to the agenda, the Panel meeting having occurred following the agenda publication.  Having considered the comments of the Panel, the Cabinet

RESOLVED

to approve:

i.  the Discretionary Rate Relief Policy as detailed in Appendix 1 (Charities, Community Amateur Sports Clubs and Non-Profit Making Organisations), and Appendix 2 (Section 44a “Part-Occupation” Relief and Section 49 “Hardship” Relief) of the submitted report;

ii.  the Discretionary Rate Relief Policy of awarding relief under Government Proposals in all instances where the Council is 100% reimbursed by Section 31 “Burden Grant” pending the required change in primary legislation;

iii.  the granting of Discretionary Rate Relief for qualifying ratepayers (subject to state aid rules) in the Alconbury Weald Enterprise Zone;

iv.  the award of Section 47 “Localism Reliefs” only in highly exceptional cases where no other alternative relief is applicable, and the ratepayer aids benefit to the amenities of the community and/or to the aims of the Council’s Corporate Plan;

v.  that the Head of Customer Service and the Local Taxation Manager be delegated authorisation to approve the award of Discretionary Rate Relief; and

vi.  that the Corporate Director be delegated authorisation to deal with appeals against Discretionary Rate Relief decisions.

The Discretionary Rate Relief Policy is to be presented to the Panel.

With the aid of a report by the Local Taxation Manager (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) the Discretionary Rate Relief Policy was presented to the Panel. During the introduction of the report, the Panel was informed that the report is covers different types of discretionary relief and the main change/beneficiaries in 2017/18 was for discretionary rate relief on rural shops.

In response to the question: could hardship relief cover a particular urban area undergoing some deprivation, the Panel was informed that the award of relief could only be considered on the specific circumstances of individual applications; to qualify for an award it must be proved that the ratepayer was suffering hardship and that it was in the interest of local taxpayers to make the award.

Members were informed that so long as the United Kingdom stay in the European Union, the Council would have to comply with state aid rules. Once the UK leaves the EU, as things stand, the country wouldn’t have any rules on state aid.

The Panel recommended that the Cabinet should endorse the recommendations of the report.