To invite the Executive Councillor for Customer Services, Councillor B S Chapman and the Managing Director (Resources) to lead a debate on Council Tax and other Welfare Reform - Response to changes.
Minutes:
The Chairman reminded Members of the decision by the Council to suspend Council Procedure Rule 11 (Rules of Debate) to enable headline debates and “Green Paper” proposals to be discussed by Members in an open manner. The Council, therefore
RESOLVED
that Council Procedure Rule 11 (Rules of Debate) be suspended for the duration of the discussion under Minute No. 31 during which time the common law rules of debate be observed by Members and applied by the Chairman.
The Chairman invited the Executive Councillor for Customer Services, Councillor B S Chapman to open the debate on Council Tax, other welfare reform and the Council’s proposed response to changes in this area. Councillor Chapman was assisted by the Managing Director (Resources), Mr T Parker.
With the assistance of a power point presentation (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) Councillor Chapman opened the debate by describing the key elements of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 and the impact this would have on the District Council. It was explained that the main principles of the Act were:-
¨ to create incentives to work;
¨ to protect the most vulnerable; and
¨ to deliver fairness to those claiming benefits and to the tax payer.
Detailed draft Regulations also had been published to give greater clarity to key elements of the complex legislation. Members also were made aware that the Act provided for the abolition, with effect from 1st April 2013, of the National Tax Benefits Scheme and that from that date, each Council would be required to introduce, in its place, a local council tax support system. It was also pointed out that Government funding towards the local scheme would be 10% or £1.3m less than the Council previously received for Council Tax Benefit support. Notwithstanding that the District Council had developed a draft scheme for council tax support and whilst this had been published for consultation with a closing date of 14th October 2012, Councillor Chapman confirmed that support for pensioners would remain unchanged.
Councillor Chapman described the work which had been undertaken thus far to prepare for the introduction of a new scheme mentioning in particular the consultation exercise, direct notification to those householders that might be affected by the new scheme, system development and training of officers to respond to the changes. In presenting, in detail, the underlying principles of the proposed support scheme to the Council, Councillor Chapman reaffirmed that all working age households not considered to be vulnerable would be expected to contribute towards their council tax, so that the scheme would provide protection for the most vulnerable whilst continuing to support people moving into work and helping those in low paid work. A series of examples were used to illustrate how the household income of different family groups and individuals in varied circumstances would change under the provisions of the new scheme.
The Executive Councillor and the Managing Director (Resources) proceeded to respond to questions from Members and specifically in reply to Councillor Mrs D C Reynolds explained what was to be understood by the terms “current allocations” and “all those of working age should contribute”. Councillor Chapman suggested that an “applicable amount” was the weekly figure used to calculate the council tax benefit that the customer should be entitled to receive and that this would take into account their current household size and allocation. It was confirmed that most working age households would not be protected under the scheme but would be assessed under the new rules and expected to pay something towards their council tax but only if they were occupying what was considered to be a “chargeable home”. It was made clear in a response to Councillor S M Van De Kerkhove that the new scheme did not, in general, permit retrospective claims for council tax benefit. Given the pressures on funding and whilst there would be some entitlement to transitional claims, it was not considered equitable to make retrospective payments as these might penalise the level of support available to meet the claims of those who had submitted their applications on time.
Councillor P J Downes congratulated the Executive Councillor and the Head of Customer Services for drafting a scheme under such pressure in response to the Act and added that, in his view, the new legislation had two redeeming features. He was hopeful that the Act would reduce the number of unoccupied homes and match occupancy to capacity. Councillor Downes was fearful that loop holes would continue to exist and referred to circumstances where it was apparent that two people were occupying a property when records suggested that only one was in occupation. Councillor Downes further considered that the provision contained in paragraph 2.10 of the scheme in relation to the disregard of child benefit income for the eldest child was harsh as was the proposal not to include back-dating of applications given the possibility that individuals might have inadvertently missed the deadline for submission.
In noting these comments, Councillor Chapman reminded the Council that any individual found to have submitted a fraudulent claim would be prosecuted and that it was the objective of the scheme not to penalise those who had chosen to work.
Having expressed the view that Councillors should prepare themselves to respond to difficult press headlines when the scheme went ‘live’, Councillor D M Tysoe also asked whether there would be an opportunity to re-visit the scheme should that prove necessary. Councillor Chapman assured the questioner that discretionary payments were available in the event of exceptional cases.
Councillor P D Reeve was of the view that the Government would regret the decision to introduce the Welfare Reform Act in the current economic climate adding that people were not unemployed through choice. He questioned the availability of jobs for individuals to apply for and considered it essential to continue to support the poor and vulnerable in preference to migrants who might come to the UK to find work.
The Executive Councillor reminded the Council that applicants without a local connection would not be entitled to support under the scheme and that, in his view, there were opportunities for employment in Huntingdonshire and more so than other areas. There would always be individuals unable to work for genuine and justifiable reasons.
In congratulating those who had contributed to the formulation of the scheme, Councillor R Harrison commended the provision which enabled all war pensions to be disregarded in the assessment of income for council tax support. However, he requested that the term “War Pension” be clearly defined. Councillor Chapman undertook to inform the questioner of the precise definition of a War Pension, in writing, after the meeting.
General comments having been made about the scenarios used to illustrate the effect of the scheme on different family groups, the Executive Councillor reminded Members that the council tax support scheme would be recommended for adoption at the Council meeting in December with a view to implementation from April 2013. The Head of Customer Services had invited all those expected to be affected by the changes to visit the District Council’s offices for advice. Councillor Chapman also briefly referred to proposals for the future transfer of housing benefit work to the Department of Works and Pensions.
Councillor S J Criswell asked whether the Council had sufficient resources to be able to advise all claimants given the many different situations in which they might find themselves and was assured by the Executive Councillor that arrangements had been put in place to respond to the various requests for advice.
The Executive Leader, Councillor J D Ablewhite closed the debate by reminding the Council that the proposed council tax support scheme represented one of the largest projects for change undertaken by the Council and he wished to thank the Executive Councillor and the Head of Customer Services and her team for their efforts in enabling the Authority to deliver a new system in compliance with the Act. Councillor Ablewhite indicated his support for the Government’s intention to reduce the cost of the welfare system and suggested that there were employment opportunities in Huntingdonshire for those wishing to work. He concluded by stating that it should not be the case that an individual was “better off” financially at home than one who was working and he endorsed the Government’s attempt to address the system which existed for those who were genuinely in need of welfare assistance rather than those who chose to make it a lifestyle choice.
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