Agenda and draft minutes

DISCRETIONARY COUNCIL TAX SUPPORT FUND POLICY, Cabinet Member Signing
Tuesday, 18th April, 2023 3.00 pm

Contact: Felicity Foley, Committees Manager 2919, Email: felicity.foley@haringey.gov.uk

Items
No.	Item
1.	Apologies for absence To receive any apologies for absence. Minutes: None.
2.	Declarations of interest A member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a prejudicial interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered: (i) must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest becomes apparent, and (ii) may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must withdraw from the meeting room. A member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Register of Members’ Interests or the subject of a pending notification must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure. Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal interests and prejudicial interests are defined at Paragraphs 5-7 and Appendix A of the Members’ Code of Conduct Minutes: None.
3.	Discretionary Council Tax Support Fund Policy PDF 404 KB View the background to item 3. Additional documents: Appendix 1 , item 3. PDF 146 KB Appendix 2 , item 3. PDF 617 KB Minutes: The Cabinet Member for Tackling Inequalities and Resident Services considered the report which sought approval for the proposed Discretionary Council Tax Support Fund scheme as the methodology for the delivery of the remaining allocation of funding. The Cabinet Member for Tackling Inequality and Resident Services RESOLVED 1. To approve Haringey’s Discretionary Council Tax Support Fund Scheme (see Appendix 1) as the methodology to use the remaining allocation of funding in accordance with the guidance issued by Government. 2. To authorise the Director Culture, Strategy and Engagement, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Tackling Inequality and Resident Services, to make appropriate amendments to the Discretionary Council Tax Support Scheme as necessary. Reasons for Decision The Council is required to develop a Discretionary scheme in accordance with the requirements set out in the Guidance issued by the Government on 23^rd December 2022. The Council has developed a distribution methodology that complies with the requirements of Guidance as set out in paragraphs 19 and 20 in the Guidance Alternative Options Considered Various options for distribution were considered including awarding a fixed sum to all CTRS recipients, restricting the award to certain categories or groups of claimants, for example working age disabled. These options were rejected because the chosen option maximises the award of reduction to all the worst-off eligible CTRS claimants. The option of awarding reductions to new claimants as set out in paragraph 16 of the guidance has been considered and rejected as it precludes making speedy awards of discount at the start of the year. The Council recognises the limitations of the CTSF scheme to help residents, and the importance of getting support to residents early in the Financial year and therefore will award discounts to qualifying residents at the start of the year in order to allow them to budget effectively.