Issue - meetings

That Cabinet recommends to Full Council the uprating of the applicable amounts, premiums, state benefits and disregard criteria in accordance with the annual uprating amounts applied by the Department for Works & Pensions (DWP); whilst continuing the current Localised Council Tax Support Scheme for 2025/26 financial year.

The Business Manager – Revenues and Benefits presented a report in relation to the continuation of the Localised Council Tax Support Scheme for 2025/26 with minor changes in accordance with the annual uprating amounts applied by the Department for Works and Pensions (DWP). By applying the annual uprating of income and disregards to the 2025/26 scheme, the Council would continue to maintain the current level of support to all Council Tax Support claimants and ensure that the scheme continues to benefit the most vulnerable and low-income households using nationally recognised rates of DWP income rather than continuing with the 2024 rates that were being used in the current scheme.

AGREED (unanimously) that Cabinet recommends to Full Council the uprating of the applicable amounts, premiums, state benefits and disregard criteria in accordance with the annual uprating amounts applied by the Department for Works & Pensions (DWP); whilst continuing the current Localised Council Tax Support Scheme for 2025/26 financial year.

Reasons for Decision:

To ensure the Council discharges its responsibilities to agree its Council Tax Support scheme by 31 January 2025.

Options considered:

An alternative option would be to increase the maximum award of 80% - the cost of doing this has been considered within the financial implications section in the report.