Issue - meetings

That Cabinet approve:

a)      Option 3 as detailed in paragraph 2.4.3 of the report; and

b)      the Discretionary Council Tax Relief Scheme to support households facing the hardship of living with a terminally ill family member, as set out at Appendix A to the report.

The Business Manager - Financial Services presented a report which recommended the establishment of a discretionary Council Tax Relief Scheme to support households facing the hardship of living with a terminally ill family member.

Four options for such a scheme were presented to the Policy & Performance Improvement Committee at their meeting held on 1 December 2025. The Committee endorsed and recommended option 3 to the Cabinet which was to develop a scheme to provide 100% council tax relief to all households who were in receipt of relief through the local council tax relief scheme (LCTR) within Newark & Sherwood District impacted by having a relative living in the household who had been diagnosed as receiving end of life care. This option aligned with the recommendation of the Marie Curie charity and was estimated to cost between £33,005 and £49,507 per year and it was recommended that the budget for 2026/27 be set at £50,000.

The Cabinet welcomed the report and were hopeful that this would act as a catalyst for other local authorities to adopt similar schemes. It was requested that an update on the implementation of the scheme be brough to the Policy & Performance Improvement Committee and Cabinet as appropriate.

AGREED (unanimously) that Cabinet approve:

a)       Option 3 as detailed in paragraph 2.4.3 of the report; and

b)       the Discretionary Council Tax Relief Scheme to support households facing the hardship of living with a terminally ill family member, as set out at Appendix A to the report.

Reasons for Decision:

The recommended option supports the recommendation of Marie Curie to develop schemes to provide support to households on a low income that include someone living with a terminal illness.  The recommended option is affordable to the Council, as identified in the report and the financial implications.

The recommended option aligns to Ambition 3 in the Community Plan to ‘Improve health and wellbeing, with an emphasis on communities with lower levels of life expectancy’.

Options Considered:

Option 1 - 100% council tax relief to all households within the district impacted by having a relative living in the household who has been diagnosed as receiving end-of-life care.

Option 2 - 100% council tax relief to all households within the district impacted by having a relative who has been diagnosed as receiving end-of-life care.  This would be provided irrespective of where the individual who has been diagnosed lives.

Option 3 - 100% council tax relief to all households who are in receipt of relief through the local council tax relief scheme (LCTR) within the district impacted by having a relative living in the household who has been diagnosed as receiving end-of-life care.

Option 4 - Develop a scheme to provide 100% council tax relief to all households who are in receipt of relief through the local council tax relief scheme (LCTR) within the district where the council tax liable party, subject to the LCTR claim, has been diagnosed as receiving end-of-life care.