Agenda and draft minutes
Venue: the Council Chamber, County Hall, Ruthin LL15 1YN
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APOLOGIES Minutes: Apologies
were received from Councillors J. Butterfield, J.M. Davies, M.Ll. Davies,
H.H. Evans, C.L. Guy, M.L. Holland, E.A. Jones,
G. Lloyd-Williams, B.
Mellor, P.W. Owen, P. Penlington, D.I. Smith, W.N. Tasker and C.L. Williams. The
Chair and Members of Council expressed their condolences to the Leader and his
family following the passing away of his mother. A minutes silence was held as a mark of
respect for Councillor Margaret McCarroll and the
Leaders mother. |
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TRIBUTE TO COUNCILLOR MARGARET McCARROLL Minutes: The Chair paid tribute to the work
undertaken by Councillor McCarroll
in her role as a Councillor, and for the charity work
undertaken in the Community. Council
endorsed the views expressed by the Chair and Councillor
Pat Jones that Councillor McCarrol
would be sadly missed. |
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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST PDF 116 KB Members to declare any personal or prejudicial interests in any business identified to be considered at this meeting. Minutes: No Members declared any personal or prejudicial interests in
any business identified to be considered at the meeting. |
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URGENT MATTERS AS AGREED BY THE CHAIR Notice of items which, in the opinion of the Chair, should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency pursuant to Section 100B(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972. Minutes: No items were raised which in the
opinion of the Chair, should be considered at the meeting as a matter of
urgency pursuant to Section 100B(4) of the Local
Government Act, 1972. |
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COUNCIL TAX REDUCTION SCHEME PDF 64 KB To consider a report (copy attached) to adopt the Council Tax Reduction Schemes and Prescribed Requirements (Wales) Regulations 2013 and the Prescribed Requirements (Wales) Amendments Regulations 2015, in respect of the 2015/16 financial year. Minutes: Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill introduced a report
(previously circulated) on the adoption
of the All Wales Council Tax Reduction
Schemes and Prescribed Requirements (Wales) Regulations 2013, and the
All Wales Council Tax Reduction Schemes
and Prescribed Requirements (Wales) Amendments Regulations 2015. He explained that
the Welfare Reform Act 2012 contained provisions to abolish council tax benefit
in its current form across the UK. From
the 31st March, 2013 council tax benefit ceased and the
responsibility for providing support for council tax and the funding associated
with it had been passed to the Welsh Government (WG). WG, in partnership with Local Authorities in
Wales, introduced a new scheme to provide council tax support which had been
adopted by the Council in January, 2013. The WG finalised
both sets of regulations on the 14th January, 2014 and the new Council Tax Reduction Schemes (CTRS) and
Prescribed Requirements (Wales) Regulations 2013 and amendments Regulations
2015 were required to be adopted by 31st January, 2015. The Proposed Scheme
2015/16 In considering the
development of a new scheme for 2015/16 the WG had agreed that the amended
scheme should observe the following parameters:- ·
To
continue with a single nationally defined scheme to providing a consistent
level of support to claimants in Wales.
A maximum level of support had been set at 100%. ·
To
continue providing a small number of discretionary elements, similar to those
available under the current scheme, allowing local authorities to respond to
their differing local circumstances, provided the
costs of local variation were locally funded. ·
To
continue to be based on a reform of the previous Council Tax Benefit system,
until 2016-17 so that operational risks were managed and that support could
continue to be provided. ·
Minor amendments to
reflect the introduction of Shared Parental Leave and statutory shared parental
pay which replaced additional paternity leave and additional statutory
paternity pay from the 5th April, 2015. Transitional provisions had also been
provided for those in receipt of paternity pay on the 1st April,
2015. ·
An amendment was included which mirrored changes made to Housing
Benefit Regulations to remove automatic entitlement to a Council Tax Reduction
for European Economic Area (EEA) jobseekers, who were currently eligible by
virtue of being in receipt of income based Jobseeker’s Allowance
(JSA(IB)). Amendments in the Uprating
Regulations removed access to CTRS for EEA jobseekers, however this only
applied to those making a new application for CTRS on or after the 1st
April, 2015 or who ceased to be entitled to income based Job Seekers Allowance
for a period after this date, for example if they enter into temporary
employment. ·
Minor consequential amendments had also been made in relation to
definitions around Employment and Support Allowance and references to Universal
Credit. Income related Employment and
Support Allowance no longer consisted of separate contributory and income
related allowances, but only of a contributory allowance known as the
‘employment and support allowance’.
Amendments had also been made to insert references to Universal Credit
into the 2013 Regulations where there were already references to other
income-related benefits. ·
The figures used to calculate applicants’ entitlement to Council
Tax reduction would be uprated in line with Housing Benefit, as set by the
Department of Works and Pensions (DWP). Discretionary Elements for Council decision included:- a)
The
ability to increase the standard extended payment period of 4 weeks given to
people after they return to work, when they have been in receipt of a relevant
qualifying benefit for at least 26 weeks. b) Discretion to disregard part or the whole amount of War Disablement pensions and ... view the full minutes text for item 5. |