11 July - Finance and Corporate Services Scrutiny
Councillor Andy Dourmoush was back in the chair for Tuesday’s Scrutiny
meeting (does he alternate with Councillor Hall?) and lost no time in
congratulating Bexley’s new MPs on their General Election successes last Thursday.
One, Councillor Francis is a member of this Committee but understandably was
otherwise occupied on the night in question. Four Bexley Councillors may now be found in Westminster
The first item
on the Agenda was the Council Tax Reduction Scheme, something Bexley
first started chipping away at in 2012; effective from April 2013 when
everyone had to pay at least 5% of Council Tax. The minimum rate was increased
by 5% in the two following years. (Council Tax reduction schemes are the
responsibility of individual Councils and not statutory.)
Cabinet Member Leaf said he remembered adjusting the scheme six years ago and it
needs to be reviewed again and people being nudged back into work was preferable
to benefits. Most local Councils had been reducing the level of support and in
Bexley it now stands at a maximum payment of 80% of tax due. i.e. residents pay
at least 20% on an upwards sliding scale. Most
recipients of the benefit are in Band C houses in Slade Green and Thamesmead but
affects every ward to some extent.
In Bexley the support currently costs around £9 million but reducing the level
may impact collection rates and ultimately be counter-productive. “It is a tricky area.”
Councillor Hall asked how people who had fallen on really hard times are helped.
On-line forms and the Citizen’s Advice Bureau were
judged to be sufficient. Cabinet Member Leaf said there was a problem with
people not accepting help until things became very critical and there is a
“Household Support Fund”. (It was described as Council supporting charities.
Government support for HSF is due to end in September.)
Councillor Borella said that chasing small debts must be very expensive and
maybe the current scheme is “not fit for purpose”. Councillor Leaf said that
nationally, Council Tax debt has gone up by billions of pounds and if the debts
are not chased people are even less likely to pay. Some cases remain on the books for years.
11% of uncollected Council Tax relates to the Council Tax Reduction Scheme.
HSF help is only available to people of working age.
Note: This report ends prematurely here because yours truly has been suffering
from a flu like cold for just over a week and it is currently making its
presence felt more than I would wish for. To be continued…