The report of the City Treasurer is attached

In October 2016 we had considered and endorsed for public consultation a revised Council Tax Support (CTS) Scheme (Minute Exe/16/126). In January 2017 we considered the outcome of the consultation and agreed to adopt a new support scheme (Minute Exe/17/012). In September 2018 the City Treasurer had proposed further changes to the CTS Scheme, and it had been agreed that those proposals should be the subject of public consultation (Minute Exe/18/90).

A report submitted by the City Treasurer set out the outcome of the consultation, and the responses to the issues that had been raised by consultees. The report proposed that the revised scheme by adopted. An Equalities Impact Assessment was appended to the report setting out the more detailed equalities issues that would arise if the recommendations in the report were accepted and implemented.

The consultation had run from 5 November 2018 to 16 December 2018. The consultation documents had been provided on the Council website and paper questionnaires were sent to Libraries, advice groups in the city, the Customer Service Centre, and also to Councillors to distribute. A direct-mail distribution of 30,000 questionnaires had also been employed, sent to 5,911 Universal Credit households currently claiming CTS, 9,089 other households currently claiming CTS, and 15,000 other households paying Council Tax without claiming CTS.

A total of 1,051 responses had been received including 809 paper questionnaires and 242 online responses. The report set out a detailed examination of the responses: 55% of the respondents had agreed that the Council should change to a banded CTS scheme from April 2019, 12% had disagreed and 33% had not expressed a view either way.

The report explained that Universal Credit was to become the single mainstream source of benefits for most working age people on low income. Officers within the Council had therefore been considering the impact of Universal Credit on the Council Tax Support scheme, and how best to provide support to people claiming Universal Credit. It had been concluded that it would be appropriate to align Manchester’s Council Tax Support Scheme with Universal Credit (UC), particularly if that would enable the Council to draw on the assessment work carried out by the Department of Work and Pensions.

As a result of the analysis a banded scheme was being proposed. For a person entitled to UC, if their income was below their applicable amount or the same as their applicable amount, their Council Tax Support would be 82.5% of their Council Tax liability less any non-dependant deductions applicable. For those with a higher income their Council Tax Support would be the lower percentage according to the amount by which their income was above their applicable amount. The proposed banding being:

The report examined the implication of this on claimants and described the steps that would need to be taken for the successful changeover to a banded scheme, including how to avoid frequent trivial changes and what transitional arrangements should apply for those who would see a reduction in their support under these proposals.

Having considered details as set out in the report, the outcome of the consultation and the views express by the consultees, and also the finding of the Equality Impact Assessment, it was agreed that the proposed changes should be brought into effect from 1 April 2019.

Decisions

1.         Note the outcomes of the consultation process and the Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) both of which have supported and informed the final recommendations.

2.         Make the following changes to the Council Tax Support Scheme from 1 April 2019 in respect of people entitled to Universal Credit.

              i.        A person for whom the Council receives both an electronic notification of a new claim for, and subsequently a related first payment of, Universal Credit from the Department for Work and Pensions shall be deemed to have made a claim for a reduction under this scheme on the first day of entitlement to Universal Credit to which that notification of first payment refers.

            ii.        The amount of an award in respect of a day under this scheme for a person entitled to Universal Credit shall be a percentage of the amount set by the authority as the Council Tax for the relevant financial year in respect of the dwelling in which he is a resident and for which he is liable. This is subject to any discount which may be appropriate to that dwelling under the 1992 Act, divided the number of days in that financial year, less the daily rate of any deductions in respect of non-dependants which fall to be made. That percentage shall be the percentage specified in the following table according to the band in which their excess income falls.

           iii.        People who have a temporary break in their Council Tax Support (up to six months) because an associated award of Universal Credit has ended or the amount of Universal Credit in payment rises to a level that ends entitlement to Council Tax Support and that award of Universal Credit is subsequently reinstated (whether at the same rate or at a different rate) or drops to a level that triggers eligibility for Council Tax Support, are required to make a new claim for Council Tax Support. A new claim in these circumstances shall be treated as made on the date on which entitlement to Universal Credit resumed / reduced or six months before the day on which the claim is actually received, whichever is the later.

           iv.        The Council will monitor and review the Council Tax Support Scheme to ensure that it continues to support the Council's policies. The Council Tax Support Scheme may be amended for subsequent years, but should this happen there will be further consultation. If no revised scheme is published, this scheme will continue to apply to subsequent years. However, the figures set out in the scheme in respect of applicable amounts, income and capital disregards and non-dependants deductions may still be uprated to allow for inflation. Any such uprating will take effect on 1 April each year. If the figures provided in the prescribed requirements change, the Council reserves the right to amend the figures quoted in the scheme without further consultation.

            v.        Where the Council receives notification from the Department for Work and Pensions of a change to Universal Credit and the changed assessment does not result in an alteration to the amount of a reduction under this scheme, the Council is not required to notify the claimant of its recording of that change.

3.         Agree that the Council’s Discretionary Council Tax Payment Scheme is used to support households during the transitional period of moving to the banded scheme and Universal Credit. The scheme would cover the current anomalous and exceptional circumstances as well as supporting those households disproportionately impacted by Universal Credit transfer including families with children.