Agenda item
Calculation of Council Tax Base 2013/14
This report sets out council tax base calculations to be used for 2013/14. The level of council tax base set is used in the calculation of the council tax for 2013/14. Regulations require that the council tax base is set by 31st January prior to the start of the financial year.
Minutes:
Mick Bowden (Deputy Director of Finance) presented a report to the committee setting out the council tax base calculations to be used for 2013/14. The level of council tax base set would be used in the calculation of the council tax for 2013/14 and was required to be set by 31 January prior to the start of the financial year. The calculation was initially based on the council tax base return submitted to the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) in October 2012, which was used in government grant calculations. For 2013/14 the tax base used in grant calculations would be 101,875 Band D equivalent properties. This figure would need to be adjusted from 2013/14 onwards to take account of changes introduced by the Local Government Finance Act 2012.
Mick Bowden explained that under this Act, the previous scheme of Council Tax Benefit (CTB) had been replaced by a new localised Council Tax Support Scheme. Local authorities had previously received a 100% subsidy on the actual cost of CTB granted. Under the new arrangements, local authorities would receive a fixed annual grant, designed to cover 90% of the previous cost of CTB, and would be required to establish their own council tax support schemes. The result of this was that local authorities would have to fund the reduction in subsidy, together with any further increases resulting from any rises in the level of Council Tax, or from caseload changes. The Act also gave Local authorities the power to make a range of changes to exemptions from Council Tax under its local scheme. The Council had agreed the Brent Council Tax Support scheme at its meeting on 10 December 2012, the overall effect of which was to give an estimated adjusted tax base figure of 80,408. The council tax base set by the council also needed to take account of the likely collection rate and it was recommended that this be set at 96%. This had been scaled down from an expected 97.5% to take into account the changes resulting from the Local Government Finance Act 2012. In particular, it was highlighted that there would be over 22,000 households in Brent who had previously been receiving part or full CTB, but which now would be required to pay some or all of their Council Tax. It was considered inevitable that this would have an adverse effect on the overall collection rate, but as there was no history of collection data to examine, a large element of assumption would be necessary for 2013/14. The resulting council tax calculation returned a council tax base of 77,191.
During members’ subsequent discussion, it was queried whether other sources of evidence could be drawn upon to assist in determining whether residents were likely to pay their council tax, including information from housing associations regarding payment histories. The committee further queried how Brent’s collection rate compared with other boroughs. Councillor Lorber commented that he felt that 96% was a bit low and that whilst it might be a challenging target, it was important to send out the right message.
In response, Mick Bowden advised that as these council tax payments would be a new requirement for some, there was still uncertainty regarding eventual collection rates. Brent’s collection rate assumption was in line with other boroughs and further evidence would be gathered in forthcoming years.
RESOLVED:
(i) that the collection rate for the council tax for 2013/14 be set at 96%
(ii) that in accordance with the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) Regulations 1992, the council tax base for 2013/14 be set at 77,191.
Supporting documents: