Issue - meetings

To consider a report of the Executive Councillor (Support & Governance).

The Deputy Leader of the Council (Support & Governance) (Councillor Iain Roberts) submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) detailing outcome of the review the local Discounts and Exemptions which would be available in respect of Business Rates and Council Tax for 2016/17.

RESOLVED – That approval be given to the following in respect of Council Tax and Business Rates Discounts and Exemptions:

(a)   Business Rates Relief

·         That support continues for

o   CASC organisations as outlined at 3.4

o   Not for profit organisations as outlined at 3.7

·         That further support for Charities is limited to mandatory relief (see paragraph 3.5) and that any village shop entitlement (3.6) be considered through the local business rates relief scheme.

·         That the localised discount scheme for businesses as outlined in section 3.8 and 3.9 be maintained with a review of the awarding criteria for the Town & District Improvement Scheme.

·         That organisations and initiatives which are considered to be essential for the Council to achieve its priorities as outlined at 3.10 of this report continue to be considered for business rates relief.

(b)   Council Tax

·         That Stockport’s empty property discount scheme is maintained for 2016/17 as described at section 4.3 of this report.

·         That Stockport’s Council Tax Support scheme is maintained for 2016/17 as detailed at section 5 and Appendix 6.

·         That the wording of the Council Tax Support Scheme be amended to clarify the treatment of Universal Credit in the calculation.

·         That Care Leavers under the age of 21 be considered as a priority group for a Discretionary Council Tax Payment as described at section 4.4.

·         That the Discretionary Payment Budget be increased to £100k for 2016/17.

To consider a report of the Executive Councillor (Support & Governance)

The Council is required to annually review the local Discounts and Exemptions which are available in respect of Business Rates and Council Tax.

Officer contact: Alison Blount, 0161 474 5107, alison.blount@stockport.gov.uk

The Executive Councillor (Support & Governance) submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) inviting the Executive to review the local Discounts and Exemptions which would be available in respect of Business Rates and Council Tax for 2015/16.

RESOLVED –That the Council Meeting be recommended to approve the following in respect of Council Tax and Business Rates Discounts and Exemptions:

(a)     Business Rates Relief

·                That support continues for

·                CASC organisations as outlined at 3.4 of the report;

·                Not for profit organisations as outlined at 3.7 of the report.

·                That further support for Charities be limited to mandatory relief (see paragraph 3.5 of the report) and that any village shop entitlement (3.6) be considered through the local business rates relief scheme.

·                That the localised discount scheme for businesses as outlined in section 3.8 and 3.9 of the report be maintained with a review of the awarding criteria for the Town & District Improvement Scheme.

·                That organisations and initiatives which were considered to be essential for the Council to achieve its priorities as outlined at 3.10 of the report continue to be considered for business rates relief.

(b)     Council Tax

·                That Stockport’s empty property discount scheme be maintained for 2016/17 as described at section 4.3 of this report.

·                That Stockport’s Council Tax Support scheme be maintained for 2016/17 as detailed at section 5 and Appendix 6.

·                That the wording of the Council Tax Support Scheme be amended to clarify the treatment of Universal Credit in the calculation.

·                That Care Leavers under the age of 21 be considered as a priority group for a Discretionary Council Tax Payment as described at section 4.4. 

·                That the Discretionary Payment Budget be increased to £100k for 2016/17.

To consider a report of the Corporate Director, Corporate and Support Services.

The Council is required to annually review the local Discounts and Exemptions which are available in respect of Business Rates and Council Tax.  This report outlines the current arrangements and proposed changes as follows:

·         Section 3 Business Rates Discounts

·         Section 4 Council Tax Discounts and Exemptions

·         Section 5 Council Tax Support

Recommendations 

The Scrutiny Committee is asked to note and comment on the report, and in particular the following recommendations to be made to the Executive:

Business Rates

·         That the CASC Top-up scheme be continued for the year 2016/17, enabling CASCs to achieve 100% relief from Non-Domestic Rates, provided they meet the qualifying criteria at Appendix 2.

·         That Charity relief remains limited to the 80% mandatory relief for the year 2015/16.

·         That Village Shop relief continues to be limited to the 50% mandatory relief for the year 2015/16 and should any village shops be established in the future then additional discount be considered under the wider discretionary discount scheme outlined at 3.9.

·         That the 50% discount and qualifying criteria for Not for Profit organisations be maintained for the year 2016/17.

·         That the local scheme for the Town and District Centres as outlined above and at Appendix 4 be continued for 2016/17.

·         That the local scheme for large businesses which are new to the borough or those undergoing significant expansion in the borough be continued for 2016/17.

·         That the continuation of a case by case approach for Business rates discounts where exceptional circumstances exist be continued for 2016/17.

Council Tax

·         That the current scheme of Council Tax discounts and premiums in respect of empty properties be continued for 2016/17

·         That the current discounts available in respect of unoccupied property be continued for 2016/17 and that care leavers under the age of 21 be considered as a priority group for a Discretionary Council Tax Payment as described above and at section 4.4

·         That the wording of the CTS scheme be amended to clarify the treatment of Universal Credit when calculating CTS

·         That the Discretionary Payment budget be increased to £100k for 2016/17.  To support customers facing financial difficulty and care leavers under the age of 21 as referred to in section 4.4.

Officer contact Alison Blount on Tel: 0161 474 5107 or by email on

alison.blount@stockport.gov.uk

The Corporate Director, Corporate and Support Services submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) outlining the current arrangements and proposing changes in relation to the following:

·         Section 3 Business Rates Discounts

·         Section 4 Council Tax Discounts and Exemptions

·         Section 5 Council Tax Support

The Council was required to annually review the local Discounts and Exemptions which are available in respect of Business Rates and Council Tax.

The Executive Councillor (Support and Governance) (Councillor Iain Roberts) attended the meeting to respond to Members’ questions.

The following comments were made/issues raised:-

·         The cost of local discounts and exemptions agreed respect of Business Rates would be met by the Council.

·         The Scrutiny Committee enquired as to the impact of the current discounts for properties which are empty and unfurnished to see if this discount could be reduced further without affecting income.

RESOLVED - (1) That the report be noted.

(2) That further consideration be given to allow Registered Charities to apply for additional 20% “Top Up” relief.