Issue - meetings

To consider a report of the Director of Finance and Business Services.(to follow)

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Finance and Business Services notifying Cabinet of the Council tax base for Cheshire East for 2013/14 and containing changes relating to the calculation of the Council tax base.

The Local Government Finance Act 2012 allowed Billing Authorities flexibility over the application of council tax discounts and premiums in respect of empty properties. The Committee considered the merits and potential risks of changing the Council’s arrangements with respect to the application of council tax discounts and premiums in respect of empty properties which were uninhabitable but undergoing substantial renovation (formerly class A exemption), particularly in relation to individuals or families who had bought a property with the intention of living in it themselves.

The committee was informed that the Council had flexibility through section 13A of the Local Government Act 1992 to apply discretion in respect of discounts locally, where it considered the circumstances required and it was suggested that the Council should deal with such circumstances on a case by case basis.

 In connection with the Council Tax base calculation, the committee sought advice about the discretionary powers available to the Council to allow council tax payments to be made over a 12 month period rather than the current arrangements for 10 payments.

RESOLVED-

(a)  That the arrangements set out in the report to allow the Council to apply discretion on a case by case basis in relation to applications for Council Tax discounts in connection with uninhabited properties undergoing substantial renovation, in accordance with Section 13A of the Local Government Act 1992, be monitored with a view to the arrangements being reviewed in 12 months time.

(b)   That the Finance Portfolio Holder be requested  to investigate the possibility of extending arrangements to allow all Council Tax payers within Cheshire East to pay Council tax over 12 months instead of 10 months.