David Northey (Service Director for Finance) gave the following updates

a)    The Council Tax Scheme would have no changes;

Councillor Penberthy (Cabinet Member for Housing, Cooperative Development and Communities) added:

b)    Changes to Council Tax Support could only be made once every 12 months;

c)    The government provided additional benefits for individuals in receipt of benefits, instructing the council to disregard them in housing benefit assessments but not providing the same guidance for council tax support assessments, leading to changes in some Council Tax Support due to the inclusion of these extra benefits;

d)    In the next 12 months, a proposed new rule would state that, as the additional benefits were part of a national programme, those payments would be disregarded in council tax support assessments;

e)    There would be major changes to the Council Tax Support Scheme for the financial year beginning 2025.

Cabinet agreed to recommend to Council:

1.   The Council Tax Base for 2024/25 of 75,389 equivalent Band D dwellings as set out in the report;

2.  The continuation of the current Council Tax Support scheme and Exceptional Hardship Scheme for 2024/25 with the amendments as set out in Paragraph 4.