Question No

Question By

Cabinet Member

Subject

Q1/13-14

Mr R Aldred

Councillor Penberthy (Cabinet Member for Cooperatives and Community Development)

‘Bedroom’ Tax: Reclassification by Housing Associations

Will the council be writing to the housing associations in the Plymouth area and encouraging them to reclassify their social housing as a way to properly oppose this bedroom tax as done by Leeds Council and the Knowsley Housing Trust?

Response:

The council has been working cooperatively and proactively for over a year with partners to look at ways to mitigate the worst impact of the Government’s Welfare Reforms.

We are aware that the government’s ‘Bedroom’ Tax is hitting our partners, their tenants and the Plymouth economy significantly. We have already been in discussions with partners around reclassification of bedrooms in some detail, and they are clear in pointing out that it is not a simple issue.

National Government has made it almost impossible to find ways to legally lessen the impact on some of our poorest families. We are aware that within the first eight weeks of the ‘Bedroom’ Tax, our local housing associations have seen a steep rise in rent arrears, with it affecting at least 400 households in the city.

Unfortunately the argument around reclassification is not simple and while the impact on councils who own their stock is minimal, housing associations have least room to manoeuvre. They have said that the main impacts would be:

·         a loss of income as they would be required by law to cut their rents;

·         a potential reclassification of premises impacted by the ‘Bedroom’ Tax would lead to different rent charges being applied to identical properties based solely on who is paying the bill, a clearly unfair situation;

·         a potential reclassification of all identical properties where any are impacted by the ‘Bedroom’ Tax would lead to an immediate increase in overcrowded properties exacerbating the current situation, a course of action which neither they nor we would want to take;

·         financial viability as accommodation size is an important part of their housing stock value; this value is used to lever operating capital, improvement works and new housing developments.

As part of our on-going work with our local housing associations, I have already written to them to ask them to consider reclassification.

We will continue to support and work proactively with our partners to find ways of mitigating the impact of the government’s ‘Bedroom’ Tax.

Question No

Question By

Cabinet Member

Subject

Q2/13-14

Mr Samuel Taylor-Wickenden

Councillor Lowry (Cabinet Member for Finance)

Debts from non-payment of Council Tax

What will it cost for Plymouth City Council to hire bailiffs against those who accrue debts from non-payment of Council Tax? Won't this increase rather than decrease the levels of poverty seen within Plymouth?

Response:

There are no costs to Plymouth City Council for the use of contracted bailiffs.  Bailiffs recoup their costs by way of fees to the customer and Plymouth’s bailiffs have some of the lowest charges.

Any bailiff activity is undertaken as a last resort and once all other avenues to collect outstanding arrears have been exhausted. In the majority of cases collection to arrears is carried out by other means such as direct from earnings or benefits, or by an agreed payment plan.

Only a small proportion of cases are sent to the bailiff (around two per cent of arrears cases) and any cases that are deemed to be vulnerable or unsuitable for collection by the bailiff will not be referred, or will be recalled if details are found after the case has gone to the bailiff.

Customer costs to the bailiff will vary depending on the size of the arrears and the level of interaction required by the bailiff to recover them.

Plymouth aims to encourage customers to contact us as soon as possible if payments cannot be met in order that we can discuss options with the customer and avoid additional costs wherever possible.