Decision details

Purpose: to approve how some remaining funding is to be allocated against certain council tax accounts.

Arrangements approved for the allocation and distribution of the remaining £87,400 grant funding available, following the bulk award process under the government’s mandatory Council Tax Support Fund award scheme.

Background summary

Under the government’s mandatory Council Tax Support Fund scheme the council was required to grant to all households in receipt of Council Tax Reduction (CTR) an initial award of up to £25 against their 2023/24 council tax bill. With the initial mandatory exercise having been successfully undertaken and that tranche of awards made, it has left surplus funding available which government (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) (DLUHC) does not require to be repaid. Instead, in accordance with their Council Tax Support Fund guidance, it is expected that local authorities will use as much of the remaining allocation as possible to further support economically vulnerable households with their 2023/24 council tax bill.     

This ICMD specifically provides approval for the following:

•         To utilise up to 85 per cent of this remaining funding to apply a one off ‘top up’ award of up to £35 against all household accounts in receipt of CTR that do not already have a nil liability following the initial mandatory award.

•         To utilise the remaining funds to continue to make awards (mandatory and ‘top up’) to any new CTR cases throughout the remainder of the 2023/24 financial year.