Minutes

Items
No. Item

1.

Council Tax Support: Care Leavers

Minutes:

1        COUNCIL TAX SUPPORT: CARE LEAVERS - The Director: Governance and Partnerships submitted a report considering an enhancement to the scheme which assisted young people leaving care with financial support towards their council tax liability.

 

Support for care leavers in helping them meet their council tax liabilities was currently provided through the Council Tax Support Scheme (CTSS). The scheme contributed to the council’s priority of keeping people safe and well and the council’s role in prioritising the most vulnerable. The specific CTSS provisions for care leavers formed an integral element of the council’s corporate parenting pledge.

 

Care leavers were defined in legislation and relevant regulation as a child who was:

 

a)       looked after

b)       aged 16 or 17, and

c)       had been looked after by a local authority for a period of 13 weeks, or periods amounting in total to 13 weeks, which began after they reached 14 and ended after they reached 16.

 

The current provision provided an additional discretionary payment up to the age of 22 where a care leaver had a council tax liability. It provided a reduction on the 50% charge which would otherwise be due once council tax support and single person discount were considered.  Essentially it provided a further reduction of approximately £450 each year on the 50% of the outstanding balance.  Presently 42 care leavers were in receipt of this support with around 12 new applicants each year.

 

Under the existing scheme financial support was only available to care leavers who met the threshold for entitlement to CTSS; this meant that the application and claim must be managed by the young person directly.

 

Care leavers in employment were often outside of the thresholds to gain council tax support and this could lead to financial difficulties. Various economic and employment factors meant that young people periodically may not have consistent employment and income, impacting upon their eligibility for CTSS.

 

Engagement with this group could sometimes be difficult meaning that applications were often not completed, or the service was not kept updated on changes which may lead to overpayments and additional financial pressures for a young person.

 

The report set out details of the proposed enhancement to the scheme, including financial implications.

 

Resolved – (a) That the enhancement to the council tax support for care leavers, as set out in Option 2 at paragraph 3.2 of the report, be approved and (b) that the Care Leavers Financial Policy and Council Tax Support Scheme be updated to reflect the change, with effect from 1 July 2021.