Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that

1.    Councillor Donald Nannestad, City of Lincoln Council be appointed as Chair for today’s meeting in the absence of Councillor Ric Metcalfe, Leader of the Council.

2.    Councillor Ric Metcalfe be appointed as Chair of Shared Revenues and Benefits Joint Committee for the remainder of the 2023/24 Municipal Year.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 23 February 2023 be confirmed.

No declarations of interest were received.

Purpose of Report

To provide the Shared Revenues and Benefits Joint Committee with an update on performance in the Revenues and Benefits Shared Service.

Decision

That the report be noted, with an update to be presented to the next meeting of the Committee on 7 September 2023.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

None.

Reason for Decision

The report provided information on Revenues and Benefits performance in respect of annual outturns for the financial year 2022/23.

The Revenues and Benefits Shared Service had now been in operation for twelve years since 1 June 2011, and performance had largely been maintained and improved whilst continuing to provide value for money. Continual improvement and success was being achieved in both statistical and financial performance, as well as positive outcomes for customers of the partner local authorities. However, the Covid-19 global pandemic and then cost of living challenges had understandably impacted on some areas of performance and these impacts were likely to continue for many more months.

In respect of Council Tax, for the financial year 2022/23, in-year collection for Lincoln and North Kesteven was up by 0.15% and 0.03% respectively compared to 2021/22. Net collectable debit for 2022/23 (compared to 2021/22) increased by £2,955,932 for Lincoln and £4,464,550 for North Kesteven.

Although performance had not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels of collection, the increase to both in-year collection rates was a positive achievement in light of the significant impacts of the well-documented cost of living challenges locally and nationally.

In terms of 2022/23 national in-year collection rates for Council Tax recently published, North Kesteven was the 9^th highest compared to the rest of the country, up from 28^th place the year before. Lincoln was ranked at 240^th, which was 26 places higher than the year before.

In respect of Business Rates, for the financial year 2022/23, in-year collection was up for Lincoln by 0.74%, North Kesteven down by 0.40% and West Lindsey up by 0.64%. It should be noted that performance in financial years since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic was not wholly comparable ‘like for like’ due to differing levels of discounts/reliefs available, - however all three collection outturns were positive – particularly in light of the economic climate and significant challenges for businesses over the last three years.

In terms of 2022/23 national in-year collection rates for business rates, North Kesteven achieved the highest in the country for 2021/22 and came 14^th in 2022/23, Lincoln achieved 48^th position in 2021/22 and improved to 22^nd place in 2022/23, and West Lindsey achieved 170^th position in 2021/22 and improved to 162^nd place in 2022/23.

As at the end of the financial year 2022/23, outstanding Revenues documents stood at a total of 935 (split Lincoln 637, North Kesteven 298). This figure was significantly lower than at the end of 2021/22 (total 3,022) – with progress being made in the latter half of 2022/23 due to a number of reasons; recruiting to vacant positions,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Purpose of Report

To provide the Shared Revenues and Benefits Joint Committee with the financial outturn for the Revenues and Benefits Shared Service for 2022/23, as detailed at Appendix 1 to the report.

Decision

That the financial outturn for the Revenues and Benefits shared service for 2022/23 be noted.

Alternation Options Considered and Rejected

None.

Reason for Decision

The approved budget for 2022/23 was agreed by the Shared Revenues and Benefits Joint Committee on 8 February 2022 which set a budget of £2,516,830 for the service.

At Quarter 1 the budget was increased to reflect New Burdens grants totalling £22,115, giving a revised budget of £2,538,950. At Quarter 2 it was further increased to reflect additional New Burdens grants totalling £5,228 giving a revised budget of £2,544,170. Again at Quarter 4, the budget was increased by a further £43,290 to reflect additional New Burdens grants giving a revised budget of £2,587,470.

The 2022/23 financial outturn for the Revenues and Benefit Shared Service resulted in an overspend of £119,915, a variance of 4.6% of the revised budget. This was prior to a recharge for pension strain costs totalling £21,935.38 to be split on a 50/50 basis at agreed between both authorities.

The main year-end variations against the approved budget for 2022/23 were noted within the table at paragraph 4.5 of the officer’s report:

The most significant variance against the approved budget was the impact of the pay award, paid in December 2022, which was significantly higher than the budgeted pay award of 1.75% assumed within the base budget. The total impact across the shared service being £87,100.

The other key driver of the forecast overspend, within the Revenues Local Taxation team, was due to additional postage and IT costs as a result of administering the Council Tax Energy Rebate payments, a large proportion of which was charged in quarter four. Each Council received a grant to compensate them for this, along with other administration costs associated with these payments, however these grants sat outside of the shared service budget. Further new burdens grants were received in March bringing the total grants received from Central Government to; City of Lincoln £166,419 and North Kesteven £175,183. These additional grants should be taken into consideration when assessing the forecast overspend

Purpose of Report

To provide the Shared Revenues and Benefits Joint Committee with an update on current issues within non-domestic rates, related to City of Lincoln Council, North Kesteven District Council and West Lindsey District Council. The report was not intended to include non-domestic rate performance matters, as this was covered within the Performance Update reported to Joint Committee today.

Decision

That the content of the report be noted.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

None.

Reason for Decision

The report focused on the changes announced as a result of Covid-19 and the support provided to businesses in the form of relief. The report also focused on the financial impact of recent appeals and reductions to rateable values.

Focus for both Government and billing authorities since the last meeting of Joint Committee had been a continuing response to Covid-19 measures announced since 11 March 2020.

The following updates were noted:

Expanded Retail Discount

At the budget on 27 October 2021 the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a Government package of business rate measures to support businesses in England.

For 2022/23 the Chancellor set out:

• A new relief for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties with 50% relief on rates bills up to £110,000 per business

• A freezing of the multipliers at 49.9p (small business multiplier) and 51.2p (standard multiplier)

• The Transitional Relief and Supporting Small Business Schemes would be extended into 2022-23 as a discretionary scheme

• The scope of the discount for 2022/23 would return to pre-Covid-19 eligibility retail properties. Hospitality and leisure properties would continue to remain in scope, and the Rateable Value continued to be uncapped.

Eligibility criteria for the Expanded Retail Relief was set out by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and issued to Local Authorities on 20 December 2021

In terms of Expanded Retail Discount (ERD), the table at paragraph 4.6 of the officer’s report reflected the significant reduction in the amounts awarded in the last three years, with an estimate on the award to be granted in 2023//24.

Discount for businesses affected by Covid 19 was detailed at paragraph 5 of the officer’s report and potential reductions to rateable values contained within paragraph 6.

The final report for a Business Rates Review was also published at the Budget. The Budget and the Review committed in the longer term to improvements to the Business Rates system – which included;

·         More frequent revaluations, moving to a revaluation every three years starting from the next revaluation which would come into force on 1st April 2023, the next being 1st April 2026 and so on.

·         The process of revaluation would start approximately 2 years before the new valuations come into force. For the revaluation due on 1st April 2023, the rateable value would be assessed based on the rental evidence on 1st April 2021. There would be a new duty on the ratepayer to provide the Valuation Office with the information

For each revaluation, the Government introduced a Transitional Relief scheme. Transitional relief limited how much  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Purpose of Report

To provide Shared Revenues and Benefits Joint Committee with an update regarding various areas relating to the national welfare reform agenda, as well as current cost of living initiatives to support residents.

Decision

1.    That the content of the report be noted, and a further update be presented at the next meeting of this Committee.

3.    That North Kesteven District Council Members in attendance at Revenues and Benefits Joint Committee on 27^th June 2023, supported an update on progress to be received by the Executive Board on 27^th July 2023.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

None.

Reason for Decision

This report provides Shared Revenues and Benefits Joint Committee with an update with regard to the national and local position of welfare reform/other initiatives, with a specific focus on Universal Credit, Discretionary Housing Payments, Household Support Fund, Energy Bill Support Schemes, Council Tax Support Fund and Financial Inclusion matters.

Universal Credit

The latest national figures published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) were released on 18^th April 2023, with statistics relevant to the period up to February 2023:

·         5,836,354 households receiving UC (this is an increase from 5,678,579 as reported at the last meeting of this Committee).

Local authority statistics:

·         City of Lincoln – 11,305 (10,938 as at the last report).

·         North Kesteven – 6,644 (6,474 as at the last report).

Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP)