Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that Councillor Mary Green, North Kesteven District Council be appointed as Chair of Shared Revenues and Benefits Joint Committee for the 2024/25 Municipal Year.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 22 February 2024 be confirmed and signed by the Chair as a true record.

Please note that, in accordance with the Members' Code of Conduct, when declaring interests members must disclose the existence and nature of the interest, and whether it is a disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI) or personal and/or pecuniary.

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 5 September 2024.

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 2023/24.

The Revenues and Benefits Shared Service had been in operation for twelve years since 1 June 2011. Performance had largely been maintained/improved whilst value for money continued to be provided. 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. 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.

For the financial year 2023/24, in-year collection of Council Tax for Lincoln and North Kesteven was down by 0.11% and up by 0.07% respectively compared to 2022/23. Net collectable debit for 2023/24 (compared to 2022/23) increased by £2,795,216 for Lincoln and £4,654,674 for North Kesteven.

Performance had not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels of collection, although cost of living pressures on residents had to be taken into account. Evidence locally as well as on a wider national basis was showing that more people were struggling to pay Council Tax and that this could continue for some time. Officers continued to ensure Council Tax was collected proactively, looking to ensure taxpayers were receiving all the help (e.g. discounts, benefits) they were entitled to, and making payment arrangements to take account of residents’ welfare; avoiding undue exceptional hardship. Officers continued to benchmark in-year Council Tax collection with other local authorities, and national collection rates for 2023/24 should be publicly available for inclusion in the next report to this Committee on 5^th September 2024.

For the financial year 2023/24, in-year collection of Business Rates was down for Lincoln by 0.87%, North Kesteven down by 0.31% and West Lindsey up by 0.95%. 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 few years.

Outstanding Revenue documents as at the end of the financial year 2023/24, stood at a total of 2,679 (split Lincoln 1,745, North Kesteven 934). This figure was higher than at the end of 2022/23 (total 935 - split Lincoln 637, North Kesteven 934), With significant demands on the team plus recruitment having only just taken place in respect of vacant positions- the team had performed well. As expected, Quarter 4 2023/24 brought extremely high levels of customer contact, mainly due to annual Council Tax and Business Rates bills being  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

Purpose of Report

To provide the Shared Revenues and Benefits Joint Committee with the financial outturn for the Revenues and Benefits Shared Service for 2023/24, as detailed at Appendix 1 to the report.

Decision

That the financial outturn for the Revenues and Benefits shared service at quarter 4, 2023/24 be noted.

Alternation Options Considered and Rejected

None.

Reason for Decision

The approved budget for 2023/24 was agreed by the Shared Revenues and Benefits Joint Committee on 23 February 2023 which set a budget of £2,878,930 for the service.

At Quarter 1 the budget was increased to reflect New Burdens grants totalling £61,950, No further New Burdens were issued in quarter two. At Quarter 3, further New Burdens totalling £13,300 were received. At Quarter 4, the budget was increased by a further £12,730 to reflect additional New Burdens grants as detailed at paragraph 3.6 of the officer’s report, giving a revised budget of £2,966,910.

Financial performance for the year 2023/24 was detailed in Appendix 1 to the officer’s report. At outturn, quarter 4, after the application of the budget adjustments, there was an underspend against the approved budget of £82,720, an improvement against the forecast underspend of £34,940 as at quarter 3.

Each Council had received a new burdens grant from Central Government to administer the Energy Support Scheme, for which City of Lincoln received £14,950 and North Kesteven received £21,790. By agreement these grants sat outside of the shared service budget.

The main year-end variations against the approved budget for 2023/24 were noted within the table at paragraph 4.6 of the officer’s report:

The most significant variance against the approved budget was ongoing staffing vacancies. These savings were partially offset by the National Pay Award, which was significantly higher than the budgeted pay award estimate of 3% assumed within the MTFS, alongside overtime costs which had been incurred due to the volume vacancies that remained within the teams.

The main driver for improvement since quarter three was as a result of savings on postage costs, within the Revenues Local Taxation team, which was previously forecast to budget, prudently, following an overspend last year due to additional costs for administering the Council Tax Energy Rebate payments.

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 included some of the changes that have been announced as a result of the Government’s financial support provided to businesses in the form of business rates relief. The report also focused on the financial impact of recent appeals and reductions to rateable values.

The following updates were noted:

NDR Changes and Significant Reliefs/Discounts

At the Autumn Statement on 22 November 2023, the Chancellor announced that the Government would continue to provide a package of business rates measures to support businesses in England.

• The retail, hospitality and leisure relief would continue for 2024/2025 at 75% up to £110,000 per business

• A freezing of the small multipliers for a further year at 49.9p and an increase in the standard multiplier from 51.2p to 54.6p

Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief 2023-24

Eligibility criteria for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief was set out by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and issued to Local Authorities on 20 December 2021, with no changes to the qualifying criteria for the year 2023/24. The table at paragraph 5.5 of the officer’s report reflected the significant reduction in the amounts awarded in the last three years (previously known as the Expanded Retail Discount (ERD) scheme), with an estimate on the award to be granted in 2023/24.

Potential reductions to rateable values were contained within paragraph 6 of the officer, which included fire stations, hospitals, museums and hotels occupied by asylum seekers.

Business Rates Review

The final report for the Business Rates Review was 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 came into force on 1 April 2023, the next being 1 April 2026 and so on.

·       The process of revaluation started approximately 2 years before the new valuations came into force. For the revaluation due on 1 April 2023, the rateable value would be assessed based on the rental evidence on 1 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 a bill could change each year. As the NDR system was self-financing, historically these limits had restricted both large increases and large decreases. In the Budget, the government announced a change to the Transitional relief scheme so that only increases were limited. For any reduction  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

Purpose of Report

a)    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.

b)    To seek support for and approval of implementation with regard to Household Support Wave 5.

Decision

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

2.    That updates with regard to Household Support Fund Wave 5 be noted, approving and supporting implementation as outlined.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

None.

Reason for Decision

The report provided 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 (UC), Discretionary Housing Payments, Household Support Fund, Council Tax Support Scheme and Financial Inclusion matters. The report also set out proposals for Household Support Fund wave 5.

Universal Credit

The latest national figures published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) were released on 16 April 2024, with statistics relevant to the period up to December 2024:

• 6,458,756 households received UC (this was an increase from 6,220,096 as reported at the last meeting of this Committee).

Local authority statistics:

• City of Lincoln – 12, 495 (11,878 as at the last report).
• North Kesteven – 7,857 (7,289 as at the last report).

Purpose of Report

a)    To request an amendment to the allocated hours in the LiNK staffing structure regarding:

·       Senior Council Tax Administration Officer, and

·       Council Tax Administration Officer.

b)    To request that certain staffing structural changes be delegated to Revenues and Benefits Operational Board

Decision

1.    That an increase in permanent establishment Senior Council Tax Administration Officer capacity from 1.59 FTE (59 hours per week) to 1.78 FTE (66 hours per week) be approved by Shared Revenues and Benefits Joint Committee.

2.    That a decrease of permanent establishment Council Tax Administration Officer capacity by 0.23 FTE (8.5 hours per week) be approved by Shared Revenues and Benefits Joint Committee.

3.    That with immediate effect it be approved by Shared Revenues and Benefits Joint Committee that staffing structural changes be delegated to Revenues and Benefits Operational Board to consider/approve in the following circumstances:

·       Where there is no financial impact on the shared service, and

·       Where no member of LiNK staff is placed ‘at risk;’ and

·       Where there is no permanent deletion of any post.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

None.

Reason for Decision

The report provided a business case for changes to Senior Council Tax Administration Officer and Council Tax Administration Officer hours on the permanent staffing structure establishment.

The report also set out a rational regarding future such ‘relatively minor’ staffing structural changes being delegated to Revenues and Benefits Operational Board.

The Delegation Agreement for the LiNK Revenues and Benefits Shared Service included responsibilities of the Operational Board as detailed at paragraph 5.1 or the officers report

The Joint Committee terms of reference gave permission to approve changes to staffing structures and any associated management of change procedures including redundancies.

Whilst it was understood that it was correct that any fundamental changes to the  Shared Revenues and Benefits Joint Committee (LiNK) staffing structure should be considered/approved by Joint Committee, for relatively minor ‘tweaks’ to the structure it was proposed that these should be delegated for Revenues and Benefits Operational Board (comprising of Section 151 Officers of both partner Councils) to consider/approve. This could be for changes which had;

-       No financial impact on the shared service;

-       Did not place any LiNK member of staff ‘at risk;’

-       Did not permanently delete any post.