Report No. 198/2017 from the Cabinet was received, the purpose of which was to consider the recommendations of Cabinet referred to Council for determination and report the Key Decisions made by Cabinet since the publication of the agenda for the previous ordinary meeting of the Council on 9 October 2017.

1)    Council NOTED the Key Decisions made since the publication of the agenda for the previous ordinary meeting of the Council on 9 October 2017, as detailed in Appendix A to Report No.198/2017.

2)    17 October 2017

Decision No. 350

Report No. 165/2017

TECHNICAL REFORM OF COUNCIL TAX REVIEW

MrHemsley introduced and moved the recommendations in the report.  Mr Mathias seconded the recommendations.

During his introduction Mr Hemsley confirmed that the main objective was to identify areas where it was possible to maximise income in order to avoid the need to reduce services.  The changes proposed were aimed at reducing empty homes and the negative impact of empty properties and ensuring that Council Tax liability was applied in an equitable way.  The changes proposed could yield nearly £250,000 for the authority.

During debate of the recommendations the following points were raised:

         i.      Miss Waller requested confirmation that although she owned rental properties, these were not currently empty, would this constitute a financial interest and prevent her from voting on this item.  The Monitoring Officer confirmed that Miss Waller could vote on this item;

        ii.      Mr Mathias confirmed that this item had been discussed at the Growth, Infrastructure and Resources Scrutiny Panel following a query from Mr Cross regarding the opportunity to scrutinise the recommendations;

       iii.      Mr Callaghan raised the issue that the effect of the changes would result in people paying the full amount for services for which they were not receiving the benefit of (For example bins do not need to be emptied if the property is empty); and

      iv.      MrConde highlighted that the changes were very much in line with other authorities and that it may encourage the release of property to increase housing stock.

RESOLVED

1.    To APPROVE the following Recommendations from Cabinet:

i)    that the discount for uninhabitable homes be removed and full Council Tax charged from 1^st April 2018.

ii)   that the discounts for empty homes be removed and full Council Tax charged from 1^st April 2018.

iii)that the premium for long term empty homes be set at 50% from 1^st April 2018.

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In accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule 11, paragraph 2 –

Recording of Votes – Mr Gale requested that his votes against the above

resolution be recorded.

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