RESOLVED:

A.    That the uprating revisions for the 2021/22 council tax support scheme detailed in the report be agreed, in order to maintain low council tax charges for those on lower incomes and other vulnerable residents.

B.    That Cabinet recommends to Council that it adopts the proposed revisions to the 2021/22 scheme.

The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance presented the report which set out a scheme for council tax support for 2021/22 and thanked the officers involved in administering the scheme.  He restated the Council’s intention to continue the scheme to support low income households, despite it no longer being funded by the Government.

The Director of Corporate Services advised that paragraph 6.4 of the report set out the increase in cost of the scheme due to the impact of Covid-19.

The Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Schools and Adult Education welcomed the report and thanked the Leader and officers involved in addressing food poverty during the school holidays and thanked the schools and charities for their support, with particular thanks to O’Halloran & O’Brien, a Morden based construction company, who had made a generous donation towards the cost of providing food vouchers for vulnerable families.

The Chair echoed the comments made by the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Schools and Adult Education and thanked all for their contributions and welcomed the report.

RESOLVED:

A.    That the uprating revisions for the 2021/22 council tax support scheme detailed in the report be agreed, in order to maintain low council tax charges for those on lower incomes and other vulnerable residents.

B.    That Cabinet recommends to Council that it adopts the proposed revisions to the 2021/22 scheme.