Issue - meetings

As detailed in the recommendation.

The Revenues Manager introduced the Discretionary Rate Relief Policy report which proposed a new policy framework from 2017/18.  This would help the Council to reduce financial expenditure and mitigate towards future budget gaps as a result of reduced central government funding.

            The current scheme provided generous awards whereby the Council provided a 20% Discretionary ‘top-up’ to all organisations that already benefited from 80% Mandatory Rate Relief (apart from national charity shops).  For voluntary and not for profit organisations that did not qualify for Mandatory Rate Relief, 100% Discretionary Rate Relief was awarded.

            For those organisations that already benefited from 80% Mandatory Rate Relief, the cost of funding the 20% ‘top-up’ Discretionary Relief was funded 75% by the Council and 25% by Welsh Government (WG).  During 2016/17 the cost to the Council of awarding ‘top-up’ relief to 149 organisations was approximately £191,000.

            The revised policy framework was required to achieve the savings as set out in business plans which in summary would provide Discretionary Rate Relief from 2017/18 and beyond on the following basis:

(a)       Charitable Organisations entitled to 80% Mandatory Relief – No Discretionary ‘top-up’ provided

(b)       Voluntary and Not-for-profits Organisations whose aims and purpose were philanthropic, religious, education, social welfare, science, literature, the arts or recreational purposes where the services they provided were mainly provided to local Flintshire residents, 80% Discretionary Rate Relief provided, with the exception of golf clubs who would be awarded 40%.

            As a result of the removal of Discretionary ‘top-up’ relief and the scaling back of all other Discretionary Rate Relief, the projected future cost of Discretionary Rate Relief would be £14,175 against an existing budget provision of approximately £116,000.  This would deliver efficiencies of approximately £102,000.

            To provide additional mitigation against financial hardship for those organisations that currently benefited from 100% rate relief, setting aside an annual contingency fund of £15,000 from the efficiency savings to support potential Hardship applications, would still allow the Council to provide emergency rate relief of up to £60,000 per annum on the basis that the Council would fund 25% towards the cost.  After taking into account the Hardship contingency, net savings of £87,000 per annum would be achieved.

            In response to a question from Councillor Kevin Jones, the Revenues Manager explained that all future Community Asset Transfer (CAT) documentation would have relevant Discretionary Rate Relief information included.

RESOLVED:

That the new framework as set out, ceasing Discretionary ‘top-ups’ to those organisations that already benefit from 80% Mandatory Rate Relief and reducing all other Discretionary award to Voluntary and Not for Profit organisations to a maximum Discretionary award of 80% from 2017/18 be adopted.

Councillors Bithell and Brown left the meeting during consideration of the item.

As detailed in the recommendation.