Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chairman for the meeting.

RESOLVED – That Councillor Heidi Halliday be elected Chairman for the meeting.

To receive apologies for absence, if any, and to report any arising changes to membership.

There were no apologies and there had been no changes in the membership of the Sub-Committee, and therefore reconstitution of membership was not necessary.

To receive declarations by Members of interests in respect of items on this Agenda.

Members are reminded that, in accordance with the revised Code of Conduct, they are required to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests or other registrable interests which have not already been declared in the Council’s Register of Interests.  (It is a criminal offence not to declare a disclosable pecuniary interest either in the Register or at the meeting.)

Members may, however, also decide, in the interests of clarity and transparency, to declare at this point in the meeting, any such disclosable pecuniary interests which they have already declared in the Register, as well as any other registrable or other interests.

If a Member requires advice on any item involving a possible declaration of interest which could affect his/her ability to speak and/or vote, he/she is advised to contact the Monitoring Officer at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting.

RESOLVED – That it be noted that no declarations of interest were raised.

To consider whether the items, if any, in Part II of the Agenda should be considered in the presence of the press and public.

RESOLVED – That it be noted that there were no excluded items on the Agenda.

To consider the applications for discretionary rate relief listed at Appendix 2 to the report.

Summary

Consideration was given to applications for discretionary rate relief made by charitable or non-profit making organisations.

Organisations whose applications had been determined by the Discretionary Rate Relief Sub-Committee in 2014/15 had been asked to reapply for 2015/16. One new application was being considered from Inspira Cumbria Limited (ref. 53062507).

A document was circulated at the meeting outlining amendments to the original report and appendices, namely:-

(1)      The amount of relief for Stricklandgate House (ref. 522941X1) to be £6,852.70, not £2,852.70 as previously stated.

(2)      The amount of relief for Manna House (ref. 52582809) to be £140.51, not £104.51 as previously stated.

(3)      The reference number for the second Trustees of Blackwell Sailing had been amended to 52575454.

(4)      The total relief due amended to £43,322.07.

(5)      The final column in Appendix 2 be retitled “Amount of Relief”.

It was also explained that the application from Inspira Cumbria Limited erroneously referred to their work taking place in Copeland. It had been confirmed with Inspira that this should have read South Lakeland.

Decision

(1)      Discretionary rate relief continue to be awarded to the organisations listed below at the same percentage as previously awarded:-

(2)      Inspira Cumbria Limited be awarded discretionary rate relief of 80% (£2,611.20) as it provides sufficient benefits to residents of South Lakeland in comparison to the cost that awarding relief would place on the taxpayer.

Reasons for Decision

The award of discretionary rate relief to charitable organisations and other non-profit making organisations is to help achieve our priorities and targets set out in the Council Plan.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

Members may determine whether or not relief should be awarded in each case although reference must be made to the Council’s policy guidelines. The percentage awarded can be varied depending upon the individual circumstances.