Agenda item

Note – In accordance with the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 and the consequential change to the Council’s Rules of Procedure, this item will automatically be subject to a recorded vote in respect of setting the Council Tax and on any amendments proposed at the meeting.

To consider a report to enable the Council to calculate and set the Council Tax for 2022/23.  (At the time of printing the Agenda, formal confirmation of the precepts from Cumbria County Council and the Cumbria Police and Crime Commissioner are awaited and, if these differ from assumptions, revised figures will be issued as soon as possible.)

Councillor Andrew Jarvis, Deputy Leader and Finance and Assets Portfolio Holder, presented a report to enable the Council to calculate and set the Council Tax for 2022/23.

The precepts from Cumbria County Council and the Cumbria Police and Crime Commissioner had been confirmed, at the values previously proposed, on 10 and
16 February 2022 respectively.

As the billing authority, South Lakeland District Council was required to undertake a series of calculations in order to determine the Council Tax to be set for each parish within the District.  Once the Council Tax had been approved, Council Tax bills would be issued to each household in South Lakeland during March 2022 in accordance with the amounts set, subject to any reductions for discounts, exemptions or reliefs.

Councillor Jarvis drew attention to the impact on the average Band D Council Tax which would rise from £2,014.68 to £2,060.66.  Of the increase of just under £46, 65% was accounted for by the Adult Social Care Charge for Cumbria County Council, 22% by the Police and Crime Commissioner precept, with the remainder split equally between South Lakeland District Council and parishes.

Councillor Jarvis moved the recommendations contained within the report and was seconded by Councillor Jonathan Brook, Leader and Promoting South Lakeland and Innovation Portfolio Holder.

In accordance with the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 and the Council’s Rules of Procedure, a recorded vote was taken on the recommendations as follows:–

The following Members voted in favour (37) – Councillors Giles Archibald, Robin Ashcroft, Pat Bell, Jonathan Brook, Helen Chaffey, Ben Cooper, Brian Cooper, Jonathan Cornthwaite, Tracy Coward, Philip Dixon, July Filmore, Fiona Hanlon, Tom Harvey, Eamonn Hennessy, Hazel Hodgson, Chris Hogg, Rachael Hogg, John Holmes, Kevin Holmes, Vicky Hughes, Helen Irving, Ali Jama, Andrew Jarvis, Helen Ladhams, Malcolm Lamb, Kevin Lancaster, Susanne Long, Pete McSweeney, Ian Mitchell, Suzie Pye, Doug Rathbone, Matt Severn, Peter Thornton, Heather Troughton, David Webster, Ian Wharton and Mark Wilson.

There were no votes against.

There were no abstentions.

Note - Those Members in attendance at the start of the meeting and who are not accounted for in the recorded vote above had left the meeting prior to consideration of this item of business.

It was unanimously

RESOLVED – That

(1)        it be noted that on 17 December 2021, under powers delegated under Paragraph 3.1 of Part 3 of the Council’s Constitution, the Finance Lead Specialist (Section 151 Officer) calculated the Council Tax Base for the financial year 2022/23 by means of an Administrative Decision:-

(a)        for the whole of the District as 46185.17 (Item T in the formula in Section 31(B) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (”the Act”), as amended); and

(b)        for each part of the Council’s area:-

(2)        the Council Tax requirement for the Council’s own purposes for the financial year 2022/23 (excluding parish precepts) be calculated as £9,588,503.00.  No costs are to be treated as special expenses;

(3)        the following amounts be calculated for the financial year 2022/23 in accordance with Sections 31 to 36 of the Act, as amended by the Localism Act 2011:-

(a)        £59,285,559.00 being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(2) of the Act taking into account all precepts issued to it by Parish Councils;

(b)        £47,768,113.00 being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(3) of the Act; including Revenue Support Grant and retained Business Rates;

(c)        £11,517,446.00 being the amount by which the aggregate at 3(a) above exceeds the aggregate at 3(b) above, calculated in accordance with section 31A(4) of the Act as its Council Tax requirement for the year (Item R - P in the formula in Section 31B of the Act);

(d)        £249.38 being the amount at 3(c) above (Item R) all divided by Item T(1(a) above) calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 31B of the Act, as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year (including parish precepts);

(e)        £1,928,943.00 being the aggregate of all special items (parish precepts) referred to in Section 34(1) of the Act (as per the attached Appendix 2); and

(f)        £207.61 being the amount at 3(d) above less the result given by dividing the amount at 3(e) above by item T (1(a) above), calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 34(2) of the Act, as the basic amount of its Council Tax for the year for dwellings in those parts of its District to which no parish precept relates.

(4)        the amounts to be taken into account in respect of each category of dwellings listed in a particular valuation band be calculated by multiplying the amounts at 3(f) above by the proportion set out in section 5(1) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 as being applicable to each valuation band and dividing by the proportion applicable to Band D:-

(5)        the amounts to be taken into account in respect of each category of dwellings listed in a particular valuation band for each of the Council’s areas be calculated by adding to the amounts at 3(f) the amounts the parish precepts relating to dwellings in those parts of the district mentioned below divided in each case by the relevant amount at 1(b) calculated in accordance with section 34(3) of the Act as the basic amounts of its council tax for the year for dwellings in those parts of the district to which parish precept relate and in the proportion set out in section 5(1) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 as being applicable to each valuation band and dividing by the proportion applicable to Band D, as set out at Appendix 1 to these minutes;

(6)        it be noted that the County Council and the Cumbria Police and Crime Commissioner have provisionally issued precepts to the Council in accordance with Section 40 of the Act for each category of dwellings in the Council’s district as indicated in the table below:-

(7)        the amounts of Council tax payable in respect of each category of dwelling for the financial year 2022/23 be calculated as the aggregate of the amounts shown at (5) and (6) above in accordance with section 30(2) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, the results being as shown in Appendix 2 to these minutes; and

(8)        it be determined that the Council’s basic amount of tax for 2022/23 at (3)(f) is not excessive in accordance with principles approved under Section 52ZB of the Act of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.  (The relevant basic amount of tax is the Council Tax Requirement for the Council’s own purposes (see (2) above: £9,588,503) divided by the tax base (see (1) above: 46,185.17) which equates to £207.61.  The equivalent figure for 2021/22 was £204.54.  Therefore, the increase is 1.5% or £3.07.  The Secretary of State has determined that any increase above £5.00 would be excessive.  Therefore, the increase in the Relevant Basic Amount of Tax (the Council’s own Council Tax excluding local precepts) is not excessive.)