FOI request (FOIR-218992596)

Council tax and council rents

Requested Fri 19 June 2020
Responded  Thu 09 July 2020

Council tax

The council may have introduced waivers or deferrals of council tax bills for households during the coronavirus pandemic. My preference is for the council to exclude from questions 1 - 8 those households whose council tax for the relevant months has been waived (i.e. cancelled) during the pandemic, but to include those households whose council tax for the relevant months has been deferred (i.e. delayed).

However, while this is my preference, it is not a requirement, and if it is not possible please just provide the data for the whole council tax cohort (or the CTS cohort for questions 7 and 8).

1. How much council tax was the council owed for April 2020?

2. How much council tax has the council been paid for April 2020?

3. How much council tax was the council owed for May 2020?

4. How much council tax has the council been paid for May 2020?

5. How many households are eligible to pay council tax in 2020/21?

6. How many households still owe council tax for April 2020 (i.e. they have not fully paid their council tax bill for April)?

7. How many working age households are in receipt of Council Tax Support?

8. How many working age households in receipt of Council Tax Support still owe council tax for April 2020 (i.e. they have not fully paid their council tax bill for April)?

9. Please outline any council tax deferral or waiver policy the council has introduced during the coronavirus pandemic (e.g. the council cancelling council tax bills for April to June for Council Tax Support recipients). Please state whether the council tax bills for the beneficiaries of these policies are included or excluded from the data for questions 1-8.

Council housing rent arrears

10. Does the council own council housing stock (including housing owned via an ALMO)?

If the answer to question 10 is 'no', please proceed to question 15.

Questions 11-14 include tenants living in housing owned by the council via an ALMO.

11. How many council housing tenant households does the council have?

12. Of the households in question 11, how many have not yet fully paid their rent for April 2020?

13. How many council housing households does the council have who are in receipt of Universal Credit?

14. Of the households in question 13, how many have not yet fully paid their rent for April 2020?

NB the figures for questions 11 and 12 should include all council housing tenant households, including those on Universal Credit.

Discretionary Housing Payments

15. What is the council's Discretionary Housing Payment budget for 2020/21 (comprising both funds sourced from central government and any top-ups by the council)?

16. How much has the council awarded in Discretionary Housing Payments so far in 2020/21?

Homelessness assistance

17. Since 1st April 2020, how many people have approached the council for help with homelessness or the threat of homelessness under the Homelessness Reduction Act?

18. How many of the people who approached the council since 1st April 2020 for help with homelessness or the threat of homelessness under the Homelessness Reduction Act (i.e. the question 17 figure) have been assessed by the council to be 'threatened with homelessness'?

19. How many of the people who approached the council since 1st April 2020 for help with homelessness or the threat of homelessness under the Homelessness Reduction Act (i.e. the question 17 figure) have been assessed by the council to be legally homeless?

Response

1. £56,098,275 (this is the amount of collectable debt as at 30 April 2020 and is the only data we are able to provide).

2. £8,572,513.00

3. £55,794,695 (this is the amount of collectable debt as at 31 May 2020 and is the only data we are able to provide).

4. £4,588,940.00

5. 43,212

6. 4,425 - this is the total number of accounts with no payments as of today's date. We do not have a system reports that can provide retrospective data.

7. 6,089

8. Not available. We do not record it. We would need to go through every bill to identify Council Tax Reduction cases and to check if they were up to date with instalments.

9. The council did not introduce a council tax deferral or waiver policy during the coronavirus pandemic. However, where considered appropriate, the council tax bill was put on hold.

10. The council does not own any social housing, they were all transferred to 1066 Housing Association (now Optivo) in 1996 as part of a Large Scale Voluntary Transfer (LSVT) but the council does have 17 emergency temporary accommodation properties.

11. Of those 17 emergency temporary accommodation referred to in Q10 = 16 households

12. Of those households in emergency temporary accommodation (Q11) = 1 household

13. Of those households in emergency temporary accommodation (Q11) = 8 households

14. Of those households in emergency temporary accommodation (Q13) = 0 households

15. £478,267.00

16. £69,958.43

17. From 1st April 2020 to 19 June 2020 = 279 people

18. From 1st April 2020 to 19 June 2020 = 144 people

19. From 1st April 2020 to 19 June 2020 = 135 people