Decision details

Decision to make a £6m allocation of one-off COVID-19 emergency grant funding to fund Council Tax Hardship Relief Support.

This will be used to reduce the 2021/22 Council Tax bill for all existing Council Tax Reduction Scheme (CTRS) working age households by the higher of £50 or the total council tax liability.

As Leader of the Council, I:

1)        Agree up to £6m allocation from the available one-off Covid-19 Emergency Grant Funding to fund Council Tax Hardship Relief Support as part of the Helping Hands Scheme.  This will be:

i)          Used to automatically reduce the 2021-22 Council Tax bill for all existing CTRS working age households by the higher of £50 or the total council tax liability. New claimants throughout the year will also receive up to the maximum £50 reduction.

ii)         Provide one-off funding to each Kent district to be used to provide Council Tax relief due to financial hardship. This funding will be used to support those who have been seriously impacted by the pandemic and have suffered a loss in income or a change in the financial circumstances, such as furlough, or redundancy.

2)        Delegate authority to the Corporate Director, Finance, after consultation with the Leader, to update, review and amend the proposed level and distribution of the funding in response to changing need; and

3)        Delegate authority to the Corporate Director, Finance to take other necessary actions including but not limited to entering into contracts or other legal agreements, as required to implement this decision.