Agenda item

The Director of Finance and the Executive Member for Finance and Governance submitted a report for the Executive’s consideration. The purpose of the report was to set the Council tax base for the financial year 2021/2022 by the statutory deadline of 31 January 2021.

The starting point for the calculation of the 2021/2022 tax base was the number of dwellings on the Valuation List, provided by the Government’s Valuation Office. The figures were also adjusted for exempt dwellings and for dwellings subject to disabled reduction.

The number of chargeable dwellings in each band was further adjusted for discounts, exemptions, premiums and council tax support.

The resultant figure (line 1 of Appendix A) was the total equivalent number of dwellings which were then converted using ratios (in line 2) into the number of Band D equivalents (line 3), specified in the 1992 Act. For 2021/2022, the equivalent number of Band D properties was calculated at 35,697.9.

The council tax base was finally determined by multiplying the sum of the Band D equivalents by the Local Authority’s estimated collection rate, which had been assumed at 96.6% for 2021/2022. That was the estimate of the percentage of the 2021/2022 Council Tax set which would be collected in total, not the expected in year collection rate in 2021/2022. The rate used was re-considered each year and the rate of 96.6% used for 2021/2022 was a reduction from the 97.4% that had been used for 2020/2021, to reflect reduced assumed collection rates resulting from the effects of COVID-19. The resulting council tax base for 2021/2022 for the whole of Middlesbrough (Appendix A) was 34,484, rounded to a whole number.

Since 2013/14, the Council’s Housing Growth Strategy had delivered an increase in the Council Tax Base of 4,313 Band D Equivalent properties, an increase in Middlesbrough Council’s Tax Base of approximately 14.3%. The cumulative effect was approximately £7.6 million and reduced the need to make further annual savings within Council services by that amount.

The regulations also required a council tax base to be calculated for parishes, and similar calculations had been made for the parishes of Nunthorpe (Appendix B) and Stainton & Thornton (Appendix C). The council tax bases for 2021/2022 were 2,157 and 1,088 respectively, rounded to whole numbers.

The billing authority was required to notify the major precepting authorities (Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner and Cleveland Fire Authority) of its council tax base within seven days of making the calculation, or no later than 31 January 2021.

OPTIONS

Not applicable to the report, as the Council had no option but to calculate a council tax base as it was a statutory requirement.

ORDERED

a)     That the contents of the report be noted.

b)     That the council tax base for 2021/2022 as 34,484 be endorsed.

c)     That 2,157 and 1,088 be endorsed as the council tax bases for the parishes of Nunthorpe and Stainton & Thornton respectively for 2021/2022.

d)     That the report be presented to Council on 13 January 2021, and that following approval the Police and Crime Commissioner, the Cleveland Fire Authority and the Parish Councils be notified of the 2021/2022 council tax base.

REASONS

The recommendations were supported by the following reasons: -

a)     The Local Government Finance Act 1992 required a billing authority to calculate its council tax base for each financial year.

b)     The method of calculation was specified in the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) (England) Regulations 2012, which required the calculation to be approved before 31st January in the year proceeding the relevant financial year.