Issue - meetings
Standard Financial Statement
Meeting: 16/10/2019 - Cabinet (Item 51)
51 Standard Financial Statement 
PDF 100 KB
Report of the Director of Customer and Digital attached.
Additional documents:
- Appendix A - Standard Financial Statement User Guide, item 51
PDF 244 KB
- Appendix B - Standard Financial Statement Code of Conduct, item 51
PDF 81 KB
- Appendix C - Council Tax Protocol, item 51
PDF 248 KB
Decision:
Decision made:
1. That Cabinet notes the Standard Financial Statement guidelines as summarised within this report and appended to the report.
2. That Cabinet notes the proposals within the report including the current debt recovery procedures and the recommendation to undertake further work in relation to the Council signing up fully to the Standard Statement code of conduct appended to the report.
3. That Cabinet requests the Council Tax Protocol to be reviewed and brought back to Cabinet for approval.
Minutes:
The Cabinet Member for Community Engagement, Social Justice and Wealth Building presented a report of the Director of Customer and Digital that informed Members of the current information from the debt advice sector on the Standard Financial Statement (SFS) and on the proposed use of SFS practices for Council Tax collection.
The Leader of the Council, Councillor Paul Foster proposed an additional recommendation for a review of the Council Tax Protocol which was appended to the report, to be reviewed and asked for this to be completed and included as part of the budget setting papers.
Members were advised that, with consent they could identify people that were in a vulnerable position and would benefit from the service.
Decision made (Unanimously):
1. That Cabinet notes the Standard Financial Statement guidelines as summarised within this report and appended to the report.
2. That Cabinet notes the proposals within the report including the current debt recovery procedures and the recommendation to undertake further work in relation to the Council signing up fully to the Standard Statement code of conduct appended to the report.
3. That Cabinet requests the Council Tax Protocol to be reviewed and brought back to Cabinet for approval.
Reason(s) for the decision:
As part of the council’s commitment to reducing the tax burden and protecting the vulnerable it was agreed at Cabinet in July that the Council would review and explore opportunities associated with the collection of Council Tax.
Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:
Alternative options considered included no change to any current practices.