The Council agreed to reduce the maximum level of support available through the Local Council Tax Support Scheme 2025-26 from 100% to 80% and agreed to reduce the time before charging a Council Tax Premium to unfurnished and unoccupied properties from 2 years to 12 months. They also noted the appointment of Councillor Sandra Bauer as the new Cabinet Member for Equality, Culture and Communities, and voted to adopt a motion on protecting leaseholders from the cost of fire safety remediation work.

Local Council Tax Support Scheme

The Council voted to adopt the recommendations in the Local Council Tax Support Scheme 2025-26 report.

The report recommended a reduction in the maximum level of support that working-age residents can claim through the Local Council Tax Support scheme from 100% to 80%. This will mean that all working-age residents will have to pay at least 20% of their council tax bill. This decision was made in the context of significant financial pressure on the Council, which is facing a budget gap of £19.7 million.

The Council also agreed to increase the earnings taper from 15% to 25%, which means that people will lose support more quickly as their income increases, to increase the non-dependant deduction charge from £5 to £10 per week, to remove the exemption for non-dependants who are not in work, and to abolish the Second Adult Rebate.

The Conservative group proposed an amendment to the report which would have kept the maximum level of support at 100%. Councillor Matt Hartley argued that the cut to council tax support would increase poverty in the borough and that the council should find the savings elsewhere. He also called on the council to exempt council tax support recipients from bailiff action if the cut went ahead. The Leader of the Council, Councillor Anthony Okereke, argued that the amendment was irresponsible and would leave the council with a budget gap of £2.8 million. He said that the council had been forced to make tough choices as a result of 14 years of Conservative austerity.

The amendment was defeated and the original recommendations were agreed.

Council Tax Base 2025-26

The Council agreed to adopt the recommendations in the Council Tax Base 2025-26 report.

The Council Tax Base is calculated annually by every billing authority to set the number of Band D equivalent properties in the area. It is a factor in the determination of the planned level of Council Tax income which can be collected in the following financial year.

The report recommended that the Council reduce the time before charging a Council Tax Premium to unfurnished and unoccupied properties from 2 years to 12 months. This decision was made in the context of a commitment made by the Council in its 2024/25 Medium-Term Financial Strategy to increase the Council's income.

The Council noted that the introduction of a 100% premium on second homes from 1 April 2025 would raise approximately £750,000 of additional council tax income, and that reducing the empty homes premium qualifying period could generate an additional £325,000 per annum for the Council.

Protecting leaseholders from excessive insurance and remortgage costs in buildings requiring fire remediation

The Council agreed to adopt a motion on protecting leaseholders from excessive insurance and remortgage costs in buildings requiring fire remediation.

The motion was moved by Councillor Lade Hephzibah Olugbemi and seconded by Councillor Rachel Taggart-Ryan. The motion highlighted the disparity in safety ratings between developers and insurers. It noted that this disparity was creating confusion and frustration for leaseholders, who are being unfairly burdened with increasing insurance premiums.

Flammable material on homes poses a risk and while we cannot eliminate all fire risks, it is about managing them. The disparity arises from insurance companies and developers having varying priorities and perspectives. - Councillor Olugbemi

The motion called on the Government to:

• act upon the findings of the Grenfell Inquiry,
• bring forward a review of how to better protect leaseholders from costs and take steps to accelerate the pace of fire remediation across the country,
• back a risk-pooling reinsurance scheme to help ensure quicker and more substantial reductions in the costs paid by leaseholders.

The Conservative Group proposed an amendment to the motion, which was moved by Councillor Matt Hartley. The amendment noted the serious concerns about the way that Barrett Redrow, the developer of the Royal Artillery Quays development, was going about remediation work on the development. In particular it noted that the developer was only proposing to do the bare minimum of works to meet the lowest permitted standard introduced after Grenfell, meaning that potentially dangerous, flammable material would be left in place in the buildings.

Councillor Hartley also called on the Council to work constructively with the residents' association at Royal Artillery Quays in a tripartite relationship with Barrett Redrow, to help resolve the matter.

This isn't a party political issue, Mr Mayor. I hope we will all want to support Royal Artillery Quays residents on this issue, so I hoped the amendment would be accepted and I'd urge the administration to accept it. - Councillor Hartley

Councillor Taggart-Ryan, who represents the Peninsula ward which contains Royal Artillery Quays, argued that whilst they welcomed constructive debate on the issue of building safety, she felt that the amendment did not offer meaningful solutions for residents. She said that it weakened accountability for developers and insurers, and that it failed to introduce any meaningful new measures to accelerate remediation or directly alleviate leaseholders' costs. Councillor Taggart-Ryan called the amendment political opportunism and said that it conveniently shifted blame away from the years of inadequate regulation by the previous Conservative government.

Mr. Mayor, by rejecting this amendment, we send a strong message that our priority remains firmly on protecting leaseholders, holding developers accountable, and demanding audit action from central government. - Councillor Taggart-Ryan

Councillor Hartley's amendment was defeated, and the original motion was adopted.

Appointment of Cabinet Member for Equality, Culture and Communities

The Council noted the appointment of Councillor Sandra Bauer as the new Cabinet Member for Equality, Culture and Communities. Councillor Bauer replaced Councillor Ann-Marie Cousins in the role, after Councillor Cousins departed the Cabinet in November 2024.