1.1. That the council continues with a scheme that reflects the old council tax benefit regulations as much as possible meaning no one in the borough is charged any council tax over and above what they would have been charged had the council tax benefit regulations continued.
1.2. That a continuation of the assessment of in work Universal Credit cases as agreed in our scheme last year, be approved.
1.3. To keep the scheme consistent with housing benefit rules it is recommend the reduction of the temporary absence rules for those travelling outside Great Britain to 4 weeks, in line with the housing benefit regulations. The same exemptions will be applied as the DWP (see appendix 1), but 26 weeks will be allowed where a resident is unable to return if they are looking after a sick relative, 52 weeks for military personnel as well as discretionary powers to maintain council tax support in other exceptional circumstances.