Agenda and minutes

Question:

Will the Council, during this COVID-19 pandemic, suspend actions and proceedings for possession orders in relation to tenants and provide greater support to residents who struggle to pay rent and Council Tax?

Response by the Portfolio Holder for Finance:

Central Government have advised that legislation will pass to prevent evictions from happening during this crisis. Also alongside the new additional help that is being made available by Government, Powys Council already has a broad set of benefit and award support mechanisms available including Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction schemes.  We also administer the discretionary schemes such as Discretionary Housing Payments which helps to support people to keep their rented home. Also under powers in Council Tax, we have the ability to assess someone’s financial hardship and remove or reduce their Council Tax liability and where applicable the ability to change or amend payment arrangements. Finally we have a set of officers who offer specialised support to people around debt, budgeting, benefits and fuel. Each case is considered for support and looked at on its own individual merits and at this time our teams are ready to support people through this difficult time.