Council Tax Support 2018-19

The Authority would like to thank all those who took part in the consultation. In accordance with the Local Government Finance Act 1992, on an annual basis the Authority must consider whether to revise/review its Council Tax Support Scheme or replace it with another. Any proposed changes to the Scheme are subject to consultation.

A set of questions around the possible options were asked of people visiting the Customer Service Centres and also the Citizens Advice Bureaux and the online questionnaire was also available on the Council website.
Other partners such as private and social landlords and the community and voluntary sector were also invited to take part.

The options consulted on were whether to reduce the Council Tax Support for working age claimants from 87.5% to either 85%, 82.5% or 80%.

The feedback from the consultation was presented to Cabinet on 11 December 2017 so they could consider the outcomes along with other factors presented in the report. A proposal was then presented to Council on 18 January 2018 as a Scheme from April 2018. Outcomes of the engagement are included in the Cabinet Report below. Cabinet then made a proposal to Council on 18 January 2018; the decision of Council is recorded in the minutes below. Along with other factors the consultation feedback helped Cabinet understand the feelings of those consulted around decreasing the Council Tax Support for working age claimants. It helped inform the decision Cabinet proposed to Council on 18 January 2018 as a Council Tax Support Scheme from April 2018.