The current scheme – Council Tax Support Scheme consultation
Consultation closed: Tuesday, 1 November 2022
Consultation opened: Wednesday, 21 September 2022
For working-age residents, the amount of support you can receive is based on your household income (means tested). Household income and capital (savings and assets like property) is taken into account. You cannot get any Council Tax Support if you have savings over £16,000. Outgoings and expenses are not considered in the calculation except for childcare costs.
Working age residents who are eligible for support due to low income can receive up to 75% discount on their Council Tax. This means that most working-age people must pay at least 25% of their Council Tax, no matter what their income is.
If you have a disability or are vulnerable, you could receive up to 100% discount and pay no Council Tax. This applies if you are:
- receiving any of the disability premiums or a Disabled Earnings Disregard (within the Council Tax Support Scheme or Income Support, Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance or Income-related Employment and Support Allowance)
- receiving Disabled Person’s Band Reduction for Council Tax purposes
- single and receiving Carer's Allowance or the Carer's Element of Universal Credit, or if they have a partner, they both receive Carer's Allowance or the Carer's Element of Universal Credit
- a lone parent with a child under the age of 5
- receiving, or their partner or child receive Attendance Allowance, Constant Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, Long-term Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance, the Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) element of Universal Credit, the Support Component of Employment and Support Allowance, a Disabled Worker Element within Working Tax Credit, a Disabled Child Element within Child Tax Credit.
The exact income of your household is used to start calculating how much support you are entitled to.
After looking at your income, there are a number of other factors that are taken into account. For example, if:
- you are single or in a couple
- you or anyone in your household has a disability
- you have children or caring responsibilities
Any change in income, however small, triggers a change in Council Tax Support. This means we have to manually administer 4,000-6,000 changes per month. Someone could receive around ten changes in the Council Tax bill per year. This creates uncertainty for you when there are lots of changes to your Council Tax bill. The current Scheme is complicated for you to understand and work out what you are eligible for.