Consultations

Council Tax Support Scheme consultation

The Council Tax Support scheme (CTS) has been in place since April 2013, and provides financial support to many residents, helping them to pay their Council Tax.

There are currently two separate schemes, a national scheme for pensioners and a local scheme for working age residents.

The average annual cost of the working age scheme is £6.6 million and is funded both nationally and locally. It supports over 3,000 low-income residents every year.

Our current scheme

Percentage of Scheme Support

The current scheme calculates a resident’s entitlement using a means-test, and then restricts the amount of support given to 90% of the resident’s Council Tax bill, unless they are in a protected group:

• Lone parents with a child under five
• Households where the means-test attracts an additional premium in their applicable amount due to disability or caring responsibilities
• Households where the resident is in receipt of War Widows Pension

Over the last four years additional discretionary support to help residents during the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent cost of living crisis has been offered. These additional annual costs are below and have also been funded both nationally and locally:

• 2021/22 - £563,243.62
• 2022/23 - £434,323.34
• 2023/24 - £372,152.91
• 2024/25 - £375,477.50

Band Restrictions

For residents not in one of the protected groups the existing scheme currently caps entitlement to Band D properties.  This means that residents who live in a property with a Council Tax Band E or above only receive support limited to the value of a band D property.

Savings Limit

The scheme limits the amount of support given to residents if their savings are over £6,000.  The amount of support continues to reduce the more savings a resident has over £6,000, with no support awarded when savings held are £10,000 or more.

Non-Dependant Deductions

Currently a deduction is applied to CTS if there is a non-dependant resident in the household. A non-dependant is a person aged 18 or over who lives in the home or is using the home as their main residence.  The amount of deduction varies and depends on the status of the non-dependant and how much income they have.

The weekly deductions for the current scheme, for 2024/25 are based on the following circumstances of each non-dependant:

• In receipt of Income Support, Jobseekers Allowance (Income Based), or Employment Support Allowance (Income Related) or full-time student: Nil
• Universal Credit without earned income: Nil
• Aged 18 or over and in remunerative work:
  • Gross income less than £256.00: £4.90
  • Gross income not less than £256.00 but less than £445.00: £10.05
  • Gross income not less than £445.00 but less than £554.00: £12.60
  • Gross income not less than £554.00: £15.10
• Others aged 18 years and over: £4.90

Proposed amendments

There are four amendments to the scheme we are considering and we are asking for feedback on each one.

• Percentage of Scheme Support: The Council is considering removing the discretionary element of the scheme, because it is costly and complex to administer.  Instead, we are consulting on two options, and both would make the main working age CTS scheme more generous than the current 90% scheme.
• Band Restrictions: Another option for consideration is to raise the restriction to limit support to Band E, or remove the Band restriction completely.
• Savings Limit: We are considering increasing the savings limit from £6,000 to £10,000 to help residents retain their savings and reduce the administrative requirements of reviewing bank account details.
• Non-Dependent Deductions: The Council is proposing to change to a single deduction, rather than a range of deductions linked to the income of the non-dependant.

If agreed, any amendments to the scheme would start on the 1 April 2025.

Respond to the Council Tax Support Scheme consultation

Click the button below to review the proposed changes and let us know your thoughts.

Respond now