A consultation into the future of the council tax support scheme has opened today (Monday). 

Cabinet agreed to proceed to consultation about proposed changes to the scheme at a meeting on Thursday 14 November. 

The Council Tax Support Scheme currently offers 100% discount for working age households who are not in employment and a sliding scale of reductions from 75% to 10%, depending on the weekly income of those working.

Under the new proposals for the 2025/26 scheme, the maximum discount would be 70% for those not working and from 50% to 5% discount for working people, depending on their income. 

Currently, there are 6,504 working age claimants, including 1,019 who receive a 100% discount on their council tax. 

Councillor Mabu Shaik, lead member for I.T, customer services, revenue and benefits, procurement and performance, said: “The plan is to bring our level of discount in line with other similar authorities. No firm decisions have been taken on changes, but the consultation is for us to understand how different people would be affected. 

“No matter what the final scheme is, we will continue to ensure there is a council tax hardship fund for those most in need. I urge residents to give us their feedback in our survey.”

The consultation will be open until 29 December. Complete it online, pick up paper copies in our hubs, or drop-in to one of the planned consultation events, which will be publicised soon. 

Results from the consultation will be presented back to Cabinet in January 2025, to make a recommendation to full Council. 

The new scheme would be implemented from April.  

The council tax rate and the council budget for 2025/26 are being prepared now and are due to be finalised at the annual Budget Council meeting on 27 February.

A survey about initial budget proposals is now available online.