Review of Council Tax Support Scheme

Review of Council Tax Support Scheme

Proposed changes to the Council Tax Support (CTS) Scheme will be discussed at an upcoming Cabinet meeting.

The council’s CTS scheme is a discretionary scheme for those of working age both non-working and working and offers discounts in the amount they pay towards their council tax bill.

Cabinet is asked to approve consulting on proposed changes for the 2027-28 CTS scheme and approve a new Council Tax Support Hardship Policy.

There is no change proposed to the 70% maximum discount for non-working households.

The recommended option is to introduce a cap on CTS at Band C council tax level for all working age households, which means those who live in a Band D, Band E, Band F, Band G, and Band H house will pay more in council tax. Those who live in a Band A, Band B, or Band C house will see no change to the support they receive through this change.

There would also be a 10% reduction in the support available across all income bands for working households.

This would reduce Council Tax Support expenditure by £0.661m.

There is no change proposed to the support available to pensioners of state pension age, as that amount is set nationally.

The working age CTS caseload as of August 2026 is 6,562 households.

Under the recommended option, 3,417 current CTS recipients who are not working would not see any change to support, 3,145 current CTS recipients would receive less support in 2027/28.

Councillor Ejaz Ahmed, lead member for corporate resources, said: “We are working towards becoming sustainable and resilient without exceptional financial support. We are committed to delivering sustainable services for residents and must look into all options to help close the budget gap. This includes reducing support provided under the CTS scheme.

“We recognise a reduction in support may cause some difficulties, which is why we plan to consult on maintaining a substantial Council Tax Hardship Fund. This has been £355,000 in 2026/27. We will continue to offer welfare advice to help households manage their finances and offer support directly to households who are identified by our data as in financial hardship.

“Nothing is decided yet. If Cabinet approves the recommendations, we will begin an eight-week consultation on the proposals.”

The consultation is expected to run from 26 October until 20 December. It will also seek feedback on how to continue to utilise a CTS Hardship Fund, which is for those in exceptional financial hardship. Payments given under this scheme are applied directly to the applicant’s council tax account.

The meeting is on Monday 19 October. Find the Cabinet papers online.

A report will be submitted to Cabinet in January 2027 with a recommendation to be made to full Council to agree a scheme before 11 March 2027.

The revised scheme would be in place from 1 April 2027.