Consulting Residents on Council Tax Reduction Scheme Review
Cabinet has today approved a request to consult residents around potential changes to our Council Tax Reduction Scheme.
What is the Council Tax Reduction scheme?
The Council Tax Reduction scheme (CTRS) is the way we help people on low incomes pay their council tax bill. The current scheme is due for review and we will ask residents to have their say on possible changes.
The current scheme subsidises council tax payments for approximately 13,500 households and costs us approximately £35.5m per year. We have also spent £8m this financial year from the Household Support Fund and other welfare provisions.
Due to inflationary pressures and demands on services, we currently forecast an overspend of £20.3M on our £380M annual revenue budget for the current financial year. Extra demand for services like child protection and residential placements for children in care have been the main drivers for increased costs alongside social care for older people and residents with learning disabilities. Inflationary pressures on goods such as food for school catering services and IT equipment are also driving up costs for us.
The two options for changes to the CTRS could, if implemented, reduce the cost of the scheme by up to £4.33m per year.
Councillor Paul Davies, Cabinet Member for Corporate Services, said:
“In these challenging times, we are committed to protecting our most vulnerable residents whilst ensuring that support is equitable and realistic. Our council tax reduction scheme currently provides more support than any other West Yorkshire Local Authority and, even with the potential changes, will remain better or in line with others. The proposed changes could mean that millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money can be redirected to other vital council services and on providing continuing support for our lowest income households.
“A public consultation will allow residents to have their say on these proposals with a decision to be made ahead of the new financial year in April 2024.
“There are already provisions in place for those in severe hardship and that support will continue.”
The consultation will run for eight weeks and will be accessible from our website.