Council tax support scheme
Council tax support scheme
Current support
Changes to our scheme for 2022/23
Our income banded scheme values are shown in the table below these are increased each year by September Retail Price Index % (RPI%), rounded to the nearest £5
The income bands for our 2022/23 Council Tax Support Scheme will be:
| Discount | Passported |
Single Income Band £ |
Couples Income Band £ |
Family with 1 child £ |
Family with 2+ Children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Band 1 - 100% | Relevant benefit | 0.00 to 80.00 | 0.00 to 125.00 | 0.00 to 195.00 | 0.00 to 265.00 |
| Band 2 90% | N/A | 80.00 to 125.00 | 125.01 to 170.00 | 195.01 to 225.00 | 265.01 to 280.00 |
| Band 3 85% | N/A | 125.01 to 165.00 | 170.01 to 215.00 | 225.01 to 290.00 | 280.01 to 325.00 |
| Band 4 50% | N/A | 165.01 to 250.00 | 215.01 to 290.00 | 290.01 to 355.00 | 325.01 to 390.00 |
| Band 5 25% | N/A | 250.01 to 325.00 | 290.01 to 375.00 | 355.01 to 430.00 | 390.01 to 480.00 |
Removal of Non-Dependants Charge
As part of the new discount scheme we will remove non-dependant charges as this is difficult and costly to collect. A non-dependant is a person over 18, not responsible for council tax and not disregarded.
Income Disregards
There are three disregards that are applied to earnings before council tax support is calculated for the following groups:
- Single £7.50
- Couple £12.50
- Single Parent £17.50
Removal of Childcare Costs Disregards
The childcare costs disregard was transferred from the original council tax benefit scheme in 2013 and has not been reviewed since. The current disregard is inconsistently applied depending on what information is received from the resident or through universal credit and it is not always forthcoming. Therefore, in applying fairness to all those who pay childcare costs and receive council tax support this element of the scheme will be removed. To mitigate this, any resident that struggles financially may be entitled to hardship.
Pension age people are not affected by these changes and they will continue to have council tax reduction assessed in the same way through the Governments Council Tax Reduction default scheme.
Summary of our scheme with the changes for 2022/23
Council Tax Support is awarded as a discount based on household income and circumstances as follows:
- Earnings disregard of £7.50 for single people, £12.50 for couples and £17.50 for lone parents which is £10 per week lower and aligns with other benefits
- Income from Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payments, Armed Forces Independence Payments, Child Benefit, Child Maintenance and War Disablement Benefits are ignored
- Universal Credit is treated as earned income when there is an element of wages, housing costs are ignored and deductions from Universal Credit to repay debts will not be removed
- Anyone with savings of £6,000 or more will not qualify
- Self Employed income is assessed by applying a minimum income floor
- Applications from joint tenants are assessed on their proportion of the household
- Income bands increase each year by September Retail Price Index
For more information on how these changes may affect you please see our council tax summary – (pdf, 350kb)
You can see full details of the scheme at Council Tax Support banded scheme – (pdf, 2mb)
Previous council tax support schemes
Details of our previous council tax support schemes are available via the links below:
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