Council tax support and housing benefit

Shropshire’s “Council tax reduction scheme” was created from legislation which can be found on the UK Government’s legislation website.

For people who have reached state pension age, we use the legislation without any amendments (this can only be amended by the Government).

For people who are working age, we use a local scheme which is published each year. This is based the legislation but includes the following amendments:

• Child benefit is taken into account as an income
• There are no disregards on earnings
• We will only award up to a maximum of 80% of the council tax liability
  (for households classed as vulnerable* this is increased to 100%)
• Any claim where entitlement would less than £1.50 per week is refused

Please note that changes made by UK Statutory Instruments to the Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Prescribed Requirements) are included in the local scheme from the date enacted however the local scheme document will only be updated annually.

* Vulnerable households are defined as being where either the claimant or their partner (or both) are in receipt of:

• A Severe Disability Premium or would receive a Severe Disability Premium if they were not in receipt of Universal Credit
• The support component of Employment and Support Allowance
• A war pension
• The Limited Capability for Work and Work Related Activities component of Universal Credit 

Why do I now need to pay some council tax?

Changes were made to the council tax support scheme from April 2018, including:

1. The scheme was amended to fall in line with changes made to housing benefit, thus making it easier for staff to administer and customers to understand. These changes include:
   • A two-child limit
   • Loss of the family premium
   • Minimum earnings threshold for EEA
   • Special education needs allowance to be disregarded in full
   • War pensions/Armed Forces Compensation Scheme guaranteed income payments to be disregarded in full
   • Changes to the habitual residency test to fall in line with housing benefit
   • Bereavement support payments to be disregarded in full
   • Any payments from the ‘We love Manchester Fund’ and the ‘London Emergency Trust’ to be disregarded in full
   • Maximum backdate period of one month
   • Absence from home limited to four weeks when outside the UK
   • Limit of one month to report changes in circumstances
2. A minimum award of £1.50 per week.
3. Customers in receipt of universal credit will only have their entitlement reassessed if their award of universal credit increases or decreases by more than £10 per week.
4. However, the main change was that the maximum entitlement was restricted to 80% of your council tax bill. This means that everyone is being asked to pay 20% of their annual council tax charge. This change doesn't affect you if you're in receipt of the severe disability premium, the support component of employment support allowance or a war pension.

Why were these changes made?

In 2013 council tax benefit was abolished and replaced with a scheme which was to be written and administered locally by each individual council. The government immediately cut the funding for this by 10%.

Since this time, we've been faced with further cuts in funding as a council and so unfortunately, we're facing increased financial pressures. These changes were introduced as a way for us to save money while not having to cut essential services.

The government has made it clear that councils should look to maximise locally generated income to help manage the situation, and to support the continued delivery of key and critical services now and in the future.

What do I do if I can't afford to pay?

If you're unable to meet the payments in the first instance you should contact us to see if there are any other means of assistance which can be given, for example if you receive housing benefit but still have a shortfall you could be eligible for a payment from the Discretionary Housing Fund. This could assist you in meeting that payment and allow you to have more income available to pay your council tax instalments.

Our council tax team could also assist you by:

• Offering twelve monthly instalments rather than ten
• Checking that you're receiving all income streams you're entitled to
• Ensuring you've been awarded all/any discounts relevant to your circumstances
• Helping you complete an income and expenditure form to look at options for where you could cut expenses elsewhere
• Signpost you to professional and charitable services who can assist with debt and budgeting advice
• Explore further financial assistance that may be available