Poorest Northumberland households set for more help with council tax bills

As part of its budget setting in early 2019, the Conservative-led authority agreed to reduce the maximum level of support from 100% to 92%, sparking a political row with the Labour opposition.

This cut meant that every household in the county had to pay at least 8% of their council tax requirement and saw 12,500 people receive a bill for the very first time in 2019-20.

That continued into the current financial year and the council is now proposing that the scheme for 2021-22, which has to be agreed by the end of January, remains the same. This applies only to working-age claimants as the pensioner element continues to be prescribed by the Government with a 100% maximum.

However, in April this year, the county council received £3.4million from the Government to reduce bills further for those already receiving council tax support as well as new claimants, and to establish a hardship fund.

This meant that around 15,000 households in the county were entitled to up to £150 off their bills, with Cllr Nick Oliver, the cabinet member for corporate services, telling councillors that 13,000 people ended up having no bill to pay this year.

He explained that £2.2million had been spent, but that £1.1million would be rolled over to next year, with the result being that the maximum level of support would be in the region of 97.5% rather than 92%, depending on the exact number of claimants.

Labour’s Cllr Lynne Grimshaw, who told the Monday, October 12, meeting of the corporate services committee that she remained ‘strongly opposed’ to any reduction at all, said that the proposal to continue with the current policy was premature.

She mentioned that a report on collection levels had not yet been received, changes to Universal Credit from next April, and the Government’s imminent announcements on possible further Covid-19 restrictions.

The council tax support scheme is forecast to cost £26.6million this year and a single person in a band A property receiving the maximum 92% reduction is paying around £6.50 a month towards council services.

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