Thousands face Northumberland council tax bill increase under latest support scheme changes

Councillors will be asked to sign off on changes after an error that saw hundreds of residents hit with incorrect council tax charges this year.

Northumberland County Council brought in a new banded council tax support system for 2026, in an effort to save £2 million and make bills simpler.

But it later emerged that 1,488 households had been overcharged, due to an “anomaly” in calculating how they received Employment Support Allowance and/or Carers Allowance.

Local authority bosses have since been reworking the support scheme. Under new proposals considered by the Tory-run council’s cabinet, the maximum level of support for the county’s poorest households will remain at a 100% exemption from council tax.

However, the level of council tax bill reductions in several lower bands will be cut – from 90% to 85%, 70% to 65%, and 40% to 35%.

The council said that keeping the support bands at current levels was “not a viable option” within its budget, due to the volume of claims and the forecast financial impact of correcting the anomaly.

As a result, it is expected that 8,450 households will see a reduction in council tax support for 2027/28, most of between £1 and £2 per week. 2,393 households are forecast to receive more support.

Cllr Nick Oliver, cabinet member for finance, told colleagues a cross-party working group set up to review the support scheme had also considered introducing full and automatic exemptions for people with severe disabilities and who are unpaid carers.

However, he said both ideas were rejected as they would prove too difficult to define and would cost millions of pounds.

Cllr Oliver added that the group had agreed to ensure the scheme keeps delivering the £2 million saving originally intended and to retain the “very important principle” of a 100% exemption for those most in need.

Council leader Glen Sanderson added that the council had wanted to make the system “fairer and more easy to access” for those who need support and had also set up a £1 million hardship fund to provide further help.

The proposed changes will be presented to a full council meeting for approval and would come into effect from April 1 next year.