Durham County Council proposes capping council tax help | EUROtoday

A neighborhood authority’s plan to overtake its Council Tax Reduction Scheme (CTRS) may result in its poorest residents being required to pay extra in direction of their invoice.

Durham County Council plans to make adjustments to its Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme (CTRS), which at the moment permits low-earners to use for a reduction of as much as 100% off their invoice.

Reform councillor Nicola Lyons stated the present scheme was one of many “most generous in the country” and the council was contemplating capping reductions as a part of cost-saving efforts.

Debt charity StepChange stated it couldn’t touch upon particular insurance policies, but it surely didn’t consider “reducing support for the poorest is the answer” to council funding pressures.

Richard Lane, the charity’s chief shopper workplace, stated: “StepChange has called for the government to increase funding for council tax support to ensure councils can continue to offer residents with the lowest incomes 100% reductions.

“Ultimately, unaffordable council tax payments result in counter-productive debt assortment and enforcement that harms the worst off and results in larger well being and social prices linked to downside debt.”

The council said it was considering holding a consultation on four possible options for the CTRS scheme.

The first would allow residents to apply for a discount of up to 100% off their bills, depending on their income.

The remaining options would require residents to pay a minimum of 10%, 20% or 25% of their full bill.

The county council said it was required to save £45m by 2028-29 to balance its books and CTRS currently costs more than £60m a year.

It estimated the proposed change would save between £3.8m and £10.35m each year.

The current system also requires residents’ bills to be recalculated every time a change is made to their Universal Credit (UC) claim.

The council said last year the average UC claimant received 11 council tax bills, which cost the council £175,000 in printing and postage.

Reform UK recently took control of the authority and promised to carry out a Elon Musk-style review into “wasteful spending”.

Lyons stated the county has “some of the beneficiant council tax help schemes within the nation”.

“The adjustments to CTRS we wish to seek the advice of on, would guarantee we are able to proceed to offer this much-need help, whereas bearing in mind the growing monetary strain native councils are underneath,” she stated.

“None of the potential adjustments would impression on pension-age households.”

If the council’s cupboard approves the session, it is going to be carried out between 16 July and 23 September.