West Devon - Have Your Say on the Council Tax Reduction Scheme 2023-24. |
Have Your Say on proposed changes to bands:
The Council proposes to increase the income levels for working age applicants within the income banded scheme.
As explained in the background information, the Council is primarily consulting on the following proposals to change the existing Council Tax Reduction Scheme from 1st April 2023. This will protect the support to those households on the lowest incomes.
Your responses are a part of this consultation.
The current 'income-banded' scheme for Council Tax Reduction was introduced on 1st April 2019 and it replaced the traditional means-tested scheme which had been in place since the introduction of Council Tax Reduction in 2013.
The introduction of the new scheme has been successful and has brought many advantages, not least that:
As explained in the background information, the Council is primarily consulting on the following proposals to change the existing Council Tax Reduction Scheme from 1st April 2023. This will protect the support to those households on the lowest incomes.
Your responses are a part of this consultation.
The current 'income-banded' scheme for Council Tax Reduction was introduced on 1st April 2019 and it replaced the traditional means-tested scheme which had been in place since the introduction of Council Tax Reduction in 2013.
The introduction of the new scheme has been successful and has brought many advantages, not least that:
- It assists a large number of households with payment of their council tax;
- It is easy to understand for applicants; and
- It is administratively efficient.
The Council is proposing to make changes to the scheme to protect the level of support, especially to those on lower incomes. It is anticipated that the majority of applicants will receive the same level of support or see an increase in the support given. The Council is keen to protect as many applicants as possible.
The proposed changes to the scheme can be found via this link
The proposed changes to the scheme can be found via this link
The benefits of doing this are:
- It provides more targeted support to those on the lowest incomes;
- It retains the advantages of the existing scheme design which is easily understood by all applicants.
The drawbacks of doing this are:
- The scheme is more generous in some cases and there may be an increase in scheme costs.