Council Tax Reduction Scheme

Closed 13 Sep 2020

Opened 31 Jul 2020

Contact

consult@rbkc.gov.uk

Feedback updated 25 Feb 2021

We asked

For residents and stakeholders view on the proposed introduction of a banded income Council Tax Reduction Scheme.

You said

Over two thirds (68 per cent) of respondents felt that the Council should introduce the banded income scheme for Universal Credit recipients in April 2021 to address the issue of fluctuating Universal Credit on council tax payments.

We did

Residents and stakeholders’ feedback was fed into the decision making process of the Council’s Leadership Team. In October 2020 the Leadership Team took the decision to adopt the new Council Tax Reduction Scheme, which starts on 1 April 2021.

The report that went to Leadership Team.

Results updated 25 Feb 2021

The public consultation ended on 13 September 2020. 

There were 144 responses. The key themes emerging were as follows:

Over three quarters (77 per cent) think the Council should actively address the impact of fluctuating Universal Credit on Council Tax reduction, whilst only four per cent disagreed.

Of those that think the Council should address the issue, a large majority (84 per cent) think that the banded income scheme is the best way to address this, whilst only six per cent of respondents do not think this proposal is the best way to address the issue at hand.

Over two thirds (68 per cent) of respondents felt that the Council should introduce the banded income scheme for Universal Credit recipients in April 2021 to address the issue of fluctuating Universal Credit on council tax payments, whilst just under a third (32 per cent) of respondents felt the council should ‘continue with the current scheme without any changes’.

Files:

Overview

The Council Tax Reduction Scheme aims to help residents on a low income to pay their council tax, by reducing their council tax bill.

Until 2013, Council Tax Reduction was a national scheme, and the reductions that people could receive were set by central government. Since then, each council has had the responsibility to specify its own Council Tax Reduction Scheme for working-age residents (the scheme for pensioners is still set by central government).

Since 2013, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea's working-age Council Tax Reduction Scheme has been based on the “default scheme” - a relatively generous scheme which is equivalent to the old national scheme. But for some residents, this scheme does not work very well, so the council is proposing to start a new scheme in April 2021.

This consultation is now closed and the results of which will help the service inform their decision making about the scheme.

Areas

  • All Areas

Interests

  • Benefits
  • Council Tax
  • Consultations