Council Tax support scheme proposals

Small changes

Q2 Ignore small changes for those on Universal Credit  

The first objective is to simplify what happens to Council Tax Support when Universal Credit payments change by small amounts.

Under the new proposals, we would ignore small changes (de minimis) in Universal Credit income when calculating any Council Tax Support a household may be eligible for. This means council tax support changes of £3.25 a week or less are ignored.

Why 

Simplify what happens to Council Tax Support when Universal Credit payments change by small amounts – which happens about four times a year on average, but it can be every month.

Even very small changes in Universal Credit currently result in a change in Council Tax Support. This means a new council tax bill, a new payment plan and changes to direct debits. We propose that most small changes in Universal Credit would no longer trigger a change in Council Tax Support. Instead, we would not change Council Tax Support until income fell or rose by more than £3.25 per week. The purpose of this changes is to stabilise Council Tax support. 

Example

 

Sally -  receives Universal Credit and is in the Working Age Vulnerable group

01/04/21 -09/05/21  £19.96

10/05/21 - 16/05/21  £19.96

17/05/21 - 20/06/21  £13.42

21/06/21 - 18/07/21  £11.97

19/07/21 - 15/08/21  £13.97

16/08/21 - 05/09/21  £8.53

06/09/21 - 19/09/21  £8.53

20/09/21 - 17/10/21  £10.86

18/10/21 - 21/11/21  £15.14

22/11/21 - 19/12/21  £12.85

20/12/21 - 13/02/22  £12.93

14/02/22 - 31/03/22  £10.04

Sally's annual Council Tax Support is £723.57

 

 

With a de minims level of £3.25 Sally would have 5 benefit periods

01/04/21 - 16/05/21  £19.96

17/05/21 - 15/08/21  £13.42

16/08/22 - 17/10/21  £8.53

18/10/22 - 13/02/22  £15.14

14/02/22 - 31/03/22  £10.04

Sally's annual Council Tax Support would be £739.27

 

Potential cost

Modelling this type of scheme has demonstrated the cost is broadly the same as the current scheme.