Council Tax Support 



In April 2013, Council Tax Support replaced a national system of support for people who couldn’t afford to pay a full Council Tax bill in the form of Council Tax Benefit and Council Tax discounts, exemptions and reductions. Some pensioners have been protected but many working age people on benefits have been affected by the change.



From this date, local councils introduced their own Council Tax Reduction schemes, deciding which groups of people to help. Under the previous system, the government paid the bill for Council Tax benefits, discounts, exemptions and reductions, but in 2013-14, each council had a pot of money to share out between people who needed help, with the amount of money available to pay for Council Tax Support cut by 10%. Since 2014-15, there has been no separate allocation.