Section 13A (1)(c) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, provides the Council with additional discretionary powers to enable it to reduce a person’s council tax liability where statutory discounts, exemptions and reductions do not apply.
These discretionary awards can be given to:
- Individual Council Taxpayers
- Groups of Council Taxpayers defined by a common set of circumstances
- Council Taxpayers within a defined area or
- To all Council Taxpayers within the Council’s area
When deciding on whether to grant a reduction in liability, the Council will consider each application based on individual circumstances. Principles of reasonableness will apply in all cases with the authority deciding each case on relevant merits.
The period of any reduced liability will be considered in conjunction with the circumstances of the Council Taxpayer.
A copy of our Council Tax Discretionary Reduction in Liability policy can be found here.
Discretionary Reduction Fund
Any Council Taxpayer may apply for a reduction in liability under the Council’s Discretionary Reduction Fund. Applications will be accepted from taxpayers who are experiencing severe financial hardship or, through no fault of their own, have experienced a crisis or event that has made their property uninhabitable.
The request will be considered where they remain liable to pay council tax and for which they have no recourse for compensation nor have recourse to any statutory exemptions or discounts or where the crisis or event is not covered by any insurance policy.
All applicants must be willing to undertake all of the following:
- Make a separate application for assistance
- Provide full details of their income and expenditure
- Satisfy the Council that they are not able to meet their full Council Tax liability or part of their liability;
- Accept assistance from either the Council or third parties such as the Community Advice Hubs or similar organisations to enable them to manage their finances more effectively including the termination of non-essential expenditure
- Assist the Council to minimise liability by ensuring that all discounts, exemptions and reductions are properly granted
- Demonstrate that all reasonable steps have been taken to meet their full Council Tax liability (for example - applications for employment or additional employment)
- Sought to maximise their income through the application for other welfare benefits, cancellation of non-essential contracts and outgoings and identifying the most economical tariffs for the supply of utilities and services generally
- Have no access to assets that could be realised and used to pay the Council Tax
Before you continue:
To support your application, you will be required to upload evidence of:
- Bank Statements - the last two months of Bank Statements for all accounts held. If you have your money paid into another person’s account we will need to see proof of this
- Evidence of debts - rent statements, utility bills, loans, hire purchase agreements, credit card statement and any other debts
- Evidence of earnings (Pay slips) or other types of income e.g. self-employment
- Evidence of exceptional circumstances that may be causing additional pressures to your household e.g. Such as letters of support from social or health care professionals, medical notes from GP’s or hospitals, homeless assessments, letters of support from support workers and other organisations
If you do not have all of the required evidence available, you can upload documents at a later date.