Council Tax Reduction Scheme Review
Table of Contents
The Council Tax Reduction (CTR) scheme offers financial assistance to individuals with low incomes, reducing their Council Tax liability. Currently, the scheme operates differently for pensioners and working-age applicants. The scheme for pensioners is set nationally, while the council determines the rules for working-age residents – meaning our pensioner residents will not be affected by any proposed changes.
Why Review the Current Scheme?
Collecting Council Tax from households with the lowest incomes can be challenging due to limited financial resources. With rising household bills, it’s crucial to regularly assess the level of support provided to these families.
Ashford Borough Council currently provides a more generous scheme for vulnerable households – those with disabilities or carer responsibilities – than any other council in Kent. Instead of reducing support for working-age residents generally, we are exploring options to increase assistance for those not currently receiving disability or carer benefits, bringing their support level in line with the existing Vulnerable Scheme.
The transition to Worldwide Credit has also highlighted a need for review. As more complex cases have moved onto Universal Credit, elements like the limited capability for work element, disabled child element, and carers element have become more common. The current CTR scheme doesn’t account for these universal Credit components when calculating household income. This consultation aims to address this, anticipating that all residents will be on Universal Credit by April 2026.
Proposed Changes
We are considering several options to improve the scheme, including:
* increasing the maximum level of support for all low-income working-age households to either 90% or 100%.
* Disregarding the various disability and carer-related elements of Universal Credit when calculating household income.
* Merging the working Age Scheme and the Vulnerable Scheme into a single,banded system based on household composition.
Importantly, all proposed changes will continue to protect disabled and carer households by disregarding all disability and carer-related income, such as Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, Attendance Allowance, and Carers Allowance.
No final decisions have been made, and the results of this public consultation will be carefully considered.
Noel ovenden, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance and Resource (with Special Responsibility for Housing and homelessness), stated: “I support consulting on a simpler and fairer scheme, particularly in response to the removal of the KCC incentive grant. This scheme will align with other districts in Kent and prepare us for Local Government Reorganisation. I’m pleased that an Exceptional Circumstances Fund will remain available to support those negatively impacted by any changes.”
We value your input to ensure any changes to the scheme are fair, transparent, and meet the needs of our community. The consultation will be open on a dedicated portal at https://www.haveyoursay.ashford.gov.uk/council-tax-reduction-consultation from 19 September to 31 October 2025.
Further details on the proposed changes are available on our dedicated Council Tax Reduction consultation web page: https://www.ashford.gov.uk/council-tax-reduction-consultation. You can also find general details about our current Council Tax Reduction scheme online: https://www.ashford.gov.uk/council-tax-reduction.