Correspondence

Council Tax information letter 1/2024: Local Council Tax Support schemes for 2024-25

Published 19 January 2024

Applies to England

To: Local authorities in England - For the attention of the Council Tax section

From: Local Taxation Division, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (council.tax@levellingup.gov.uk)

Date: 19 January 2024

The Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Prescribed Requirements) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 

This letter summarises the provisions of the Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Prescribed Requirements) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (“the Regulations”) which were laid before Parliament on 12 January 2024 and come into force on 9 February 2024. See the Regulations and Explanatory Memorandum.

Background 

As in previous years, the government has amended the Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2012  to ensure that pension age Local Council Tax Support (LCTS) schemes are updated in line with changes in the wider benefits system. The annual update also provides an opportunity to ensure that the residency requirements for accessing both pension age and working age LCTS remain consistent with the UK’s immigration policy. Billing authorities must ensure that the requirements of the updated regulations are reflected in their LCTS schemes for 2024-25 by 11 March 2024.

Uprating 

Reflecting the latest annual review of benefits and pension rates announced by the Department for Work and Pensions on 22 November 2023), the Regulations uprate the following amounts which must be included in pension age LCTS schemes from 2024-25: 

• Non-dependant deductions – the adjustments made to the maximum amount of council tax reduction an applicant can receive to reflect non-dependant adults living in the property.

• Applicable amounts – the amount against which a person’s income is compared to determine the amount of reduction to which they are entitled.

• Premiums – the additional amounts of income which persons with particular characteristics – such as those with disabilities – can have without their eligibility for a council tax reduction being affected.

• The amount which may be disregarded where the applicant is the parent of a specified student under the age of 25 and makes an eligible contribution to their maintenance.

• The alternative maximum council tax reduction – this allows an LCTS recipient whose income or savings exceed the usual eligibility threshold to obtain up to a 25% reduction in their bill where they share their home with one or more adults who do not pay rent, are not their partner, and who have a combined weekly income below the specified amount.

Income and capital disregards 

Consistent with changes to the wider benefits system, the Regulations now require that the following new or revised payments must be disregarded when assessing a person’s income or capital:

• payments from a deceased person’s estate to their son, daughter, step-son or step-daughter, deriving from an Infected Blood compensation scheme
• a 52-week disregard for Bereavement Support Payment and Widowed Parent’s Allowance payments which are made to cohabiting parents with dependent children following the death of their partner
• Grenfell Tower compensation payments
• Post Office compensation payments
• the Vaccine Damage Payments Scheme
• the Victims of Overseas Terrorism Compensation Scheme

Demonstrating ‘habitual residence’

The Regulations also provide that the following persons of working or pension age will not need to demonstrate “habitual residence” in Great Britain in order to receive LCTS:

• those who left Sudan in connection with the violence which rapidly escalated on 15 April 2023
• those who left Israel, the Occupied Palestinian territories or Lebanon in connection with the Hamas terror attack in Israel on 7 October 2023

Should you have any queries about the Regulations, please contact the Department at: council.tax@levellingup.gov.uk.