Changes to the Shropshire Council Tax Support Scheme
From 1st April 2018 most working age people on income related benefits can claim a maximum of 80% Council Tax Support from Shropshire Council and will have to pay the remaining 20% of their Council Tax from their benefit income. Previously they would have been entitled to 100% Council Tax Support and would not have had to contribute to this bill.
The change is likely to affect people claiming:
- Income support
- Income based Jobseekers Allowance
- Income based Employment and Support Allowance– work activity group
- Universal credit
Pensioners, people who are claiming Employment and Support Allowance and are in the support group, those with a Severe Disability Premium or people who have a War Pension can still receive 100% council tax support. You can find out more about the changes here.
If you need help understanding the changes or assistance with budgeting for this new bill, Citizens Advice Shropshire can help. Click here for information on getting telephone, post and face to face advice.
In Autumn 2017 we wrote a report and presented our concerns to Shropshire Council. Read the report here.
We are now focused on understanding the impact that paying Council Tax will have on people’s budgets, health and well-being. We are collecting survey responses from people affected by the change and will use these to illustrate the challenges local people are facing to decision makers at Shropshire Council.
If you would like to participate in the survey, you can complete it online here: www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/CouncilTx
Alternatively, email contact@shcab.cabnet.org.uk with your contact information and we can arrange for someone from Research and Campaigns to call you and talk through the survey over the phone. Please note it is not possible to arrange advice this way.
We have spoken to a number of people since the changes came into effect who are concerned about how they will manage.
