Decision details

Approval on how the Council intends to administrate £8.9M Government hardship funding to assist the most financially vulnerable Council Tax payers due to COVID 19.

The Director of Communities & Environment approved an approach which allocates the Government hardship funding by removing the 25% reduction currently being applied to 25,796 working-age Council Tax Support (CTS) recipients in Leeds.  This will mean that all working-age CTS recipients will have their CTS calculated based on 100% of their council tax liability rather than 75%. 

Where removing the 25% reduction means a current CTS recipient doesn’t benefit by £150, the hardship fund will be used to top up their award so that they benefit by up to £150, ensuring that the total award does not exceed the customer’s council tax liability.

This approach will result in 19,337 additional CTS recipients having no council tax balance to pay for 2020/21 and is most effective in terms of providing additional support to those who need it most.

It is also approved that an approach regarding the distribution of the remainder of the hardship fund be made later in the year when further information is available in respect of claimants needs in terms of support to pay their Council Tax.

None.

n/a