Residents in a Nottinghamshire borough could be eligible for more council tax support in the next year as the costs of living continue to present challenges and cause hardship for millions of people across the UK. The support comes on top of the council tax rebate which was recently paid out.
Gedling Borough Council says it is planning a discretionary discount of up to £30 for eligible taxpayers across the borough. The authority had already provided an additional £23 to some eligible residents on top of the £150 rebate recently paid out as part of the first wave of government support to counteract soaring fuel, food and energy prices.
As part of its response to Covid 19, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Government provided local authorities in England with a hardship grant to support economically vulnerable people and households. Gedling Borough Council says the total grant funding allocated to itself was £873,000 and this was used in full during 2020/21 and 2021/22 to deliver relief to council tax payers via an approved scheme of discretionary discounts.
Read more: Clifton mum gives birth to biggest baby ever in Nottingham
This discount provided financial support in the form of a reduction in the annual council tax bill for all recipients of working age council tax reduction support (CTRS). However, the Labour-run council says: "In approving the Gedling Borough Council 2022/23 budget in March 2022, the council recognised the continuing impact of the Covid 19 pandemic on the economy and the arising inflationary pressures on its residents and made a budgetary provision of £60,000 to enable a further scheme of discretionary discounts to be made available to its most vulnerable residents in receipt of CTRS.
"A discretionary discount of up to £30 ensures that the impact of the approved Gedling Borough Council 2022/23 council tax increase of £5, or 2.89% for a Band D property, is negated for Gedling’s most financially vulnerable residents that are not already in receipt of 100% CTRS discount."
A council spokesperson confirmed all eligible households will automatically receive this extra reduction and they do not need to contact the council to ask for or apply for this new support.
Deputy Leader of Gedling Borough Council, Councillor Michael Payne, said: “We are very pleased to be able to offer this extra support to some of our most vulnerable residents. We are seeing the terrible pressure that households are being put under during this cost of living crisis and we want to do everything we can to help.
"This extra £30 towards people’s council tax who are on low incomes will make a difference, on top of the extra discretionary payments we approved at the budget council. All those who are eligible for this discount will receive it automatically so they do not need to contact the council unless they need further help or assistance. One of our main priorities is to support our most vulnerable residents and this is just one of the ways we are doing that.”
The Conservative Government made a U-turn recently on its refusal for a windfall tax on energy giants which had been making record profits. Chancellor Rushi Sunak also announced more support to help struggling households amid growing pressure to act.
Millions of households who claim certain benefits will start to see some of the £650 cost of living payment arrive in their bank accounts over the next few weeks, while all households will later receive a £400 grant, rather than a £200 loan, to assist with energy prices. The energy cap will rise to £2,800 by October and it is hoped the payment will help counteract yet another record rise in bills.
Deputy leader of Gedling Borough Council, councillor Michael Payne, said: “We are very pleased to be able to offer this extra support to some of our most vulnerable residents. We are seeing the terrible pressure that households are being put under during this cost of living crisis and we want to do everything we can to help.
"This extra £30 towards people’s council tax who are on low incomes will make a difference, on top of the extra discretionary payments we approved at the budget council. All those who are eligible for this discount will receive it automatically so they do not need to contact the council unless they need further help or assistance. One of our main priorities is to support our most vulnerable residents and this is just one of the ways we are doing that.”
All eligible households will automatically receive this extra reduction and they do not need to contact the council to ask for or apply for this new support.
