To alert you that we have now gone live with our consultation for the proposed banded Council Tax Support scheme for Universal Credit customers from April 2019. This will be based on a banded scheme plus several other changes to make it easier for customers and easier to administer. The changes only impact on people of working age.

Here is a link to the online consultation with more detail.

www.manchester.gov.uk/counciltaxsupportchanges

The consultation closes on 16 December 2018.  We will  be sending out 30,000 consultation forms out to residents, these will be going out in the next couple of weeks.

Summary of proposed changes

1. A banded scheme based on a Universal Credit customer’s income over and above their applicable amount.

2. Notice of changes.

With Universal Credit changing monthly small changes mean a change to Council Tax Support which means more letters and paperwork about Council Tax, new bills and so on. We are proposing to not send out letters unless someone moves income bands and the amount they have to pay changes.

3. Claiming Council Tax Support

A claim for Council Tax Support will be automatic if someone says they want to claim Council Tax Support when they claim Universal Credit rather than having to make a separate claim.

4.Gaps in Council Tax Support due to temporary breaks in entitlement to Universal Credit

After a break in Universal Credit we will treat Council Tax Support reclaims as being made on the day Universal Credit resumes or drops back to a level where Council Tax Support can be paid – or six months before the day on which the claim is received, whichever is the later.

5. We will use the Discretionary Council Tax Payment scheme to help those whose bill has gone up and they are struggling to pay it