Further support with council tax bills is being provided for those in greatest need after Birmingham City Council confirmed details of its discretionary support scheme for the 2023/24 financial year.
Birmingham was awarded £3.04million to support households in the forthcoming year, with an expectation from the Government that councils use the majority of their funding allocations to reduce bills for current working age and pension age Local Council Tax Support (LCTS) households by up to £25.
Here in Birmingham, that means 47,477 households will receive a reduction of £25 on their bills.
Councils can then use their remaining allocation as they see fit to support vulnerable households with council tax bills via their own locally agreed discretionary scheme.
The council has agreed to use the remaining funds to provide a further £30 off bills – meaning support of up to £55 will now be provided for each eligible household. This will automatically be deducted on the new council tax bills being issued this month.
Granting the award means an extra 1,000 households will have no council tax to pay at all (as their balance was below £55). The balance of funding will then be made available to make the award to new CTS households in 2023/24 (providing the £3.04million figure is not exceeded).
Cllr Yvonne Mosquito, Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources, said: “We know how tough it is at the moment for people in all parts of the city – which is why we declared a cost of living emergency last year and mobilised our Help in Brum plan.
“As part of this, we have the opportunity to shape a discretionary scheme to support people with their council tax bills. The offer we have assembled for the year ahead will help almost 50,000 households that are in greatest need.
“With the price of everyday goods still rising, I hope this measure will be of some use to those who are eligible, and we will keep exploring every possible avenue to offer further advice, information and support in the weeks and months to come.”