A new Council Tax Support Scheme (CTS) for Barking and Dagenham 2024-25
Consultation has concluded
What is this consultation about?
In the Council’s Corporate plan for 2023 to 2026 the Council set out some of its priorities to support residents of the borough such as:
Residents are supported during the current cost of living crisis.
Residents are safe, protected, and supported at their most vulnerable.
Residents avoid becoming homeless.
As part of these priorities we are reviewing the Council Tax Support (CTS) scheme.
Each year the Council must decide whether to change the CTS scheme for working age applicants in Barking & Dagenham. There are no changes for Pension Age applicants as they are part of the national scheme. This year the Council is deciding whether to change the working age CTS Scheme.
We are legally required to consult on any proposed changes to the scheme. We’re asking you to take part in this consultation to find out what you think about our proposed CTS Scheme, which would start from 01 April 2024.
We want to:
Simplify the scheme making it easy for residents to understand and access.
Provide the maximum level of support for all low-income households.
Remove the requirement to continually make changes in awards making support more consistent.
Reduce printing and postage costs.
Improve how the scheme works with the Universal Credit system.
Make it easier for us to better manage an increase in demand for the scheme.
We will be writing to all Council Tax Support claimants to provide further information of how the proposed new scheme could affect them.
What are we consulting on?
We are proposing to replace the existing Counci Tax Support (CTS) scheme with a new simplified scheme for working age (aged 16 to 65) residents. This will be done by introducing income bands rather than looking at precise household income to calculate the CTS award.
The consultation will ask for views on the type of scheme and some of the changes that are proposed.
It will also ask for alternative views.
The consultation is open from Monday 23rd October 2023 to Thursday 23rd November 2023.
Thank you for taking the time to share your views.
What is this consultation about?
In the Council’s Corporate plan for 2023 to 2026 the Council set out some of its priorities to support residents of the borough such as:
Residents are supported during the current cost of living crisis.
Residents are safe, protected, and supported at their most vulnerable.
Residents avoid becoming homeless.
As part of these priorities we are reviewing the Council Tax Support (CTS) scheme.
Each year the Council must decide whether to change the CTS scheme for working age applicants in Barking & Dagenham. There are no changes for Pension Age applicants as they are part of the national scheme. This year the Council is deciding whether to change the working age CTS Scheme.
We are legally required to consult on any proposed changes to the scheme. We’re asking you to take part in this consultation to find out what you think about our proposed CTS Scheme, which would start from 01 April 2024.
We want to:
Simplify the scheme making it easy for residents to understand and access.
Provide the maximum level of support for all low-income households.
Remove the requirement to continually make changes in awards making support more consistent.
Reduce printing and postage costs.
Improve how the scheme works with the Universal Credit system.
Make it easier for us to better manage an increase in demand for the scheme.
We will be writing to all Council Tax Support claimants to provide further information of how the proposed new scheme could affect them.
What are we consulting on?
We are proposing to replace the existing Counci Tax Support (CTS) scheme with a new simplified scheme for working age (aged 16 to 65) residents. This will be done by introducing income bands rather than looking at precise household income to calculate the CTS award.
The consultation will ask for views on the type of scheme and some of the changes that are proposed.
It will also ask for alternative views.
The consultation is open from Monday 23rd October 2023 to Thursday 23rd November 2023.
Thank you for taking the time to share your views.
In the coming weeks, we will be writing to all Council Tax Support claimants to provide further information of how the proposed new scheme could affect them.
We will listen carefully to what you tell us and take the responses into consideration when making a final decision on the 2024/25 scheme.
Following the decision, the full results from the consultation will be available on the Council's website.
Any new scheme will start on 01 April 2024.
The Council will consider the impact of the scheme annually and consult again if it thinks further changes need to be made.
Would you like to speak to someone about the proposed Council Tax Support Scheme?
Our outreach services will be on site at Barking Learning Centre and Dagenham Library on the following dates to support residents to complete the survey and answer any questions regarding the proposed changes:
