Big changes to council tax benefit - Have your say

Overview

Big changes are being made to council tax benefit.

The city council is inviting residents to submit their views to help shape Leicester's council tax support scheme.

Why your views matter

From April 2013, the government is abolishing council tax benefit as part of its welfare reforms. Instead, all councils must develop a local council tax support scheme.

The government will no longer set all the rules about who qualifies for help with their council tax. Local councils are expected to do this in the future, and at the same time save money. Leicester city council is being asked to make savings of 19 per cent. This will cost the council £5.3million each year.

Pensioners will not be affected by these changes.

It is important that Leicester residents give us their views to help shape our council tax support scheme. We will consult with you from 5 September until 30 October.

Because the government is reducing our funding, it is likely that most people who are currently receiving council tax benefit (except pensioners) will have to pay something towards their council tax in the future.

The law that will allow council tax benefit to be abolished is currently going through Parliament. It’s possible that there may be some slight changes to the law as it goes through Parliament, but we wanted to consult you now so that you have plenty of time to give us your views.

We will tell you if there are any changes to the law as it goes through Parliament. We will also still take into account any views you have given us.

What happens next

The city council will analyse the views that have been expressed in the consultation and take these into consideration when making final decisions. 

Please note that this is not a polling exercise.  The information received will be looked at by the city mayor, his deputy and his team of assistant mayors.  They will also look at lots of other information and will be listening to the views of many organisations.