About our working age scheme
Our council tax support scheme for working-age customers aims to make the amount of support customers receive more stable month-to-month. It also offers those on the lowest incomes up to 100% discount on their council tax bill.
Our scheme works by placing your weekly income into a band. When you receive your bill it will tell you what band you are in and what support you are receiving, based on your income and household make-up.
If your income changes within a band, the amount of support you get won't change. The amount of support you get will only go up or down if the income you recieve means you go up or down an income band.
This makes it easier for customers to budget as they will know what support they will get from month to month.
Income bands
There are five different income bands that change each year, depending on household size and make-up:
| Band | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Discount | 100% | 75% | 50% | 25% | 0% |
| Single person | £0 - £94 | £94.01 - £138 | £138.01 - £182 | £182.01 - £224 | £224.01 or more |
| Single person with one child or young person | £0 - £191 | £191.01 - £234 | £234.01 - £277 | £277.01 - £320 | £320.01 or more |
| Single person with two or more children or young persons | £0 - £269 | £269.01 - £312 | £312.01 - £355 | £355.01 - £397 | £397.01 or more |
| Couple with no children | £0 - £146 | £146.01 - £190 | £190.01 - £233 | £233.01 - £277 | £277.01 or more |
| Couple with one child or young person | £0 - £243 | £243.01 - £285 | £285.01 - £328 | £328.01 - £371 | £371.01 or more |
| Couple with two or more children or young persons | £0 - £322 | £322.01 - £364 | £364.01 - £407 | £407.01 - £450 | £450.01 or more |
When we calculate your income to work out your band, we will not take into consideration the following:
- Carers Allowance
- Child Benefit
- Disability Living Allowance
- Employment and Support Allowance Support Component
- Non-dependent deductions
- Personal Independence Payments
- Universal Credit Carer Element
- Universal Credit Disabled Child Element
- Universal Credit Housing Element
- War Widows/Widowers and War Disablement Pensions
In addition residents:
- who claim a disability benefit receive an £85 disregard from their income (per household).
- who are in work have up to £50 disregarded from their earned income (per household).
- in the lowest income band are eligible for 100% discount on their bill.
- who forget to claim will now be able to have their claim backdated up to six months.
A change in income or circumstances takes effect from the date a change happens, rather than the following Monday.
Apply now
About our scheme regulations
We designed our scheme in 2022 and consulted widely with local claimants - over 1,600 people gave their views as part of a 12-week consultation - view the proposal.
The impact of the scheme was reviewed six months later by our Overview & Scrutiny Committee who recommended no further amendments to the scheme.
The banded discounts are updated every year, in line with the uprating conducted by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) - this makes sure the support we give keeps in line with increases in the cost of living.
Any negative impacts, other than those identified and addressed through the EIA (see below), from the previous year are also taken into consideration and addressed as part of the annual review process.
Our scheme is detailed in full our scheme regulations.
Equality, hardship and our scheme
We carried out an equality impact assessment (EIA) which highlighted people getting Limited Capability for Work (LCW) or Limited Capability for Work and Work-related Activity (LCWRA) payments through Universal Credit might be affected, because these payments are not ignored (disregarded) when working out how council tax discount someone gets.
The scheme was not amended based on the fact that not everyone who gets LCW or LCWRA has a disability, and those who do have a disability or a long-term health condition can apply for Personal Independence Payments (PIP), which are ignored in our scheme.
Also, anyone already getting a disability-related benefit already benefits from £85 more of their income being ignored in our scheme.
If someone getting LCW or LCWRA is struggling to pay their council tax/facing severe hardship, because these payments are not disregarded, they can apply for extra help through the exceptional hardship fund.
Exceptional hardship fund
If you are facing exceptional financial hardship, you can apply to our exceptional hardship fund.
To apply, please fill out discretionary council tax relief application form.
You will need to supply evidence to support your application which is detailed in the form. Please send your completed form and evidence to revenues@lichfielddc.gov.uk and include discretionary council tax relief application in the title of your email.
To find out more about the exceptional hardship fund, please read our policy.
