Council tax - Helping Hands for hard-pressed residents

KCC has today confirmed a programme of help for hard-pressed residents with their council tax set out in last week’s 2020-21 budget.

Under the scheme, funded by some £6 million of the support that KCC has received from the government’s Emergency Covid-19 Grant, all those already under the Council Tax Reduction Scheme (CTRS), which provides discounts to those on the lowest incomes, will receive a rebate of £50 on their council tax bills. This will also help those who join the Scheme during the financial year, perhaps because of a sudden change in their circumstances such as redundancy. 

In addition, KCC is providing supplementary funding to District and Borough Councils to extend their existing Council Tax Hardship Fund schemes. These schemes are intended to help those who are - or were prior to the pandemic - ‘just about managing’ but above the income levels that would make them eligible for the CTRS. In this case too, the policy aims to help those who have been affected by the pandemic and its economic consequences. 

This announcement follows last week’s launch of the £10 million Helping Hands scheme by the council, providing support to businesses, households in financial distress, the voluntary sector and those in need of help in securing access to the digital technology that we all increasingly rely on. This too is funded by the Covid Emergency Grant; in both cases this is one-off funding that we as a council have decided to use to support those most impacted by Covid and its economic and social consequences. 

Last week’s KCC budget was aimed at protecting our services - especially those, such as adults’ and children’s social services that are likely to see a sharp increase in need and in more complex cases as we come out of lockdown. It also aimed to secure the long-term financial stability of the council - a council that is strong enough to be able to help when it is needed. The consequence of that, though reluctantly on the part of the administration, was a 2% increase in general council tax levels and a 3% increase in the adult social care precept. We were determined to ensure that the most hard-pressed households were relieved of the pressures of a council tax increase, and that is what these measures aim to do.