Currently, we count Carer’s Allowance as part of a resident (or their partner’s) income when working out the Council Tax discount.  Carer’s Allowance is given for looking after a person who is ill or disabled. 

In the current scheme, counting Carer’s Allowance as income is partially offset by giving a resident an award of a Carer’s Premium.  If we move to an income band or grid scheme we would stop the use of ‘premiums’.

We propose to disregard Carer’s Allowance as income for residents or their partners (from April 2019).

The advantages are:

• We feel it is fairer to fully disregard Carer’s Allowance.
• It is easier and quicker for us to work out discounts. 
• Residents who get Carer’s allowance may get a reduction on their Council Tax, where they didn’t qualify before.
• Residents who get Carer’s allowance may get a bigger reduction on their Council Tax than they get now.
• This is an easy change for us to make.

However, there may be a small increase in the costs of the scheme to the Council.  We estimate the amount to be very small.

If you know anything else the Council needs to consider please tell us in your response.

Read about proposal seven