West Suffolk Council leaders could extend full Council Tax relief

A relief scheme exempting residents from paying Council Tax could be extended by leaders.

Members of West Suffolk's cabinet will be asked to support the extension of the authority's Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme (LCTRS) on Tuesday.

The scheme has been in place in some form since 2014 and was expanded ahead of the 2023/24 financial year to allow struggling residents to be exempt from paying up to 100 per cent of their Council Tax.

The council is now looking to extend the same level of reduction for another year to support working-age residents on low incomes, avoid crisis situations and lead to fewer applications for exceptional hardship payments.

The council ran a consultation which received just 16 engagements and although council papers state only a 'small number of individuals' were not supportive, the breakdown was a lot more split, with seven weighing up against the extension.

If approved by cabinet members next week, the proposals will once again be voted on at a full council meeting — if it fails at either of these stages, the scheme will revert back to only allow up to 91.5 per cent Council Tax exemption.

Council papers state a reduction in the scheme's foothold could lead to more complaints and a costly recovery process which could result in write-offs.