At Somerset Council’s recent Corporate and Resource Scrutiny Committee meeting, councillors debated the proposed changes to the Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2025/26. The proposals currently being consulted on includes four different options to address the council’s significant financial deficit.
Under consideration is the reduction of council tax discount levels for working-age residents on low incomes. Currently, the amount of discount received is determined by the local income band scheme, which factors in income and family composition. Under the proposed changes, all levels of support would be reduced. For instance, a single person with a weekly income of £100 could see their discount reduced from 100% to 75%, while a couple with two children earning £500 a week could have their discount cut from 25% to 10%.
Councillor Diogo Rodrigues, representing Bridgwater East and Bawdrip, voiced strong concerns about this proposal during the meeting. He stated, "Obviously this Council is going to have to make a decision at some point about this. My biggest concern looking at all these options really, is that someone who is perhaps struggling the most and getting that 100% discount, they're the ones that are going to be impacted the worst and going to have to find some money from somewhere to pay any level of council tax. That's really worrying for me and will also be worrying for some of the residents that I represent in Bridgwater East and Bawdrip."
After a thorough debate, the committee voted to recommend to the Executive Committee that the option to reduce the current discount for those most in need from 100% to 75% not be considered as part of their final council tax proposals. The Executive Committee will receive and review this recommendation at their next meeting.
