Thousands of working-age residents in Bath and North East Somerset are set to have their council tax reduced to help prevent financial hardship during the coronavirus pandemic.
Bath & North East Somerset Council has made an urgent decision to reduce council tax liability to lessen people’s financial burden at a time when they may already be on a reduced income due to stay-at-home measures.
The council’s deputy leader, Richard Samuel, made the decision which authorises officers to immediately reduce the council tax liability for all working-age recipients of Local Council Tax Support during 2020/21 by the lower figure of their remaining liability for that year, or £150.
In many cases, this will reduce the amount residents have to pay to nil.
The scheme is funded by the Government’s £500m hardship fund for local authorities.
Councillor Richard Samuel said: “Many people in Bath and North East Somerset are suffering from financial hardship caused by the economic impacts of Covid-19. We want to offer them urgent help to lessen the burden, which is why I have made the decision to reduce council tax liability for people of working age to come into effect as soon as possible.
“This decision would normally require a full council meeting, but due to the urgency of the situation and councillors being unable to meet at the moment, I have had no choice but to go ahead so we can support our residents. A full report will be made to the next available council meeting explaining the decision, the reasons for it and why the decision was treated as a matter of urgency.”
The decision was made under part 4C, Rule 4 of the council’s constitution as an urgent decision. It can be viewed by following this link https://democracy.bathnes.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?id=1391&LLL=0
More information about council tax support can be found here https://beta.bathnes.gov.uk/apply-council-tax-support
Excellent news …