Nearly 1,500 residents in Northumberland have been overcharged council tax following a calculation error in a newly introduced support scheme, raising concerns that the mistake may have pushed vulnerable people into poverty.
Over 1,400 Cases Identified
The county council introduced a banded council tax support system for the first time this year as part of cost-cutting measures, aiming to replace a previous scheme that cost £28 million annually. The new system was designed to target support at the lowest-income households and align Northumberland with other North East councils.
However, a members' briefing obtained by the Local Democracy Reporting Service revealed that in 1,488 cases, the level of support needs to be increased due to a calculation issue. A council spokesman explained: "A new Council Tax Support Scheme for working age claimants was agreed at Full Council earlier this year, with bills being issued to households in March. Claimants on the lowest incomes were eligible for more support compared to the previous scheme. As part of the review of the scheme, it became apparent that the method of calculating eligible support for claimants in receipt of Employment Support Allowance and/or Carers Allowance differed, depending on whether these allowances were paid via Universal Credit."
Council staff have since recalculated all potentially affected claimants, and households will be informed of their revised bills in the coming days.
Political Criticism and Hardship Concerns
Northumberland Labour leader Councillor Scott Dickinson criticised the implementation, stating: "We have potentially pushed some people into poverty by making them pay too much money. I can't understand how nearly 1,500 people can be in this position. Councillors have raised this individually and been told that there's not a problem. We're talking about the most vulnerable cohort of people in the county to begin with. We have inflicted financial hardship onto them. I don't blame staff one little bit, because staff have been open and honest and said they're under pressure. The public need to know and other organisations such as Citizen's Advice and food banks need to know about this, otherwise people can't be helped. Do we have confidence that the rest of the calculations are correct?"
When the scheme was introduced, council figures showed 6,235 people would receive more support while 7,771 would receive less. However, some residents faced shocking increases, with Independent councillor Patrick Lambert reporting cases where bills rose by £84 per month for those previously paying nothing, and from £15 to £105 per month for another constituent.
Council Response and Hardship Fund
Conservative council leader Glen Sanderson defended the scheme, saying: "When you're introducing a scheme, there will always be winners and losers. We always said it would take time to bed in and that is what has happened. There are people that are better off and some that aren't. To protect those we set up a Hardship Fund. Bearing in mind that this council has tackling inequalities as one of its three key priorities, we were extremely careful to carry out studies to ensure that any change which could impact those who are less well off were fully explained. By and large the scheme has been well-received and we're just following what other councils have done for years. We will look to refund if there has been a miscalculation or if we haven't taken all issues into consideration - we will make sure it is sorted out."
