More than 8,000 households in Northumberland could face higher council tax bills next year under new plans to reduce a council tax support programme. Councillors will be asked to approve the changes next month after an error saw hundreds of residents hit with incorrect charges this year.
Northumberland County Council introduced a new banded council tax support system for 2026 in an effort to save £2 million and make bills simpler. However, it later emerged that 1,488 households had been overcharged due to an “anomaly” in calculating how they received Employment Support Allowance and/or Carers Allowance.
Proposed Changes to Support Bands
Under new proposals considered by the Tory-run council’s cabinet on Tuesday, the maximum level of support for the county’s poorest households will remain at a 100% exemption from council tax. However, the level of council tax bill reductions in several lower bands will be cut – from 90% to 85%, 70% to 65%, and 40% to 35%.
The council said that keeping the support bands at current levels was “not a viable option” within its budget, due to the volume of claims and the forecast financial impact of correcting the anomaly. As a result, it is expected that 8,450 households will see a reduction in council tax support for 2027/28, most of between £1 and £2 per week. 2,393 households are forecast to receive more support.
Cross-Party Review and Rejected Options
Conservative councillor Nick Oliver, the council’s cabinet member for finance, told colleagues on Tuesday morning that a cross-party working group set up to review the support scheme had also considered introducing full and automatic exemptions for people with severe disabilities and who are unpaid carers. However, he said both ideas were rejected as they would prove too difficult to define and would cost millions of pounds.
Coun Oliver added that the group had agreed to ensure the scheme keeps delivering the £2 million saving originally intended and to retain the “very important principle” of a 100% exemption for those most in need. Council leader Glen Sanderson added that the council had wanted to make the system “fairer and more easy to access” for those who need support and had also set up a £1 million hardship fund to provide further help.
Next Steps and Effective Date
The proposed changes will be presented to a full council meeting for approval next month and would come into effect from April 1 next year. A council report states: “In order for the scheme to be contained within the financial envelope, the working group agreed that some bands therefore needed to change. Other options could have included a more fundamental change to the wider scheme, but the working group acknowledged the benefit of a period of stability, which would provide both certainty for potential claimants as well as giving the council data from two years to assess how the scheme is operating in practice.”
