Concerns have been raised by Fair Frome and a local councillor about the potential impact on Frome residents with low incomes if Somerset Council makes cuts to its council tax reduction scheme.
Somerset Council has launched a 10-week consultation to gather public opinions on possible changes to its council tax reduction scheme. This scheme currently provides up to a 100% discount on council tax for around 32,000 working-age people on low incomes across the county. One of the proposed changes include reducing the maximum available discount from 100% to 75%.
The cuts, which could come into effect from 1st April 2025, do not apply to those of pension age.
Voicing concern for Frome residents at a full town council meeting this month, senior coordinator of Fair Frome, Lenka Grimes, said she was ‘worried’ about the impact these changes could have on people in Frome and that ‘once again’ it would fall to Fair Frome and others to ‘pick up the pieces.’
“If reductions go from 100% down to 75%, which is one of the proposed changes, that affects 32,000 people across the county that currently receive reductions and [there will be people in Frome],” explained Lenka.
“This is really important and people need to be aware of this and they need to do the survey.”
Somerset Council says it is proposing these changes as a way to save around £12.1 million a year, after it declared a financial emergency last November.
Echoing Fair Frome’s concern at the full council meeting, Cllr Fiona Barrows said she was ‘really upset’ to learn of the possible cuts.
“This is going to impact the people who need it the most,” said Cllr Barrows. “It’s already difficult the thought of it going down. It makes me feel sick, especially given how much Somerset Council are going to be raising [the precept].
“We also have a housing crisis in Frome, which means we have a lot of people living in housing that may not be perfectly suited to their needs. Maybe they are living in a house that is too big for them but there isn’t the smaller housing to go down to, which I think really needs to be taken into account. Also, 30% of people in Frome are of single occupancy I think that might be single adults with dependents. It is going to affect a lot of people in Frome.
Cllr Barrows also said she thought the consultation was ‘really poor’ and needed to be clearer for the people who were expected to respond to it. “I couldn’t understand it, the questions are really bad and I don’t think it is clear, especially given the people it will be affecting. More effort needs to be put in to make it really clear and accessible.”
Cllr Fiona Barrows also asked for clarity on whether Frome Town Council has a say on the proposed changes especially as the town council’s precept goes through Somerset Council’s rules. “It will be our council tax that we are setting [which] will be subject to Somerset Council rules.”
The town council’s economic development and regeneration manager, Peter Wheelhouse, said the council can report back to Fiona with answers.
Leader of Somerset Council Cllr Bill Revans said, “We fully recognise and appreciate the value of Council Tax Reduction to those on low incomes – in fact, one of our first decisions as a unitary council was to harmonise this support for everyone across the county.
“However, the national model of funding local government is broken. The costs of providing key demand-led services have risen sharply and we have limited ways to raise income.
Without national intervention, this means we have no choice but to consider all available options to reduce spending. But we will not do this lightly and it’s really important that people understand the changes being proposed and have their say so we can consider every impact before any decisions are made.”
