A disables couple in Frome who receive council tax support are urging residents who are in a similar situation to check their new bills carefully, after they were shocked to see that their support has almost been halved by the new Somerset Council.
The new Somerset Council came into being at the beginning of April and replaced Somerset County Council and the four district councils. Somerset Council say that they have implemented a new scheme which is designed to make people “better off”.
However, the couple, who usually receive council tax support of 80%, have been informed that this support will be reduced by roughly 40%, despite the couple not having a change in circumstances. This means their bill has now jumped from £330.27 to £1,016.62 and the couple, who wish to remain anonymous, have questioned the move given the current cost-of-living crisis.
They said, “The effect of this for us is a £69 per month increase in our payments and an unbelievable 311% overall increase in our yearly bill. The council has ‘kindly’ given us a one-off hardship payment of £25 to help offset the increase, which is nominal at best and insulting at worst.
“It seems that a council whose formation was resoundingly rejected via referendum thinks it appropriate in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis to plunge the most vulnerable people under their jurisdiction into further turmoil without any warning of such impending moves being imminent and there is absolutely nothing we can do about it.
“I urge all readers in similar circumstances to check their new bills carefully as a nasty shock is just around the corner, when you least need it.”
A Somerset Council spokesperson said, “We offer support to Somerset residents on low incomes through the council tax reduction scheme. In the past, we had different schemes for each of the four districts, so we used extensive modelling and consultation to develop a new single council tax reduction scheme.
“Most people are better off under the new scheme but we were aware there would be some cases of people who would not be, so we have also introduced an exceptional hardship scheme which people can apply to. We will be in touch with the couple to support an application to the scheme.”