From 1 April next year there will be a new single council in North Yorkshire, replacing the seven district and borough councils and the county council. Currently the seven district and borough councils all have slightly different schemes for Council Tax Reduction, and by law there has to be a single scheme covering the whole of the North Yorkshire area. All eight councils have been working together on proposals for a scheme that is more supportive, with the maximum level of reduction for the people most in need. The aim is that the single scheme will make claiming easy and provide up to 100% support for households on the lowest incomes. You can let us know what you think of the proposals for a new Council Tax Reduction Scheme for North Yorkshire Council by taking part in the consultation online at www.northyorks.gov.uk/CouncilTaxReduction. You can have your say up to midnight on 18 September 2022, so please let us know your views before then.

Claiming Council Tax Reduction

You can claim Council Tax Reduction if you are on a low income. This might be earnings (including self-employed earnings) or benefits such as Income Support, Job Seekers Allowance or Incapacity Benefits.

You cannot get Council Tax Reduction if you, or your partner between you, have more than £16,000 in savings.

A partner is someone you are married to, or someone you live with as if you are married to them.

How to claim

You can collect an application form at the Council Offices, or telephone Customer Services on 01756 700600 and we will post one out to you.

Supporting evidence

There are a number of documents that must be provided in support of a Council Tax Reduction application to allow reduction entitlement to be determined. All of these documents must be original.

1. Proof of identity and National Insurance Number

Claimants must provide:

• Evidence of identity
• National Insurance number for themselves and their partner.

2. Proof of income

If you are employed, you are required to provide :

• If paid weekly - five wage slips
• If paid monthly - two wage slips
• If paid fortnightly - three wage slips

If you do not have wage slips, your employer will need to complete a certificate of earned income which is downloadable on the right hand side of the page.

If you are self-employed, please download and complete the Self Employed Form.

3. Proof of savings/capital

To establish your savings/capital, we will need to see your last two months' bank statements and the up to date pass books for any other accounts that you hold, as well as details of any other investments you may have, for example; stocks and shares, ISAs, Premium Bonds, National Savings Certificates, land or property etc.

The application form states what supporting evidence is required to allow us to process a claim. These documents must be original, photocopies will not be accepted.

If you cannot provide evidence straight away you should send in the form and submit the evidence later.

Receipts will be given for claims accepted at your local office, if requested.

Council Tax Reduction - change of circumstances

If there are any changes to your income, for example how much you earn, or the benefits you receive, you must tell us immediately, preferably in writing.

If you don't tell us about a change, and we pay you too much benefit, you may have to pay it back. If you are not sure whether we need to know about a change it is always better to tell us anyway. Failure to report any changes that may result in a decrease in the amount of benefit awarded, may lead to prosecution.

You MUST tell us about the following changes:-

Changes to the money you get

Please tell us if there are any changes to the money received by people in your home. Common examples include:

• you start or stop getting Income Support or Job Seekers Allowance (income based)
• you start or stop getting Family Credit
• the money you or your partner gets increases or decreases
• the money non-dependants get increases or decreases

Changes in your home

Please tell us if:

• you change your address (use the Council Tax Change of Address online form)
• the number of people in your home changes - for example, someone has a baby
• a partner comes to live with you
• a partner leaves

Other changes

Please tell us if:

• you, or your partner, go into hospital for more than 6 weeks
• you, or your partner, become a student, or stop being a student
• the amount of savings or capital you have changes

You do not have to tell us about changes in age (for example, if one of your children becomes 11 years old), as we will have this information already.

Download and complete the relevant application form below and return to Customer Services.