Council Tax Reduction also know as Council Tax Support (CTS) can be claimed by people on a low income to help pay their Council Tax. Under the current scheme it is calculated using a detailed assessment of the income and household details of the claimant (and partner if they have one) and other people living with them. Even very small changes in income and household make-up will often change entitlement.
Central Government sets the rules for all pension-age households, including who can claim and how. The Council can only change the Council Tax Support scheme for working-age claimants.
As at September 2026, Warrington Borough Council has around 11,455 households receiving Council Tax Support, at a cost of about £13.6 million a year. Of these, around 6,792 are working-age households who receive support under the Council's local scheme; the remaining 4,663 pension-age households receive support under the nationally prescribed scheme, which is not affected by this consultation.
We are legally required to consult on any proposed changes to the scheme and we're asking you to take part in this consultation to find out what you think about our proposed Council Tax Support scheme, which would start from 1 April 2027. We want to:
- increase the level of support available to the lowest-income working-age households by raising maximum support from 78% to 86.5% (reducing the minimum contribution from 22% to 13.5%);
- simplify the scheme and make it easier to understand and access, particularly for Universal Credit claimants;
- reduce the number of changes to Council Tax Support awards and Council Tax bills caused by small, frequent changes in Universal Credit;
- continue to protect disabled applicants, carers, families and war pensioners; and
- reduce the administrative cost of running the scheme.
Thank you for taking the time to share your views. It should take around 10 - 15 minutes to fill in this consultation.
The last day for submitting responses is 5:00pm on Thursday 19 November 2026.
