The following is adapted from an Isle of Wight Council press release…

Isle of Wight Council is consulting on its Local Council Tax Support scheme which helps low-income working households with council tax bills.

The proposed scheme, set to start in April 2025, aims to introduce changes that will align more closely with national developments, including the move to Universal Credit. Proposed changes include:

• creating one simple earnings disregard rather than two, which would benefit both full-time and part-time earners.
• a change to the assessment of childcare costs for Universal Credit claimants to make it fairer for them, as well as to disregard new government-funded scheme payments which some claimants may receive.

The changes will not affect pension-age recipients of local council tax support but could impact both working-age recipients, as well as users of council services more widely.

Therefore, the consultation is open to all Island residents with the results forming part of the decision-making process for setting council tax and the overall council budget next year.

The online consultation closes on Monday 23 September 2024.

Paper copies are available from council offices and libraries from 12 August, or you can request a paper copy be sent to you by calling 01983 823950. An easy read version is also available.