An Isle of Wight councillor has said he would “love” council tax support to be “more generous” ahead of a cabinet discussion on the issue this evening.
Cllr Geoff Brodie, who represents Pan and Barton, expressed his support for a different approach at County Hall’s Corporate Scrutiny meeting on Tuesday but caveated his support, saying the council would continue to face “major difficulties” setting its tax again without change at a national level.
Local Council Tax Support (LCTS) is a program delivered by the Isle of Wight Council which helps people on low incomes pay council tax.
The degree of support the council gives to Islanders varies according to income and individual circumstances.
Working age recipients must pay at least 25 percent of council local tax bill so LCTS is limited to a maximum 75 percent of what is owed to County Hall.
This evening (Thursday), the cabinet will consider LCTS amid “very significant” financial challenges.
Council leader Phil Jordan and his seven appointed representatives will review a proposed LCTS plan for 2025/26 put forward by finance cabinet member Ian Stephens.
Cllr Stephens’s scheme would continue the council’s current system with the addition of a “few small changes” including disregarding the childcare part of Universal Credit and Post Office Compensation Scheme payments from the calculation of LCTS.
Cllr Nick Stuart, representative for Brighstone, Calbourne and Shalfleet, also broached the issue on Tuesday:
“Is there any serious consideration of trying to extend it further from 75 to 80 percent?”
A council officer replied: “Not at this moment in time, no.”
Cllr Brodie said:
“In recent years Cllr Garratt has regularly brought proposals to Full Council to make the scheme more generous in the face of the pressures that the council faces and I think we probably need to be aware of that – I suspect that might come again.
“I personally, would love to see it more generous but until change comes – I’m sceptical about change in this country at the moment – this council’s going to continue to face major difficulties in terms of setting the council tax again.
“Hopefully change will come but I’m not confident of it – we’ll see after October 31.”
On October 30, Chancellor Rachel Reeves will deliver her first budget setting out the incoming Labour government’s fiscal rules and possible changes to the tax system, public service spending and capital investment.
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