By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter
There are concerns a council tax support scheme for people who are struggling in Gloucester may not continue after local government reorganisation.
Gloucester City Council provides help for people of working age on low income to pay their council tax.
The city’s council tax support is more generous than that of many other local authorities as these residents can still apply and receive up to a 100 per cent reduction from their bill.
A total of 5,164 people benefit from this currently in Gloucester.
There are also 2,461 pensioners who benefit from council tax support, however this would be unaffected by changes in Gloucestershire as it is set naionally the Government.
However, this level of help for working age residens could disappear after local government reorganisation in the county as there are plans to merge the County Council area with the districts.
Resources cabinet member Declan Wilson (LD, Hucclecote) said: “What worries me is that Gloucester has a very good council tax support scheme for those who are really struggling.
“It’s the most generous of all of the councils in Gloucestershire. If we were a single unitary authority, would that survive?
“I doubt if it would. There would be extra costs for all the other authorities.
“We are also quite good at housing benefit help as well. I don’t think that would survive in a unitary authority.”
A City Council spokesperson said councils are required to agree a local council tax support scheme for people of working age but the scheme for pensioners is set nationally by the Government.
“The national scheme for pensioners offers up to 100 per cent support,” they said.
It is likely that three options on how local government reorganisation could unfold will be submitted to the Government.
Gloucestershire County Council along with the six district authorities have worked together to come up with two proposals for how local government could be organised in the future.
These are for one single unitary authority, splitting the county into East and West with one council made up of Gloucester, the Forest of Dean and Stroud and the other composed of Cheltenham, Cotswold and Tewkesbury.
And a Greater Gloucester unitary council with a separate unitary for the rest of the county being put forward by the City Council.
Councillors across the county will discuss these options and the final proposals must be submitted to the Government by November 28.
A public consultation on the proposals is expected early next year before ministers decide in the summer which option they want to see implemented in Gloucestershire.
Based on the Government’s current timetable, elections to the new council or councils would be in May 2027 with the new authority taking over from the current seven councils from April 2028.
The full proposals, along with a timetable of the council meetings where they will be debated can be found on Future Gloucestershire : Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation in Gloucestershire