Council tax support

The funding for the new Council tax support scheme has meant it was not possible to award the same amount of help towards the cost of council tax.

Burnley Borough Council’s Council Tax Support Scheme has remained unchanged since April 2015, except for the annual uprating of applicable amounts/premiums keeping it in line with the Housing Benefit Scheme and is formally ratified annually by Full Council.  The current scheme from April 2017 will reduce the final benefit award by 17.5% for all claimants of working age.

Follow the link for more detailed information about Burnley's scheme for 2018-19

If you pay some council tax and receive some council tax support, your council tax bill will increase.

Example 1

Assuming council tax is £1,125 on a Band A property. A couple on income support who previously received full benefit and had no council tax to pay, would under the new council tax support scheme have their benefit reduced by 17.5%, resulting in an annual bill of £196.88

Example 2

The same couple received annual council tax benefit of £500 and paid £625 in council tax would, under the new council tax support scheme, have their award reduced by 17.5% to £412.50 resulting in an annual bill of £712.50

N.B. For illustrative purposes only - these figures do not represent the council tax charged by Burnley Council in 2017/18

If you are of state pension age, you are not affected by the reduction in benefit.

If you are already receiving council tax benefit, you do not need to apply for council tax support. We will automatically transfer you onto the new scheme.

Your council tax bill and council tax support letter will be sent to you in March. Please check them to ensure you know what you need to pay.

There’s lots of information on your bill about how to pay and the Council has a number of payment methods to suit you. The easiest way to pay your council tax is to pay by direct debit where you can choose to have your payment taken out on the 1st,7th,16th, 23rd or 30th of the month. You also have the option of spreading the cost from 10 to 12 monthly payments.

We have also introduced a new fortnightly direct debit option from April to help people manage paying their council tax to fit in around fortnightly welfare benefit payments.

For peace of mind, you can now manage your own account by visiting www.burnley.gov.uk/simplyclick and logging into your council tax account using your council tax reference number and unique online key which can be found on your last bill. You can also check your last payment, set up direct debit or register a change of details.