A consultation into the future of the council tax support scheme has opened in Slough this week.

Slough Borough Council’s cabinet agreed to proceed to consultation about proposed changes to the scheme at a meeting on Thursday, November 14.

Council Tax Support (CTS) is a benefit that helps people to pay their Council Tax bill. By law, the council must review each year how much it spends on Council Tax Support.

READ MORE: Streetlights to be dimmed across Slough under new council plans

The council is considering changing the amount of CTS that some people get towards their bill. They now want resident’s views on the proposed changes and any impact they could have on people’s households.

“We want to ensure the scheme continues to be viable and affordable in future,” the council said.

The Council Tax Support Scheme currently offers 100 per cent discount for working age households who are not in employment and a sliding scale of reductions from 75 per cent to 10 percent, depending on the weekly income of those working.

Under the new proposals for the 2025/26 scheme, the maximum discount would be 70 per cent for those not working and from 50 per cent to five per cent discount for working people, depending on their income.

READ MORE: Crackdown: Police arrest THREE prolific shoplifters

Currently, there are 6,504 working age claimants, including 1,019 who receive a 100 per cent discount on their council tax.

Councillor Mabu Shaik, lead member for I.T, customer services, revenue and benefits, procurement and performance, said: “The plan is to bring our level of discount in line with other similar authorities.

“No firm decisions have been taken on changes, but the consultation is for us to understand how different people would be affected.

“No matter what the final scheme is, we will continue to ensure there is a council tax hardship fund for those most in need. I urge residents to give us their feedback in our survey.”

The consultation will be open until 29 December.

To complete feedback for the consultation, go online at slough.citizenspace.com/corporate/council-tax-support-scheme-2025-26

Residents can also pick up paper copies in the council hubs, or drop-in to one of the planned consultation events, which will be publicised soon.

Results from the consultation will be presented back to cabinet in January 2025 to make a recommendation to full council.

READ MORE: New 20 miles per hour speed limit could be introduced on main road near Heathrow

The new scheme would be implemented from April. 

The council tax rate and the council budget for 2025/26 are being prepared now and are due to be finalised at the annual Budget Council meeting on 27 February.

A survey about initial budget proposals is now available at https://slough.citizenspace.com/communications/budget-25-26/