Peterborough Green Party call for increased support for residents to pay council tax with Hardship Fund

The Green Party Group in Peterborough has called for a strengthened ‘Council Tax Exceptional Hardship Fund’ to support residents in the city.

Currently, a pot of £200,000 is in place to help households in the most need.

Any person who is liable to pay council tax on a property has the right to apply to the local council for a reduction in the amount of council tax due to be paid, which will be granted provided conditions of financial hardship can be proven.

Council tax is set to rise by 4.99 percent in April but could rise even more given that the council's medium-term financial plan assumes that a further 4.99 per cent increase will be added the following year and a 2.99 per cent increase the year after that; leading to a more than ten percent rise by 2025.

At last week's full council budget meeting, it was agreed that greater publicity will be provided for the council tax exceptional hardship scheme and staff administering the scheme will be advised to exercise greater discretion and flexibility when considering applications

The council is also considering whether to procure an additional system that uses existing data sets to better identify low-income households to help ensure they are targeting resources to support those most in need.

Green Group Leader, Cllr Nicola Day said ‘We know that many people in Peterborough are struggling right now with the cost-of-living crisis, this is reflected by the increased use of food banks and community fridges and by the numbers of children living in poverty.

"We have worked hard make changes to and improve our current system. The crisis is making the most basic needs, be it food or heating, a daily challenge, even for people in work who are suffering because of low wages.

"It’s our duty to do everything we can to help and that’s exactly what we are doing.”