Evaluation of Council Tax Incentives in Wales

In December 2021, the Welsh Government announced their intention of embarking on an ambitious package of Council Tax (CT) reform with the objective of making the Council Tax system fairer whilst maintaining sufficient funding for local services. These commitments are stated in both the Programme for Government1 and the Cooperation Agreement.

In December 2021 the Welsh Government announced plans to consult on measures including revaluation and reform of the tax base. The statement set out that “Options being considered this term include revaluation, a review of the Council Tax Reduction Scheme, and an evaluation of discounts, disregards, exemptions and premiums – with options for more fundamental reform in the longer term.”

The previous Welsh Government (2016 – 2021) began the process of reform by introducing four key interventions in 2019 that worked within the current Council Tax framework:

• The removal of the sanction of imprisonment for non-payment of Council Tax.

• The introduction of the  Council Tax Protocol for Wales – Good practice in collection of council tax4. This is a voluntary code of practice for enforcement and support of those with Council Tax debt and implementation was agreed with all Welsh councils.

• Standardisation of the application process for those with a ‘severe mental impairment’. This involved councils adopting a common application process and standardisation of information provided about the exemption.

• Legislation that provided an exemption for care leavers from Council Tax until their 25th birthday with the aim of assisting their transition to adulthood.

Methodology

We evaluated local implementation and delivery of the four Council Tax intervention measures introduced in 2019 and assessed the impact of these measures on residents and councils.

We carried out a survey of all local authorities in Wales, with an English and Welsh version, carried out an online focus group with care leavers and interviewed seven representative organisations in Wales, feeding all results into a joint report with a policy consultancy partner.

Outcome

Our evaluation is supporting the sharing of best practice across Welsh authorities and driving even greater consistency in support for vulnerable people. You can read the findings here.