Council tax: Thousands of Harrogate households to get more money knocked off bills as support stepped up

Council tax in Harrogate may be going up this year - but thousands of households look set to get more money knocked off their bills under support measures to be approved next week.
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Senior councillors will meet on Tuesday to renew the district's Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme which was launched seven years ago and currently awards over £8.4m in discounts to nearly 8,000 households struggling to pay their bills.

The support means families will receive more financial help this year and some won’t pay anything at all.

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It comes after Harrogate Borough Council, North Yorkshire County Council and police and fire services all approved council tax hikes earlier this month which will see the average band D property in Harrogate pay more than £2,000 this year - unless they are facing financial hardship.

Council tax in Harrogate is going up again this year - but help is on offer.Council tax in Harrogate is going up again this year - but help is on offer.
Council tax in Harrogate is going up again this year - but help is on offer.

At the cabinet meeting on Tuesday, councillors will also be told that hardship payments of £150 are being increased up to £225 as part of the government's Covid-19 Hardship Fund.

Harrogate Borough Council received £863,157 under the scheme to support economically vulnerable households during the pandemic but at the end of January had only distributed just over half.

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Any unspent money at the end of next month must be returned to the government but Julie Gillett, the council's revenues, welfare and customer services manager, said in a report that the authority wants to use the cash to cover the increase in hardship payments awards, as well as housing costs for hard-hit residents.

"The proposed uses of the hardship funding will ensure that we maximise the spending of our council tax hardship funding allocation to ensure there is not a significant underspend which has to be returned to the government," she said.

"The rate of new cases that qualify for the award each week has remained modest, even through the current lockdown."

North Yorkshire County Council last week became the last of the main authorities serving the Harrogate district to approve a council tax increase - with a 3.49% hike on its majority proportion of bills.

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The charge for Harrogate Borough Council will go up by £5 from the beginning of April, along with a 1.99% increase for both police and fire. Local town and parish councils will also levy a parish precept on bills.

For more information on what support is available for council tax bills go to www.harrogate.gov.uk/council-tax

By Jacob Webster, Local Democracy Reporter