COVID-19 hardship fund
As part of its response to COVID-19, the government announced that it would provide local authorities in England with £500 million of new grant funding to support economically vulnerable working age people and households in their local area.
Wyre Forest District Council has received £952,000 by way of a government grant and we have been given guidance on how we should spend it.
Any working age household in receipt of Council Tax Reduction Scheme on 1st April 2020 will receive an additional reduction to their council tax bill up to £150. This means they will either:
- have nothing to pay
- have their bill reduced by up to a further £150
Any money left over will go to boost the discretionary funds that are being used to help households in hardship because of COVID-19. Applications are not needed and this will be awarded automatically. Please look out for your new council tax bill in May.
Your council tax
Your council tax pays for essential services to be delivered to all residents, so it is really important that you continue to pay if you can.
Changes to council tax collection due to coronavirus (COVID-19)
From April 2020 to June 2020 we will not actively pursue council tax arrears for households affected by COVID-19 but we will try to contact you if we see you are falling into arrears to let you know what support is available.
We need you to contact us if you are struggling to pay your council tax because of COVID-19.
We may be able to agree to special payment plans where council tax due for 2020/21 is split over ten months, from June 2020 to March 2021 if you are struggling to pay. This means that, in some cases, residents will not have to pay anything until June – please contact us for further information
We are here to help so please contact us if you are struggling to pay your council tax.
If you have not had an income reduction and your circumstances haven’t changed, it’s really important that you continue to pay your council tax.
When we come out of the pandemic we will be resuming recovery action; speak to us now if you are in difficulty so we can offer support and advice as early as possible in the process to avoid later problems.