Council Tax Support consultation - Proposed changes for 2026-27
We are considering making changes to the amount of Council Tax Support (CTS) some people receive. We want to hear your views on the proposed changes and how they might affect your household.
By law, the Council must publish a draft CTS scheme, including all proposed changes. You can view the Council Tax Support scheme 2026-27 draft on this page.
If you want to get involved and have your say visit our how to take part in the consultation page.
If all proposed changes are made, the CTS scheme would reduce annual costs by £872,000 in 2026/27.
Please note: no decisions have been made yet. The council will carefully consider all consultation feedback before making any decisions.
Who gets Council Tax Support
- 9,091 households in Slough currently receive Council Tax Support.
- 4,031 households are classed as not working.
- 2,435 households have an income below £461.54 per week.
- 2,625 households are of state pension age and will not be affected by these proposals.
We cannot change how CTS is awarded to pension-age households, as these rules are set by central Government.
Why we are proposing changes
- Slough Borough Council is currently under the intervention of the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government because it has not met its best value duty.
- The Council must show it can operate sustainably and without exceptional financial support.
- To do this, all areas of spending, including CTS must be reviewed.
Who will be affected
- Working age households currently receiving Council Tax Support may see a reduction in support under the proposed scheme.
- Pension aged household (66 years and over) will not be affected, as their support is set by law.
- In some cases, couples where one person is below pension age may be treated as working-age, even if one of you is of state pension age.
Proposed changes
The proposal involes:
- reducing maximum CTS for working-age households who are not working from 80% to 70%.
- reducing support for working households whose income falls within Bands 2, 3, and 4.
The table shows the current and proposed income bands:
| Income band |
Earning threshold (weekly) |
Current Council Tax support amount | Proposed Council Tax support amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Not working | 80% | 70% |
| 1 | Less than £115.38 | 50% | 50% |
| 2 | £115.39 - £184.61 | 40% | 32% |
| 3 | £184.62 - £253.84 | 30% | 20% |
| 4 | £253.85 - £323.07 | 20% | 15% |
| 5 | £323.08 - £392.30 | 10% | 10% |
| 6 | £392.31 - £461.53 | 5% | 5% |
| 7 | £461.54 and above | 0% | 0% |
Proposed changes for people receiving Universal Credit
We are also proposing to:
- use the level of earnings calculated by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) when assessing entitlement to CTS
- disregarding 100% of any pension contributions instead of the current 50%.
This will increase the level of support available to Universal Credit customers.
Estimated impact of the new income bands
If the new income bands are implemented, gross Council Tax Support expenditure would reduce by £872,000 per year.
The table shows the estimated impact of the new income bands:
| Working age CTS household by type | Number of households | Current CTS expenditure | Estimated CTS expenditure | Reduction in CTS expenditure | % reduction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Working Age - Non-Passported – Other | 3,605 | £4,720,839 | £4,139,394 | £581,445 | 12.3% |
| Working Age - Non-Passported – Working | 2,435 | £1,121,942 | £896,176 | £225,766 | 20% |
| Working Age - Passported - Other | 426 | £557,811 | £492,824 | £64,987 | 11.7% |
| Total | 6,466 | £6,400,592 | £5,528,394 | £872,198 | 13.6% |
Please note: these figures are approximate and may change between the consultation period and policy implementation. They are intended to give an indication of the households that could be affected.
No impact to other discount
The proposed changes will not affect other Council Tax discounts or exemptions, such as the Single Person Discount. These will continue to be applied before CTS is calculated.