Overview

Council Tax Reduction, or CTR, reduces the Council Tax bill of people on low incomes.

This consultation is about the working-age Council Tax Reduction scheme only. Support for people who have reached State Pension age is governed by national rules and is not being changed through this consultation. For information about Council Tax Reduction for pension-age residents, see Council Tax Reduction for pension-age residents.

From 1 April 2027, West Surrey Council is expected to operate one working-age CTR scheme across the six areas joining the new authority. The existing schemes use different rules and, in some areas, different assessment methods. The new Council therefore needs to decide how support should be calculated consistently across West Surrey.

The draft scheme proposes:

• a maximum award of 85% of eligible Council Tax, meaning all working age households would be asked to pay a minimum of 15% of their council tax bill
• support limited to Council Tax Band D, meaning households in council tax bands E, F, G, and H will need to pay the difference in charge above a Band D
• a £6,000 capital limit, meaning any household with savings or capital above this limit will not qualify for CTR. Capital does not include the house someone lives in
• a conventional means test with a 20% taper, this means that support is reduced at a rate of 20p for every pound over an assessed amount for that household
• a standard £10 per week non-dependant deduction. Non-dependants are other adults, usually grown sons or daughters living with their parents. A non-dependant deduction reduces CTR by £10 per week for each other adult in the property
• to treat self-employed income as matching the national minimum wage after 12 months, known as a Minimum Income Floor. This means that after 12 months, if a self-employed claimant’s new business has not reached a level of income equivalent to 35 hours per week at the national minimum wage, their income will be assessed at this level
• a Universal Credit change buffer intended to reduce repeated small or late recalculations
• up to three months backdating

Currently, across the six councils joining West Surrey, around £19.44 million per year is spent on Council Tax Reduction. The draft scheme, if implemented, would cost approximately £3.13 million less in 2027/28, costing West Surrey Council around £16.3 million a year in CTR support.

Currently there are around 12,200 households across West Surrey who claim and receive Council Tax Reduction. Under the draft scheme, around 10,600 households, or 88% of all households claiming CTR, would receive less support than they do currently, while 1,349, 11%, would receive more.

The Council Tax Reduction scheme has not yet been agreed. The Council will consider consultation responses alongside financial modelling, the Equality Impact Assessment, operational evidence, and other relevant information before deciding the final scheme.

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If you have any questions, or need this survey in a different format, language, or as a printed copy, please contact us at

Telephone: 01276 707100 (Surrey Heath Borough Council contact centre is acting on behalf of West Surrey Council for this consultation)
Textphone (via Relay UK): 18001 01276 707100
Email: Ctrswestsurrey@surreylgrhub.gov.uk.

If you would like a paper copy returned by post, we can also provide a copy with a stamped addressed envelope.

British Sign Language (BSL) users: visit www.surreycc.gov.uk/bsl for information about how to contact us using BSL.

Easy Read and large print versions of these documents are currently being prepared and will be added to this page soon. If you would like to be notified when they are available, please email the address above.

Have your say

Your feedback will help us to shape services that are fair, and better in line with current and future needs, whilst also remaining affordable and delivering good value for money with the available budget.

Please send any hard copy responses to: Resident Insight Unit, Woodhatch Place, 11 Cockshot Hill, Woodhatch, Reigate, RH2 8EF.

This consultation is open from 7 October 2026 and will close on 3 December 2026 at 11:59pm.