Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of council tax exemption and discount rules for families required to live away from their homes for extended periods due to a child undergoing prolonged hospital treatment.

Councils are responsible for administering the council tax system, including considering the circumstances applying to a household and its eligibility for a discount or exemption. As well as the mandatory 25% discount where a household only has one adult occupant, councils have discretion over the level of discount provided in respect of unoccupied or second homes, which may be relevant where a family or family member is temporarily absent for medical reasons. Councils are able to design their working age council tax reduction schemes to ensure that households continue to receive support during periods of absence. In addition, councils have discretionary powers to provide a discount to taxpayer for any reason where they consider this appropriate.

The government recently consulted on modernising and improving the administration council tax. This included seeking views on any other groups which should be considered for council tax disregard/discounts. The consultation has now closed, and we are currently reviewing all responses. The government will publish its response to this consultation in due course.