Have your say on proposed change to the Council Tax Support Scheme for Torbay

Torbay residents are being invited to give their views on a proposed change to the Council Tax Support Scheme from April 2026.

It’s one of a number of consultations taking place this autumn, along with our 2025 Residents’ Satisfaction Survey.

Torbay Council is proposing to change the working age Council Tax Support scheme so that the level of support will increase for some single parent families that currently do not receive the maximum discount.  The scheme change that is being proposed is to align the income bands that allocate discounts for single parents with couples that have children, so that they receive the same level of support.

By making this change it will help to alleviate the cumulative effects of welfare cuts and rising household costs, where children are at greater risk to higher levels of poverty.

There is an online survey and the Council will write to a random sample of working age households that receive Council Tax Support, as well as households that do not receive Council Tax Support.  We will also have paper copies of the surveys available out our Residents’ Satisfaction Survey Roadshows. Residents are being asked if they agree with the proposed change or if they would prefer the Council Tax Support Scheme to stay the same as before.

Councillor Alan Tyerman, Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “The law says that the Council must review its working age scheme annually and we always want to make sure it is applied as fairly as possible. Please let us know your views on this latest proposal.”

You can take the survey here

The consultation closes on Tuesday 4 November 2025.

Find all Torbay Council’s consultations on the Consultations page, including this one and the 2025 Residents’ Satisfaction Survey: www.torbay.gov.uk/consultations