Title

Date

Start Time

Duration

Test In recent years, Council Tax arrears in England have hit a record £6 billion.

As we move into 2026, the design of local Council Tax Reduction (CTR) schemes remains one of the most powerful levers councils have to protect low income residents from falling into arrears.

Join us at this webinar to explore practical solutions focused on:

• Trends in council tax support schemes: Preparing for LGR and the April budget changes
• Streamlined collection: Aligning CTR scheme design to make it simple to administer, and combine this with flexible, effective and sustainable debt management practices
• Local government reorganisation: Best practices to harmonise disparate schemes and be ready for the transition
• Efficiency through automation: How South Norfolk & Broadland councils are working to increase take-up while reducing the administrative burden of Universal Credit fluctuations through income-banded schemes and automated modelling

The policy landscape is shifting rapidly. The government’s new Child Poverty Strategy introduces statutory requirements for councils to ensure their schemes actively reduce inequality and align with supportive collection practices, while LGR and changes to local government funding impact on scheme design.

Deven Ghelani (Director) and Rory Ewan (Senior Policy and Data Analyst) of Policy in Practice will discuss the impact of these policy changes and practical approaches based on our analysis of over 150 schemes. We will also be joined by Lindsay Sayer who will share her experience of CTRS redesign in South Norfolk and Broadland, and harmonisation across the districts.

This webinar will aim to provide Heads of Revenues and Benefits, Revenues Managers, Finance Directors and policy leads with the tools to navigate complex legislative changes and design data driven, resilient schemes.

By acting now, councils can turn these policy challenges into an opportunity to deliver fairer, more efficient support.

4/2/2026

9:00am GMT

30 minutes

Council Tax Reduction: Practical approaches to policy reform and supporting the most vulnerable In recent years, Council Tax arrears in England have hit a record £6 billion.

As we move into 2026, the design of local Council Tax Reduction (CTR) schemes remains one of the most powerful levers councils have to protect low income residents from falling into arrears.

Join us at this webinar to explore practical solutions focused on:

• Trends in council tax support schemes: Preparing for LGR and the April budget changes
• Streamlined collection: Aligning CTR scheme design to make it simple to administer, and combine this with flexible, effective and sustainable debt management practices
• Local government reorganisation: Best practices to harmonise disparate schemes and be ready for the transition
• Efficiency through automation: How South Norfolk & Broadland councils are working to increase take-up while reducing the administrative burden of Universal Credit fluctuations through income-banded schemes and automated modelling

The policy landscape is shifting rapidly. The government’s new Child Poverty Strategy introduces statutory requirements for councils to ensure their schemes actively reduce inequality and align with supportive collection practices, while LGR and changes to local government funding impact on scheme design.

Deven Ghelani (Director) and Rory Ewan (Senior Policy and Data Analyst) of Policy in Practice will discuss the impact of these policy changes and practical approaches based on our analysis of over 150 schemes. We will also be joined by Lindsay Sayer who will share her experience of CTRS redesign in South Norfolk and Broadland, and harmonisation across the districts.

This webinar will aim to provide Heads of Revenues and Benefits, Revenues Managers, Finance Directors and policy leads with the tools to navigate complex legislative changes and design data driven, resilient schemes.

By acting now, councils can turn these policy challenges into an opportunity to deliver fairer, more efficient support.

17/2/2026

10:30am GMT

1 hour

Unifying the tenant journey: Overcoming fragmented support from lettings to collections

25/3/2026

10:30am GMT

1 hour

Apply Once

Single, automated route to local support

Apply Once

Save resources

Save time for applicants and advisors by allowing users to enter their information just once to apply for multiple means tested and discretionary support schemes available through the council, central government, utility companies and other organisations

Raise awareness

Raise awareness by highlighting your scheme on GOV.UK, enabling assisted assessments through your advice and local community service partners and promoting the scheme on your own application page

Boost resilience

Assess eligibility for £24 billion of unclaimed support, helping applicants access means tested support and reducing the likelihood that they will need discretionary support in the future

Coordinate support

Share data across the organisation so teams can see application status, understand who is accessing support and target spending more effectively

Better Off for all

Apply Once enables the Better Off Calculator to become the system that multiple teams use to assess and administer claims, creating a clear and consistent process across all of your discretionary support schemes

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Council Tax Reduction: Practical approaches to policy reform and supporting the most vulnerable

Apply Once

Single, automated route to local support

Apply Once

Better Off for all

For residents

For staff

For the local authority

Book a free consultation

Contact Us

Council Tax Reduction: Practical approaches to policy reform and supporting the most vulnerable

Apply Once

Single, automated route to local support

Apply Once

Better Off for all

For residents

For staff

For the local authority

Book a free consultation

Contact Us

Book a Call

Crisis and Resilience Fund