A bid to save North Somerset Council £1.5m by cutting the help it gives the district’s poorest with proceeds from its council tax could be so discriminatory that it is illegal, a member of the council has warned.

An equality impact assessment will be absolutely crucial in any eventual decision, according to Helen Thornton (Weston-super-Mare Uphill, Labour).

"Because it could reveal that actually what we are doing is so discriminatory that it is actually illegal under the Equalities Act,” she said.

Thornton was supported by other members of the council.

Bridget Petty (Backwell, Green) told the council:

“While I do appreciate the extremely serious financial pressures the council is currently facing, I fear this is not the right place to make the savings,” she said. “I will state on behalf of the Green group, we do not support the reduction of council tax support to our least able to pay."

Council needs to make cuts

The council is considering reducing its council tax support scheme as it faces a “financial emergency.” Councillors voted at a full council meeting November 12 to consult on the proposals with a final decision being made when the council sets its budget for the next year in February.

“It demonstrates how serious the financial challenges facing the council are that we are having to look at savings like this," said council leader Mike Bell (Weston-super-Mare Central, Liberal Democrat). "And unfortunately that is the reality we face.”

North Somerset Council spends £12.1m a year helping 11,487 of the district’s lowest-income households by giving them a reduction on their council tax of up to 75%. A council report said it was “generous” when compared with other councils’ schemes.

The six week public consultation will launch in mid-November. Proposals on how to potentially save £1.5m from the scheme include changing the amount of money and savings people can have while claiming the support from £16k to £6k.

Council leader Bell said the council would approach the consultation with an “open mind.”

“We are also going to be continuing our conversations with Citizens Advice North Somerset and other key stakeholders to try and make sure that any changes that we do implement to the council tax support scheme are done in a fair, balanced, and proportionate way,” he said.

North Somerset Council has warned it is at risk of having to issue a section 114 notice if it cannot balance the black hole in its budget. It has warned it needs to find £53m to cut from its spending over the next three years.

Catharine Gibbons (Weston-super-Mare Milton, Labour), deputy council leader said she is worried about the potential effect on vulnerable families.

 “But I would say I remain hopeful that we will receive a settlement that will at least give us some choices in what we have to do," she said. “We hear a lot about tough choices. I kind of feel we are in a position to make no choices.”