Council tax relief for terminally ill people backed

The scheme drew cross-party support at Blackburn Town Hall

Councillors have voted to back plans to scrap council tax for people with less than a year to live.

Members across all parties in Blackburn with Darwen supported the move, which - if implemented - would be similar to one brought in by Manchester City Council in June.

End-of-life care charities Marie Curie and Hospice UK said they wanted other councils and devolved governments to follow suit.

Labour council leader Phil Riley described it as a "worthy idea" but said he had concerns about potentially "intrusive conversations".

"There are some practical issues but I am absolutely clear we can look at this," he said.

"It helps people at a very serious moment in their lives.

"My over-riding concern is that, if we are not careful, it gets some of the council officers into some fairly intrusive conversations which will be uncomfortable."

He said the "very obvious one is that what do you do if someone believed they were going to die and then didn't and whether you go back".

Council tax worries

Speaking earlier this month, Marie Curie senior policy manager Jamie Thunder said a terminal diagnosis could mean an individual or their partner having to reduce their working hours, or stop altogether.

"Council tax is one of the larger bills that you might have to pay," he said.

"It's also one people are very worried about missing particularly because the enforcement of council tax can be quite sudden and ramp up quite quickly.

"So taking that bit of pressure off is a really valuable thing."

The Local Government Association, which represents English councils, said some discretion and support for terminally ill people was already available but there was interest in the new steps being taken.

Correction 14 August: This article was updated on 5 August as it had originally said that Blackburn with Darwen Council had scrapped council tax for terminally ill people. It has been amended to make clear that this is a proposal that has received cross party support and discussion about its implementation is ongoing.