Wales to help 'severely mentally impaired' get council tax discount after MSE campaign - MSE News 25 September 2018 at 6:07PM in Campaigns corner 2 replies 3.6K views

Former_MSE_Megan_F

The Welsh Government has become the first in Great Britain to launch a website and leaflet to help 'severely mentally impaired' residents access a council tax discount worth almost £400/year on average - but MSE founder Martin Lewis says others must follow suit...

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'Wales to help 'severely mentally impaired' get council tax discount after MSE campaign'

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poppy10_2

It's a bit of a regressive tax break, this one. Pensioners in general are already sitting on vast unearned housing wealth. With the council tax discount, the wealthiest with bigger houses will get a bigger refund than the poorer in small houses. All this comes from council budgets which are already stretched and means that people who are already well-off get money back while people in need are struggling to access services

CIS

The SMI disregard (and exemption) are something I see a lot of clients about - if it's in legislation then they're entitled however I still think that there's a lot of un-needed vitriol aimed at local authorities for 'not advertising' the disregard.

The local authorities advise the disregard as much as they are required to (and some a lot more) but at how far are they expected to go ? It's good the Welsh government had added extra guidance regarding it but what about all the other disregards - you can't, as a public body, publicise one aspect any more than the others and remain fair to all.