Dear [Monitering Officer], 

I hope this finds you well. Nice to see you today at Audit and Standards committee training, I was hoping to catch you to talk about this council tax issue.

I am writing to you in your capacity as the Council’s Monitoring Officer to raise a matter of potential legal risk and to ask for your advice. I do so as ward councillor for Ouseburn and as the Council’s Disability Champion.

Since the Department for Work and Pensions completed the managed migration of legacy benefits to Universal Credit this spring, I have become increasingly concerned that disabled residents, in particular those moved from income-related Employment and Support Allowance and others who previously received disability premiums, appear to have lost part or all of their Council Tax Support, and in some cases to have faced recovery action and enforcement, even though their actual income has not changed. Under the legacy benefits, disability-related income was generally protected when Council Tax Support was assessed; the equivalent elements of Universal Credit do not appear to be treated in the same way. Families with disabled children, and carers, may be caught by the same mismatch.

It is not clear to me that the Council carried out an equality impact assessment of the effect on disabled residents when it set or varied its Council Tax Support scheme in the relevant years, or of the way migrated claimants are now assessed and pursued for recovery. If it did, I would be grateful to see it. If it did not, I am concerned that the Public Sector Equality Duty under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 may not have been properly discharged in relation to this group.

There is now a growing body of case law finding schemes of this kind unlawfully discriminatory against disabled people, which is why I believe this carries real risk for the Council. I know this has had a serious negative impact on some of our disabled residents who have been subject to distressing and expensive council tax enforcement processes. I think they deserve better. In R (Bleakley) v Three Rivers District Council the High Court declared in February 2026 that the authority’s treatment of a disabled couple’s Universal Credit income was unlawful disability discrimination under the Equality Act 2010 and the Human Rights Act 1998, and the authority conceded. An earlier scheme was quashed in the Trafford case as discriminatory against disabled people and carers. A further challenge against Somerset Council is proceeding on Public Sector Equality Duty and discrimination grounds. And the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has warned billing authorities, in Council Tax Information Letter 2/2026, that scheme design of this kind can cause people to lose support even where their household income is unchanged.

Given all this, I would be grateful for your advice on the following:

1.  Whether an equality impact assessment was carried out in relation to the Council Tax Support scheme and the treatment of residents migrated to Universal Credit, and if so whether it can be provided to me.

2.  If no such assessment was carried out, how the Council considers the Public Sector Equality Duty to have been discharged, and whether an assessment of the impact on disabled residents can now be undertaken.

3.  Whether, in light of this case law, the Council’s scheme, in particular the way it treats the disability-related elements and transitional protection within Universal Credit, and its enforcement practice in respect of Council Tax Support recipients, require review to ensure they are lawful.

4.  Whether interim protective measures, such as discretionary reductions under section 13A(1)(c) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 and a hold on enforcement for affected residents, would be prudent to limit the Council’s exposure while this is considered.

I raise this constructively, and with the Council’s interests in mind. The Fair Council Tax Collection motion adopted by Council in January already committed the Council to reviewing collection practice against the Citizens Advice Council Tax Protocol, and I believe addressing the equality dimension now would both protect residents and reduce legal risk to the Council. I would be happy to discuss it with you.

I should be grateful for an acknowledgement of this email and an indication of the timescale within which you expect to be able to respond.

With best wishes,

Councillor Alistair Chisholm

Ward Councillor for Ouseburn

Chair, Health and Social Care Scrutiny Committee

Disability Champion, Newcastle City Council

Cllr Alistair Chisholm (He/Him)

Sheriff and Deputy Lord Mayor

Ouseburn Ward

Green Party

Newcastle City Council Disability Champion

E: alistair.chisholm@newcastle.gov.uk

T: 07516524074