Council tax exemption in Wales benefits care leavers

Recent statistics have shown that in 2020 to 2021, 493 care leavers benefitted from council tax exemption. The figures rose to 646 in 2021 to 2022, 746 in 2022 to 2023, and is set to reach 830 in the coming financial year.

The Welsh Government introduced legislation in April 2019 to exempt care leavers from council tax.

A series of reports commissioned by the Welsh Government has found that care leavers and third-party organisations representing care leavers has found that the exemption has been of "significant benefit" to care leavers.

Rebecca Evans, minister for finance and local government, said: "The transition to independent living can be a challenging time in the lives of care leavers. Exempting care leavers from paying council tax is one of a range of ways in which we are working to support care leavers into adult life, and it is good to hear how helpful they have found it.

"The research also tells us there is room for further improvement, for example in ensuring information about the support on offer is clearly available. We will be working closely with local authorities to make sure people are supported as well as they can be.

"We remain fully committed to making council tax fairer, and we will be looking to improve the framework of discounts and exemptions as well as our Council Tax Reduction Scheme as part of our wider programme of work to make council tax fairer."

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