The following article was written by Derek Brown one of the members of Dementia Club UK.
Rishi Sunak MP has presented a petition to parliament on behalf of a local campaigner to change the laws on Council Tax Discounts for people with Dementia.
Derek Brown 72 whose wife Margaret has had Alzheimer’s Disease since early in 2018 looks after Margaret in their home in Northallerton, North Yorkshire.
In 2019 they discovered that Margaret was entitled to Attendance Allowance.
They later learnt that they were also entitled to a 25% Council Tax Discount under “Council Tax Discount SMI Disregard”. SMI is Severe Mental Impairment and Disregard means “Not Counted”
The present laws regarding council tax discounts allow councils to wait until the person with dementia is in receipt of a qualifying state benefit before they are required to provide the council tax discount.
Since 2019 Derek has been campaigning to have the laws changed so that for people over pensionable age with dementia, instead of waiting months or even years, once they are receiving Attendance Allowance they should have their council tax reduction backdated to the date of GP certification.
A similar ruling applies to people under pensionable age with dementia, they are required to be in receipt of Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payments,
Over 600,000 UK families are desperately dealing with all the additional costs of caring for someone with dementia at home, often having to heat the home throughout the day, dealing with extra washing of soiled bedding and clothing, and maintaining a day and night vigil to make sure that their loved one doesn’t come to any harm.
That in itself is hard enough but dementia often means that the person with dementia no longer recognises them and other members of their family and they are unable to communicate in any tangible way.
The petition asks to have the laws changed so that the remaining 255 (out of the 382) councils who do not already backdate council tax discount and exemption to the date of GP certification will be required to do so.
For families dealing with dementia at home, this could mean that they would benefit from a one off credit on their council tax of anything from £200 to, in some cases, as much as £10,400.
This is the first petition to parliament of this type on the issue, requesting that :-
“The House of Commons urge the Government to require that council tax disregards are backdated to the date a person was certified as being severely mentally impaired, where they then go on to qualify for a relevant benefit”.
Background
In October 2017 Margaret Brown showed the first signs of dementia, in February 2018 she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, one of over 200 different types of mental impairment generally classified under the umbrella term of dementia.
The three most common types are, Alzheimer’s disease (60%), Vascular dementia (17%) and Frontotemporal dementia.
In December 2018 Derek discovered, merely by chance, that Margaret was entitled to Attendance Allowance, a non means tested benefit requiring the submission of a 31 page 52 question form to the DWP. Fortunately Age UK completed the form on Margaret’s behalf. At a time when Derek was still attempting to understand all the implications of caring for his wife who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness.
In February 2019 while at a frailty nurse assessment at their GP surgery they discovered that they were entitled to a 25% Council Tax Discount, because there are only the two of them living in their home. If there is only one person in the house who has dementia they are entitled to 100% Exemption from paying Council Tax.
According to research undertaken by Kings College London and the LSE on behalf of Alzheimer’s Research UK there are over 600,000 families living at home with dementia.
Neither Council Tax Discount nor Attendance Allowance require a formal, hospital diagnosis. The GP is required to certify when they first assessed Severe Mental Impairment.
In April 2019 Derek appealed to the council, believing that the Council Tax Discount should start from the date of GP certification and not the date of receipt of the qualifying benefit, Attendance Allowance.
On 25th April 2019 he wrote to his MP Rishi Sunak, at a time prior to his appointment as Chancellor.
In January 2020 he appealed to a Valuation Tribunal and in December 2020, he took it to the High Court (Brown v Hambleton District Council [2021] EWHC 1 (Admin).pdf) where he established that the present laws allow councils to wait until both, GP certification and the Qualifying benefit are received. (The High Court claim was for £345.89 and the High Court submission fees etc. were £381.66)
As part of the preparation for the High Court Hearing Derek undertook a Freedom of Information request to all 382 UK Councils which established that 127 already backdate to the date of GP certification.
Out of the remaining 255 that do not already backdate:-
- In England there are 218 out of 317 councils and the change would benefit 124,926 households.
- In Scotland there are 22 out of 32 councils and the change would benefit 20,253 households.
- In Wales there are 15 out of 22 councils and the change would benefit 7,202 households.
- In Northern Ireland all 11 Councils already backdate to the date of GP Certification.
The figures from the councils indicated that 152,381 out of a total of 177,542 dementia families, do not receive the full council tax discount.
Derek holds the figures and policy statement for every UK Council as at 01/01/2020.
In January 2021 Derek set up an internet site https://www.dementiaguidance.co.uk and started his first of three Government online petitions to ask for a change in the laws. Online petitions require 100,000 signatures in order to be considered for debate in parliament, and only last for 6 months.
Recently through Dementia Club UK he discovered that MPs could submit petitions to parliament directly using a special process called a “paper petition”.
Derek has asked some 24 MPs and MSPs to put forward a paper petition in the House of Commons and to Holyrood. The Local Government Finance Act 1992 applies to England and Wales. In Scotland, Holyrood determines the Council Tax regulations where as the Benefits regulations in Scotland are governed by Westminster. In Northern Ireland all councils already backdate council tax discounts to the date of GP certification.
This is the first petition to parliament of this type on the issue, requesting that :-
“The House of Commons urge the Government to require that council tax disregards are backdated to the date a person was certified as being severely mentally impaired, where they then go on to qualify for a relevant benefit”.