Oldham must be high standard on dementia council tax exemptions, says Liberal Democrat Opposition Leader

Councillor Howard Sykes

The Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has written to the Borough Treasurer Ann Ryans to find out what the Council is doing to ensure that dementia sufferers and their carers receive the exemptions from Council Tax that they are entitled to.

Anyone with a severe mental impairment, such as dementia, is exempt from paying Council Tax, which means that people with the condition who live alone do not have to pay any Council Tax and those living with a carer will still receive a 25% reduction in their bill.

Councillor Sykes explained why he is concerned: “A recent survey by the website MoneySavingExpert.com has found that up to 100,000 people are wrongly paying Council Tax because they were unaware of these exemptions. This situation appears to have been worsened because in a mystery shopping exercise conducted by the website it was found that two thirds of local authorities contacted failed to give callers the correct information about their entitlement.”

“Martyn Lewis, the founder of this website, described the situation as a ‘postcode lottery’ and I concur. Dementia is an appalling disease and it is both tragic and criminal that sufferers should have to face the additional indignity of paying a charge for which they are not legally liable.”

Councillor Sykes has written to Ms Ryans asking for information as to what Oldham Council is doing to be an exemplar local authority in this field - “one, to ensure that applicants and their families/carers receive the right information every time and two that we have 100% take up, or as near as is possible, of the exemption for those who are eligible?”