Council offers council tax benefit amnesty

COUNCIL chiefs are offering an amnesty for people wrongly claiming a single person discount on their council tax.

Anyone who declares the wrong claim before July 29 will receive a new council tax bill with no backdating of discount repayment from previous years. Failure to come forward will see the council chasing for repayment of any excess

The local authority is currenty reviewing the status of all households claiming the discount (which gives a 25 per cent reduction in the council tax bill) to ensure only eligible residents are receiving the discount. Across the borough 34,492 households claim the discount.