Rebecca Evans MS, Minister for Finance and Local Government
Today, I am pleased to publish the outcome of the Welsh Government consultation on the proposal to remove eligible care leavers aged under 25 from joint and several liability for the payment of council tax. Respondents to the consultation welcomed this change and there was full support for our proposal.
After considering the responses, I am also pleased to announce I have made the Council Tax (Joint and Several Liability of Care Leavers) (Wales) Regulations 2022 which will ensure that eligible care leavers who live in households with other people are exempt from the payment of council tax from 1 April 2022.
We legislated in 2019 to ensure that most young care leavers are exempt from council tax. This latest measure ensures that care leavers who might previously have been held jointly or severally liable for council tax can no longer be required to pay.
This is an opportunity to make our council tax system fairer, as we committed to doing so in our Programme for Government 2021-2026. I announced my plans for the wider reform of the council tax system on 7 December.
I would like to thank everyone who took the time to contribute to the consultation.
The summary of consultation responses is available at:
Removal of eligible care leavers liability for payment of council tax | GOV.WALES