Understanding the impact of Council Tax Interventions in Wales: exemption from council tax for care leavers

The research was carried out in 2022 and consisted of desk-based research, quantitative statistical analysis and interviews with key stakeholders.

Main findings

• Councils and organisations that support care leavers reported a high level of awareness of the care leavers Council Tax exemption.
• The experience of care leavers was that the level of understanding about the exemption amongst Council Tax officers and Social Services officers was patchy.
• Councils appeared to have a fairly uniform and successful mechanism for accessing information from their own Social Services department through internal data sharing. This was the primary mechanism reported by councils for identifying and subsequently engaging with care leavers.
• The main barrier identified by both Council Tax administrators and care leavers to the provision of the exemption related to difficulties in accessing the required evidence from Social Services. This was particularly the case when the relevant Social Services department was in another council.
• Care leavers reported difficulties in accessing clear advice and guidance regarding the exemption.
• The evaluation suggested that the introduction of the care leavers Council Tax exemption had been effective in supporting care leavers. The financial support was viewed as positive, and the measure was seen to mitigate against possible harms such as debt or homelessness.
• Young care leavers expressed concerned about the impact of the cliff edge they face when they reach the age of 25, when Council Tax support is removed without any automatic mitigations.
• Findings from the statistical analysis also indicated that the application of the exemption is fairly uniformly applied across Wales.