The Council Tax Reduction (Scotland) Regulations 2012

PART 11 Notification of changes of circumstances

Duty to notify changes of circumstances

89.—(1) Subject to paragraphs (3) and (4) and regulation 90 (alternative means of notifying changes of circumstances), if at any time between the making of an application and it being determined or during a period of entitlement to council tax reduction, there is a change of circumstances which an applicant might reasonably be expected to know might affect entitlement to council tax reduction that applicant must notify that change of circumstances by giving notice to the relevant authority—

(a) in writing; or

(b) by telephone—

(i) where the relevant authority has published a telephone number for that purpose or for the purposes of regulation 84 (telephone applications), unless the authority determines that in any particular case, or class of case, notification of a change of circumstances may not be given by telephone; or

(ii) in any case, or class of case, where the relevant authority determines that notice of a change of circumstances may be given by telephone; or

(c) by any other means the relevant authority agrees to in any particular case.

(2) Subject to paragraph (3), the duty imposed by paragraph (1) does not extend to notifying changes—

(a) in the amount of council tax payable to the relevant authority;

(b) in the age of the applicant or of any member of the applicant’s family;

(c) to these Regulations; or

(d) in the case of an applicant who has an award of income support, universal credit, an income-based jobseeker’s allowance or an income-related employment and support allowance, in circumstances which affect the amount of the award but not the amount of council tax reduction to which the applicant is or would be entitled, other than the cessation of that entitlement to income support, universal credit, an income-based jobseeker’s allowance or an income-related employment and support allowance.

(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (2)(b) or (d) an applicant is required by paragraph (1) to notify the relevant authority of any change in the composition of the applicant’s family arising from the fact that a person who was a member of the family is now no longer a member of the family because that person ceased to be a child or young person.

(4) Where the amount of an council tax reduction is the alternative maximum council tax reduction applicable to the applicant calculated in accordance with regulation 78 (alternative maximum council tax reduction), the applicant is under a duty to give written notice to the relevant authority of changes which occur in the number of adults in the dwelling or in their total gross incomes which might reasonably be expected to change the applicant’s entitlement to council tax reduction and where any of those adults ceases to be in receipt of state pension credit, income support, universal credit, an income-based jobseeker’s allowance or an income-related employment and support allowance the date when this occurs.

Alternative means of notifying changes of circumstances

90.  Where a change of circumstances described in regulation 89(1) (duty to notify changes of circumstances) is a birth or death the relevant authority may determine for a particular class of case that the duty in that regulation to notify a change in circumstances may be discharged by personal attendance at an office specified by that authority.