Gateshead Council‘s proposed Gateshead council tax support cuts have triggered a sharp political row, with Reform UK’s leadership set to consider increasing the minimum contribution for the borough’s lowest-income working-age households from 8.5% to 10%.
The council currently covers up to 91.5% of council tax bills for those who qualify for the maximum level of support. Under the proposal, that floor would drop to 90%, saving the council around £200,000 per year. A public consultation on the changes will be put to Reform’s cabinet at a meeting on Tuesday 22 September.
What the numbers mean for residents
The council ran its own calculation based on a single resident aged over 25, living in a band A property and receiving Universal Credit as their sole income. On those figures, the weekly minimum contribution may rise from £2.21 to £2.60. Reform council leader Nick Allan put it differently: residents in band A homes would see council tax payable increase by 39p per week for a single person, or 47p for an adult sharing with another adult and a dependent child.
There are currently 11,701 working-age council tax support claimants in Gateshead, with 88% receiving the maximum level of support. The scheme as it stands costs the council more than £15 million a year for working-age households. A discretionary fund of £25,000 sits within the scheme to support the most vulnerable residents in exceptional circumstances, and Allan confirmed that element would remain.
Allan framed the proposal as modest. He said: ‘One of the alternatives recommended for consideration is a small reduction in the assistance of 1.5% (meaning that eligible residents would still receive 90% towards their council tax bills, still a very substantial amount).’ He went further, arguing that the financial impact had been overstated: ‘This modest increase for individual residents would save the council around £200,000 per year. Contrary to Coun Adams’ assertion, this isn’t a derisory amount.’
Labour hits back on Gateshead council tax support cuts
Labour group leader John Adams is not buying it. He pointed to Reform’s pre-election positioning on council tax as the core contradiction. Adams said: ‘These are people who get Council Tax Support because they’re on low incomes. At the moment, they have to pay at least 8.5%. Reform are proposing putting that up to 10%. Yes, the same Reform who talked endlessly about cutting council tax now want some of the poorest people in Gateshead to pay more. And it really won’t raise that much money anyway. Is it really worth squeezing thousands of people who are already struggling?’
Allan hit back, accusing Adams of stirring up public fear by misrepresenting the facts and leaking information to the press. He pointed out that the details of the proposed changes had been publicly available on the authority’s website since Monday 14 September, well before the story broke. The back-and-forth has quickly turned into a broader argument about who Reform are governing for, and whether the saving justifies the cost to the people affected.
What happens next
If the cabinet agrees on 22 September to launch the consultation, the process will move through the autumn. According to Gateshead Council, following the public consultation, the scheme will be recommended to full council by cabinet in December. That means any changes would feed into the authority’s budget planning for the year ahead, though the council has confirmed that council tax rates for 2026/27 have not yet been agreed.
For active residents and households across the borough, the December cabinet recommendation is the date to watch. ChronicleLive has been covering the story since the proposals emerged. Whether the consultation shifts the numbers or not, the argument over who bears the cost of council savings in Gateshead is only just getting started.