Care Leaver Council Tax Evidence and Personal Adviser Letter

The Core Document: Your PA Verification Letter

The single most important piece of evidence is a letter from your originating local authority's Children's Services — usually written by your Personal Adviser or the Leaving Care Team Manager. Revenue officers need this letter to confirm three things:

1. Your care-leaver category and care history. If you are applying as a Former Relevant Child, confirm at least 13 weeks in care (continuous or not) after your 14th birthday, including time on or after your 16th birthday
2. The date you left care
3. Your legal status as a Former Relevant Child under Section 23C of the Children Act 1989

The letter should reference the specific legislation. A vague "this person was in care" isn't enough for most revenues teams — they need the statutory category and the qualifying dates to apply the Section 13A(1)(c) discount code to your account.

Your PA doesn't need to include your personal history or details about why you were in care. Revenue officers have no business knowing that. The letter confirms legal status, age, and dates — nothing more.

What Else the Council Typically Asks For

Beyond the PA letter, most billing authorities request:

• Photo ID — passport, provisional driving licence, or a national identity card. If you don't have any of these, a birth certificate with a secondary document (bank statement or tenancy agreement showing your name and address) usually works
• Proof of address — your Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreement or the council tax demand note with your name on it. The council needs to confirm you're the liable person at the property
• Income evidence — only required if you're also claiming Council Tax Reduction alongside the care leaver discount. A Universal Credit award notice covers this

Some councils ask for a signed Third-Party Consent form before they'll discuss your account with your PA or any other supporter. Get this signed early — without it, the revenues team can refuse to share decision updates with the person helping you.

When Records Are Missing

Not every care leaver has a tidy paper trail. If you've lost contact with your PA, if your originating authority's records are incomplete, or if you simply don't have standard identity documents, there are fallback routes.

Contact your originating authority's Leaving Care team and ask for a replacement verification letter. The statutory duties owed depend on your care-leaver category and circumstances; a Personal Adviser or Leaving Care Team Manager may be able to provide the letter.

For identity documents, ask the Leaving Care team whether they can help you apply for replacements. If you're pressed for time and the council tax bill is mounting, ask the Leaving Care Team Manager to send a formal confirmation directly to the revenues department — a letter from one council department to another carries institutional weight even without your personal ID attached.

How to Structure the PA Letter

If your PA asks you what the letter should say — or if you're helping a young person draft a request — the letter needs these elements:

• Issued on Children's Services letterhead
• The care leaver's full name and date of birth
• Statement that the individual is a Former Relevant Child as defined by Section 23C of the Children Act 1989
• The dates of the qualifying care period (for a Former Relevant Child, at least 13 weeks in care, continuous or not, after age 14 and including time on or after age 16)
• The date care ended
• The PA's name, role, and direct contact details for the revenues team to verify

Keep it factual and short. Revenue officers process hundreds of these — a concise letter on official letterhead gets actioned faster than a multi-page narrative.

Submitting Evidence Securely

Send sensitive documents through the council's secure upload portal if one exists. If you're emailing, ask the revenues team for their secure email address — many councils use secure mailboxes for documents containing personal data.

Keep copies of everything you send. Screenshot upload confirmations, save email receipts, and note the date and time of each submission. If the council later claims they didn't receive your evidence, your records prove otherwise.

The Care Leaver Council Tax Claim System includes a structured evidence checklist covering every document type, plus a PA letter framework your adviser can adapt — designed to give revenue officers exactly what they need to process the discount without delays.

See more England guides →