Leicester Crisis and Resilience Fund: Council Tax Hardship Relief

What the Crisis and Resilience Fund Covers

Leicester City Council operates the Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) to help residents facing severe financial hardship. One part of this fund provides Council Tax Discretionary Relief under Section 13A(1)(c) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 — a further reduction on top of your existing Council Tax Support award.

This is not a loan. It is a short-term emergency award that directly reduces your council tax liability for a specific period. It does not replace your ongoing Council Tax Support — it sits on top of it.

The Pre-Condition Most People Miss

You must already receive Council Tax Support before the council will consider a discretionary relief application. If you do not have an active CTR claim, you need to apply for standard Council Tax Reduction first. Only once that is in place can you request additional hardship relief through the CRF.

This catches people who go straight to the hardship fund without claiming their basic entitlement. The council treats standard CTR as the first line of support, and discretionary relief as the last resort when the standard scheme still leaves you unable to pay.

Who Qualifies

There are no fixed income thresholds for discretionary relief — it is genuinely at the council's discretion, assessed case by case. However, you typically need to demonstrate:

• Your Council Tax Support award still leaves you with a bill you cannot pay
• You have experienced a sudden change in circumstances — job loss, relationship breakdown, bereavement, illness, or another crisis
• You have no other resources to cover the shortfall
• You have taken reasonable steps to manage your finances (the council will look at your household budget)

The fund is not designed for ongoing support. Awards are short-term, covering a specific period of acute hardship rather than providing a permanent top-up.

How to Apply

Applications go through a registered MyAccount profile on the Leicester City Council website. You cannot apply by phone or in person — it must be submitted online.

You will need to provide:

• Complete bank statements for the past two months, covering all household accounts (yours and your partner's)
• A household budget statement showing all income and all outgoings, including debts
• Evidence of exceptional financial hardship — this could be redundancy letters, medical evidence, court documents, or any other record explaining your current situation

Be thorough. The council assesses your full financial picture. If your bank statements show spending that does not match the hardship claim, it weakens your case.

Processing Times

Expect four to six weeks from the date Leicester City Council receives a fully documented application. Incomplete applications take longer because the council pauses processing until missing evidence arrives.

If you are in immediate crisis while waiting, contact Citizens Advice LeicesterShire on 0808 278 7970 (freephone). They can help with emergency support and may also assist with your CRF application.

What the Fund Cannot Do

Discretionary relief does not guarantee that all arrears will be cleared. Leicester says it may help with Council Tax arrears, and any award depends on the council's assessment and available funding. An application does not automatically cancel a liability order or stop enforcement; if enforcement is underway, contact the council and seek free debt advice.

Discretionary relief cannot:

• Provide cash payments for other bills
• Serve as a substitute for claiming your basic Council Tax Reduction entitlement

If you owe council tax from a previous year and are now in enforcement action, the crisis fund is unlikely to resolve that debt. For arrears, contact StepChange (stepchange.org) or National Debtline (nationaldebtline.org) for free, independent debt advice.

Preparing a Strong Application

The strongest applications show a clear link between a specific crisis event and an inability to pay. Document the timeline: what happened, when it happened, how it affected your income or expenses, and what you have done to manage the situation.

The Leicester Council Tax Reduction guide includes a Crisis and Resilience Fund readiness worksheet that walks through the budget statement and evidence checklist the council expects, structured to match their assessment criteria.

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