Council cuts tax support for struggling families

Council tax support will be reduced for struggling families in a Lincolnshire town.

Boston Borough Council previously waived bills for some working-age households, with others getting an 85% reduction.

But councillors have now voted to reduce the maximum amount of help to 90% for lone parents, 80% for couples with children and 75% for other households. The changes will not affect pensioners.

Councillor Sandeep Ghosh, the portfolio holder for finance, said the new approach balanced the need to protect the most vulnerable residents while recognising "the requirement to deliver a balanced budget".

However, councillor Anne Dorrian, who was ousted as leader of the council in July last year, said implementing a 100% support scheme was the "best decision" she had made while in charge.

Dorrian said the scheme had "genuine impacts" for people who were "struggling to make ends meet".

"While two pounds a week might not make a difference to you and me, my god it makes a difference to those people," she added.

A report to the council said about 30% of children in Boston lived in relative low-income households

There were 2,445 cases of working-age claimants under the scheme in the 2025-26 financial year and the changes would save the borough council about £45,000.

Support for a single-parent household would be reduced by an average of £2 a week, while a couple with children would be about £5 a week worse off, the report stated.

Councillors approved the proposal following a public consultation, but according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, only 65 people took part.

While 43% of respondents supported cuts, only 18% chose the option now due to be enacted.

The council, which is led by the Progressive Independents Boston party, said 35% of respondents supported the existing scheme.

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