Council extends full council tax exemption to care leavers

Councillor Rachel Massey

Councillors have agreed to further extend the full council tax exemption to care leavers in the borough.

Back in March 2017 Rochdale Council became the first council in Greater Manchester, and one of the first councils in the country, to introduce a 100 per cent council tax discount scheme for care leavers aged between 18 and 21. They then further extended that in December 2018 by agreeing to increase the eligibility to those up to 25 years old.

All Greater Manchester councils have since followed Rochdale’s lead, which was praised by the Children’s Society when first launched.

The entitlement previously only applied to those that fall under the definition of a care leaver, coming into care on or before their 16th birthday. Now councillors have voted unanimously to include those who come into care after their 16th birthday, further extending the amount of people who will benefit from this support.

Councillor Rachel Massey, Rochdale Council’s cabinet member for children’s services and education, said: “It is really important that care leavers get a great start at independent living and we want to help as much as possible in our corporate parenting role. We all want the best for our cared for children and I am really pleased to see my fellow councillors back this new proposal; I know it will go a long way to supporting our care leavers.”

It was the late Luke Sharp, a care leaver, who worked closely with councillors through his corporate parenting board role, to ask them to consider a council tax exemption for care leavers. Luke understood the financial pressures faced by care leavers as they become independent young adults and the fact that paying council tax was a very real challenge.

Councillor Massey added: “We’re proud of our record on this topic, it’s through the work of Luke that this work continues to progress and support more and more young people. It’s fitting that we talk about Luke’s contribution to local care leavers after we’ve held Our Big Day, our annual celebration of children in care, where we award a young person the Luke Sharp Memorial Award in his honour. I’m sure he’d be very proud that his legacy continues.”

As corporate parents, the council has the responsibility to keep children safe, make sure their experiences in care are positive and improve their on-going life chances. The council supports all care leavers up to the age of 25 with a range of things like accommodation, budgeting, health, careers advice and a regular support group that any care leaver is welcome to join.