Universal credit and calculating council tax reduction in London Borough of Hackney

Hi there,
I am supporting my client with an appeal against a council tax reduction decision by Hackney council.  I am having difficulty understanding how they have worked out his entitlement.  The letter states they have taken into account all of his UC as income and listed standard allowance, housing element and limited work related activity element as income so his council tax reduction has reduced significantly.  They have not deducted the housing element and have not included any personal allowance amounts to compare income to these?  Is this correct ?  I have checked their online policy which is not making any sense to me.  Has anyone come across this and can assist me please?

I’ve had a quick look at their scheme. It’s a pretty standard one. The applicable amount is simply the maximum amount calculated for UC converted to a weekly amount. Income includes income as calculated for UC purposes, plus the actual amount of the UC award, both converted to weekly amounts.

This being the case, they would be correct to include in his income whatever he receives from UC, including any housing element.

The effect of the scheme for your client is as follows:
1. If he has no earned income for UC purposes, he should receive maximum council tax reduction (83% of his liability)*.
2. Any earned income up to the level of his work allowance should reduce his CTR award by 20%.
3. Any earned income above the level of his work allowance should reduce his CTR award by 37%*20%=7.4%.
4. Capital and unearned income should not affect his CTR award at all.

*Subject to any non-dependant deductions.

Many thanks Charles as I thought their decision is wrong as not based on unearned amount of UC.