Discretionary Council Tax Discounts
Case reference FOI2026/00636
Received 23 March 2026
Published 27 April 2026
Request
This is an information request regarding recipients of discretionary reductions to council tax.
For clarity, this refers to discretionary reductions granted under Section 13A(1)(c) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (or equivalent discretionary council tax relief powers).
Please include the following information for the following years 2023/24, 2024/25, 2025/26
* Total number of households receiving discretionary reductions to council tax
* A breakdown of the categories or criteria used to award these reductions (e.g. hardship, medical, exceptional circumstances), and the number of awards in each category, where recorded.
* The number of households receiving a 100% reduction in council tax liability through discretionary reductions (i.e. paying no council tax after discretionary relief is applied)
Response
We have considered your request for information concerning S13A discretionary council tax reliefs. The data is as follows:
S13a(a)(c)
2023/24
Surrey County Council Care leavers – 77.
Financial hardship because of our Local Council Tax Support rules – 14.
Individual applications (ad hoc) – 0.
2024/25
Surrey County Council Care leavers – 88.
Financial hardship because of our Local Council Tax Support rules – 15.
Individual applications (ad hoc) – 0.
2025/26
Surrey County Council Care leavers – 81.
Financial hardship because of our Local Council Tax Support rules – 5.
Individual applications (ad hoc) – 1.
Categories and classes details can be found via the following link: https://www.guildford.gov.uk/discretionaryreductions
Documents
This is Guildford Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
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