Council Tax Reduction - review by the Council Tax Reduction Review Panel

The Council Tax Reduction Review Panel (CTRRP) is an independent, legally trained panel that can review Council Tax Reduction (CTR) decisions made by Scottish local councils.

You must first ask your local council to review its own CTR decision. Read more about asking your local council to review its CTR decision.

You can then ask the CTRRP to carry out a further review of your local council's review of its decision about:

• whether you're entitled to any CTR
• how much CTR you're entitled to.

There are time limits for asking for both types of review. 

Even if you decide to ask for a further review, you must still make the payments shown on your Council Tax bill. Read more about Council Tax arrears.

When and how to ask for an independent review

If you disagree with your local council's decision about your Council Tax Reduction (CTR), you must write to the local council to say why you think the decision is wrong and ask it to change its decision.

There's a time limit for doing this. You must do this before you can ask for an independent review. Read more about CTR reviews by the local council.

If you've asked your local council to review its decision and you're not satisfied with the outcome, you can ask the Council Tax Reduction Review Panel (CTRRP) for a further, independent review. You'll need to explain why you think the local council's own review of its decision is wrong and ask the CTRRP to review the decision.

Time limit to ask for an independent review

If you ask the CTRRP for an independent review, you must do so within 6 weeks of the local council telling you about its review.

You can also apply to the CTRRP if the local council hasn't replied to you within 2 months of you asking it to review its decision.

If you've missed these time limits but you think you have a good reason, you can contact the CTRRP and ask it to consider your request. The CTRRP can decide whether or not to accept late requests for a review.

Applying to the Council Tax Reduction Review Panel

You can find guidance notes and an application form to ask for a review on the Council Tax Reduction Review Panel (CTRRP) website. You must tell the CTRRP if you also have a Housing Benefit appeal.

You must use the CTRRP application form to submit your request. You can ask the CTRRP to send you a copy of the application form, but you must make sure that you keep to the time limit for asking for a review.

You should send the form requesting a review to the CTRRP. Make sure you keep a copy.

You can contact the CTRRP at:

If you're also claiming Housing Benefit

Housing Benefit is worked out using on the same facts as those used to make a Council Tax Reduction (CTR) decision. If you've appealed about your Housing Benefit claim, you must tell the Council Tax Reduction Review Panel (CTRRP) about the Housing Benefit appeal when you ask for an independent review of your CTR application.

If you haven't yet appealed about your Housing Benefit because of the same facts as those used to make the CTR decision, you might may still be able to appeal about your Housing Benefit. There's a time limit for doing this. You can send a copy of your request to the CTRRP for a review of your CTR decision with the Housing Benefit appeal.

Your local council must tell the CTRRP if it has any information about your Housing Benefit appeal if you've made one. Read more about Housing Benefit.

After you've asked for an independent review

When the Council Tax Reduction Review Panel (CTRRP) has received your request, it will contact you to make arrangements for your hearing. The panel might ask you for more information.

If everyone agrees, the review hearing might be a paper hearing with written representations. Your local council will send you a copy of the documents it is submitting to the CTRRP before the hearing.

If you decide you don't want to carry on with the request for a review, you must tell the clerk of the CTRRP in writing or by phone. If any of your circumstances change, you should tell the CTRRP in writing or by phone.

The CTRRP will give its decision to you and the local council in writing. If it decides that your Council Tax Reduction (CTR) should be revised, your local council should recalculate your Council Tax bill and send it to you in a reasonable time. There's no definition of 'a reasonable time'.

You can ask the CTRRP in writing for a full statement of the reasons for its decision. You must do this within 14 days of the date of the decision.

If you're not satisfied with the outcome of the review

If you're not satisfied with the CTRRP's decision, you can ask for it to be set aside if there's a good reason. You must do this within 14 days of the date of the decision, and you must give reasons for your request. The local council can also do this.

The CTRRP can choose to set aside its decision if it's satisfied that it's in the interests of justice - for example, if you don't attend a hearing because you were ill in hospital and you couldn't let them know.

If the CTRRP sets aside its decision, the application for a review must be reconsidered. There's no further appeal. It might be possible to get a judicial review.

Judicial review isn't a right of appeal or another hearing. Judicial review doesn't look at the rights and wrongs of the actual decision but considers if a correct legal basis has been used to reach the decision. In other words, judicial review considers if the decision was made in the right way, not whether it was the right decision.

You'll usually need help to apply for a judicial review, and there might be a time limit to apply. You could consult an experienced adviser, for example at a Citizens Advice Bureau. Find out where to get advice.

More help challenging a Council Tax Reduction decision

If you think the decision on your Council Tax Reduction (CTR) application is wrong, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example at a Citizens Advice Bureau. Find out where to get advice.