Judge awards damages and costs after changes to council tax reduction scheme discriminated against self-employed blind man

A High Court judge has awarded damages and costs after finding that the London Borough of Croydon's decision to change its Council Tax Reduction Scheme (CTR) last year discriminated against a self-employed man who is blind.

The claimant, Dr Yusuf Ali Osman, contended that changes made to the scheme in 2022 were discriminatory to him as a blind self-employed person as they meant his earnings were artificially inflated, which then lowered his tax reduction.  

Under the 2022 scheme, Croydon inflated self-employed earners' income to the Minimum Income Floor (MIF) of £332.50 (minus tax and NI) per week, even if they were not able to achieve income anywhere near this level because of disability or caring responsibilities.

Dr Osman is unable to earn able to earn the MIF as a result of his disability.

Croydon applied the MIF to several categories of people exempt from the MIF that applied under the Universal Credit scheme, from where the concept is borrowed. The scheme applied to some pensioners, some disabled people, some carers, some students and some foster parents.

The council decided to exempt Dr Osman from council tax after he launched his legal challenge.

At the High Court yesterday (23 March), Mr Justice Mostyn ordered Croydon to pay Dr Osman £500 in damages in light of the policy's impact. The judge also awarded Dr Osman costs that were agreed between the council and Dr Osman’s legal representatives just before the hearing began.

According to Dr Osman's solicitors at Leigh Day Solicitors, the judge said the council had essentially surrendered in that it no longer subjected disabled self-employed people to the MIF and, because of the steps taken by Dr Osman, he should be credited with that.

Its changes to the scheme for 2023 saves all disabled people from the MIF, but it still affects other people who are not expected to be in full-time work. This includes people who care for people with disabilities or under-threes, pensioners with a working-age partner, recent adopters, many students and many foster parents.

Leigh Day solicitor Kate Egerton, who represented Dr Osman, claimed this opens Croydon up to further legal challenges.

She said: "Although the council has altered its Council Tax Reduction Scheme to address the discriminatory impact for self-employed people who have disabilities, it has still failed to address the disadvantage it has created for other groups of people who would be exempted from the Minimum Income Floor under Universal Credit regulations. These include carers and people with young children."

Egerton continued: "Yusuf's claim wasn't able to challenge Croydon Brough Council on behalf of these categories of people, but the way is open for someone who is still affected to bring a judicial review challenge against the council."

Dr Yusuf Osman said: "My fight over the past year has had a positive impact. At least 58 people other than me have had their Council tax decisions changed and most importantly the council did change the scheme for disabled self-employed people like me."'

A spokesperson for Croydon Council said: “A resident made a claim for Judicial Review in relation to the 2022/23 Council Tax Support Scheme.

“The claimant withdrew his case and the council agreed to pay the claimant £500 plus a contribution to costs.”

Adam Carey