LOW-income parents in the Tendring district have received a boost after council bosses decided against taxing them more if they receive child maintenance cash.

Tendring Council has decided not to take child maintenance payments into account when working out the district’s council tax support scheme.

New council guidelines coming into place this year will mean low-income residents get an 80 per cent discount from their council tax.

Under previous rules, Tendring Council would have taken child maintenance payments into account and included it in a parent’s income – potentially forcing them to pay more council tax.

But now that cash will be excluded to make sure struggling parents have less to pay.

It was decided at a full council meeting after a four-week consultation.