According to the High Court the laws as they stand state that a person with Severe Mental Impairment can only receive Council Tax discount or exemption when they also are receiving a qualifying benefit of either Attendance Allowance or PIP/DLA, which can be many years later. 255 out of the 382 UK councils hold back on the council tax discount until the person is in receipt of the qualifying benefit which means that only 25,000 out of the 177,000 people with dementia receiving council tax discounts receive it from the date of GP diagnosis.