Pickles' Plan to Slash Council Tax Benefit 'Morally Outrageous'

The leader of St.Helens Council has described Government plans to slash council tax benefit as “morally outrageous.” Plans announced by communities secretary Eric Pickles reveal the Government wants to cut the money it pays out to councils for the benefit by 10% and plans to give local authorities an amount of money in advance with councils having to share that among those who need it most in their area. Currently council tax benefit costs the Government £4.8 billion a year. Ministers want councils to run local schemes to provide support for council tax in their area, which support work incentives, and in particular avoid disincentives to move into work. Council tax benefit is claimed by 5.8 million people and sees councils grant rebates to eligible people on low incomes. In St.Helens, 22,000 households rely on the benefit. The changes could see up to 13,000 of these households being required to pay more towards their council tax bills when the measure comes in from 2013. Read more on the St Helens DC website.