Row over Council Tax Benefit Risks Derailing Universal Credit Mantra

The “lunacy” of leaving council tax benefit out of the Government’s flagship Universal Credit came out in the wash during an opposition day debate on the Government’s benefit reform.  Universal Credit will replace six income-based benefits, including housing benefit, but not council tax benefit which gave some Labour MPs serious concern that the “making work pay mantra” of Universal Credit could be rendered inaccurate.  The debate was opened by shadow work and pensions secretary Liam Byrne who said that whether someone is better off in work or on benefits will depend on where they live. East Ham MP Stephen Timms then dealt the hammer blow when he revealed that some local authorities were proposing to add a 40p in the pound taper on council tax benefit on top of the 65p taper for Universal Credit.  “Under that approach, people who earn more would get less because they would lose more benefit than they would gain in income,” he said.  Read more of the debate on the Parliament website.