Town Halls Must Tackle £1bn Council Tax Benefit Fraud and Error through Localisation

Local authorities must get to grips with the £200m of Council Tax Benefit lost each year through fraud and error so they can fully support hard working families and genuinely vulnerable people. Spending on council tax benefit has more than doubled since 1997. Figures show that since 2006 council tax benefit fraud and error has cost the taxpayer an estimated £1.1bn, an average of around £3m per council. Giving councils a stake in providing council tax support will assist local job creation, promote enterprise and reduce welfare dependency.  According to Eric Pickles, Government reforms will localise council tax support putting councils, who already raise and collect the tax, in charge of the discount. This will give councils a stronger incentive to support local firms, cut fraud, promote local enterprise, end the something for nothing culture and get people into work.  As part of that deficit reduction strategy councils will be expected to save over £400m a year when they begin running local council tax support schemes next year. Councils will keep all savings they can make from reducing fraud and error.  Read more on the CLG website.