Best Tables Council Tax Rise Amendment

Lord Best has tabled an amendment to legislation in order to allow councils to charge single-person households more council tax. Under government plans, council tax benefit will be scrapped from April and replaced with a grant to councils that only covers 90 per cent of the cost.  Councils will have to decide how to fund the 10 per cent cut, but cannot reduce the benefits for pensioners. This means working-age claimants will be hit by a disproportionately high cut.  Lord Best believes a fairer way of making up the £500 million cut would be to allow councils to reduce the level of council tax discount for people living alone. Currently they receive a 25 per cent discount off the council tax bill.  The crossbench peer has now tabled an amendment to the local government finance bill, which is currently going through the House of Lords. The amendment would give councils the ability to change the single person discount to ‘such other percentage as the billing authority may determine’. Read more on Inside Housing.