Homeless? Here, Have A Tent...

It all sounds pretty desperate: but there's a Coalition-era logic to Isle of Wight council's decision to offer a homeless 62 year old pensioner a voucher to enable her to buy a tent, by way of helping to find her somewhere to live.

The council made its unusual offer after rejecting Dawn Martin's application for help with emergency housing. Martin was deemed not vulnerable enough to be formally accepted as homeless, so she was directed to the council's local welfare assistance scheme.  At this point, officials offered Martin a food voucher and a voucher to buy a tent. The council said in a statement:

‘During our discussions with her we did - as a last resort which we accept is far from ideal - offer her vouchers with which she could, at the very least, buy a tent as a temporary shelter but she declined this.’  Read more on the Guardian website.

Collection Rate of 35p Feared For Every £1 of Council Tax Levied

One local authority is forecasting a collection rate of just 35p for every £1 of council tax that will be levied on new payers as a result of the Government's welfare reforms.   The Government is abolishing the current council tax benefit scheme – claimed by nearly 6 million people – where councils receive rebates on the financial support they provide. Instead, it has told them to come up with their own schemes from next April, cutting expenditure by 10% and handing them the money to administer it. However, it is the order to protect pensioners from cuts that will force some local authorities to seek minimum contributions from working-age households. This could see those who have never paid council tax previously asked to pay close to £200 a year. Read more on 24dash.

Lord Best Calls for Council Tax Rise for Single People

Single-person households would pay more council tax to spare millions of working age people from having their benefit slashed under proposals from Lord Best. The government plans to scrap council tax benefit from April 2013 and replace it with a grant that covers only 90 per cent of the cost.  Working-age claimants face much higher cuts than pensioners who are untouched by the reform. Landlords have raised concerns this could lead to tenants struggling to pay their rent.  Lord Best is seeking cross-party support to amend the Local Government Finance Bill in the autumn to allow councils to reduce the 25 per cent council tax discount for single-person households. He believes this would allow councils to redistribute money from non-benefit claimant council tax payers without having to cut support for low-income households.  Read more on Inside Housing.

Council Tax Benefit Reform – a “Monstrous Deformity”?

The council tax benefit 'reform' is yet another example of the axe being devolved – and of the poorest being hit hardest.  Here's the background: on average, households pay £1,000 a year in council tax. Until now, households on low incomes were exempt or paid only according to their means, so 5.9m households received council tax benefit. From next April, the benefit is cut by 10%, which is bad enough; but then insanity takes over. Each local authority will be given the sum that was handed out in benefit in their area (less 10%) to disperse as they please. They must keep paying the full benefit to pensioners and "the vulnerable". Each council must choose who is "vulnerable", as the government refuses to provide its own definition. Half of the recipients are pensioners, so protecting them means all other low-income households bear the whole cut, averaging 20%. People who live in areas with a lot of pensioners or a lot of the "vulnerable" will suffer the biggest cuts, as much as 30% or more. Read more on the Guardian website.