Council Tax Discount Fraud Campaign

A campaign aimed at residents falsely claiming the single person discount for Council Tax has been launched by Southwark Council.  Up to 13,700 residents have been sent letters checking the status of their properties, and a series of posters warning of the consequences of committing the fraud have gone up across the borough. A recent single person discount review by the council identified over 600 cases where the discount was subsequently removed and increased bills sent out. Read more on the Southwark Council website.

Labour Blocks Move to Limit Council Tax Benefit Cuts

Labour peers have come under fire for refusing to back an amendment which would have spared thousands of benefit claimants from welfare cuts. The Local Government Finance Bill, currently going through parliament, will see council tax benefit scrapped and replaced with grants which only cover 90 per cent of the cost.  Councils will be able to choose how to make up the 10 per cent cut but cannot reduce benefit for pensioners. This means in some areas councils will have to cut benefit for working age council tax claimants by as much as 20 per cent.  Crossbench peer Lord Richard Best has tabled an amendment to the bill which would allow councils to cut the single person’s discount, currently set at 25 per cent. This, argued Lord Best, would enable the Treasury to receive its £500 million savings without hitting the poorest people.  Lord Best said a cut in the discount from 25 to 20 per cent would equate to an 85 pence per week reduction in discount for single people living in the lowest council tax band and £2 per week in the highest band. Read more on Inside Housing.

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.