Council tax discounts face axe

Council tax discounts for those on benefits could be reduced, following fresh government cuts that leave the Town Hall £3m short.

Last year the Coalition Government announced plans to abolish the national Council Tax Benefit (CTB) scheme and cut central Government funding for its replacement, a local Council Tax Support (CTS) scheme which all councils must introduce on 1 April 2013.

Hackney Council has been mulling over ways to address the shortfall for nearly a year, and has now decided to consult on its plans to spread the cost across all 27,700 working-age claimants. This means that all claimants – excluding pensioners – will have to pay an amount from less than £1 per week to up to £3.76 per week based on a Band D property in receipt of 100% Council Tax Benefit.

In Hackney there are 103,600 households liable for Council Tax, with 38,400 receiving Council Tax Benefit. Of these there are 27,700 claimants of working age, with 21,400 receiving the maximum amount of Council Tax benefit available.

A spokesperson for the council said: “From March 2013 the Council will receive £3.1m less from the government to operate the new CTS scheme, an amount which could rise sharply in the future. The Council has considered ways of finding this shortfall, as outlined in the consultation document. The Council is keen to hear the views of local residents on the proposed scheme”.

The consultation is available at hackney.gov.uk/cts-consultation To request a hard copy, email consultation@hackney.gov.uk
or phone  020 8356 3005. All responses must be received by 22 October.