Conclusions and recommendations
1. Public
perceptions of the legitimacy of the council tax are likely to
be further undermined if the mechanism designed to alleviate the
financial burden it places on low-income households is not effective.
Council tax benefit eligibility, entitlement and take-up must
be improved. (Paragraph 10)
2. Given the Government's
commitment to eradicating child poverty it is difficult to see
how it can justify the maintenance of council tax benefit rules
that even on its own estimates leave some 600,000 children living
in poverty whose families are still liable to pay full council
tax. (Paragraph 14)
3. The council tax
benefit taper, and its interaction with other parts of the tax
and benefit system, can act as a disincentive to work. We recommend
that the Government address this issue with some urgency and recognise
the detrimental effects of the council tax benefit taper in its
work on welfare reform. (Paragraph 17)
4. We recommend that
the Government includes examination of the consequences of aligning
council tax benefit eligibility thresholds with thresholds used
in other parts of the tax and benefit system in its research programme.
(Paragraph 19)
5. We urge the Government
to consider sympathetically proposals to raise, and ultimately
abolish the use of, an upper savings limit in determining eligibility
for council tax benefit, not just for pensioners, but for all.
(Paragraph 29)
6. The Government
should review age-related anomalies in council tax benefit with
a view to removing them as part of its work to simplify the benefits
system for claimants. (Paragraph 35)
7. We recommend an
immediate change to describe all reductions in council tax liability
as the rebates that they actually are. (Paragraph 50)
8. We recommend that
the Pension Service acts as a portal to council tax benefit for
all telephone customers calling to claim pension credit. (Paragraph
56)
9. We recommend that
the Government accelerate efforts to promote inter-agency data-sharing,
particularly between the Pension Service, HMRC and local authorities,
as a means of increasing council tax benefit take up. Supporting
research should include an examination of the impact of data protection
legislation on the potential for greater data-sharing and options
for maintaining privacy for individuals who do not agree to their
data being shared. (Paragraph 61)
10. The Government
should publish the findings of the Pension Service solution project
on the automated payment of council tax benefit. We recommend
that the Government investigates further the feasibility of introducing
automatic assessment and billing, starting with those groups for
which it could most easily be achieved. Its research should extend
to an analysis of the risks of fraud. (Paragraph 65)
11. We recommend that
the Government encompasses in any general PSA target related to
benefits and pensioner poverty promotion of council tax benefit
take-up. (Paragraph 67)
12. Local authorities
are best-placed to lead on local measures to increase council
benefit take up. (Paragraph 69)
13. The current performance
standards for local authorities should be revised to increase
the focus on raising council tax benefit take up not just administrative
efficiency. (Paragraph 70)
14. We recommend that
the Government gathers the information required to provide estimates
of the numbers entitled to but not claiming council tax benefit
by local authority area. (Paragraph 72)
15. We find no justification
for financial incentives for local authorities to increase council
tax benefit take up. (Paragraph 74)
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