Memorandum by the Audit Commission (CTB
2)
SUMMARY
1. The Audit Commission welcomes the Communities
and Local Government Committee's focus on council tax benefit
and is pleased to submit evidence.
2. A rebranding of council tax benefit as
a rebate may help to encourage take-up. Take-up is likely to improve
where publicity campaigns are tailored locally to address specific
communities and agencies share information about potential eligibility,
where appropriate.
3. Different savings thresholds currently
apply to the range of mean-tested benefits and allowances. Consistency
of approach to qualifying rules and/or thresholds for savings
may help to simplify the system. Simplification would also help
to improve take-up and reduce error.
4. Further research into the relative effectiveness
of different approaches to benefit take-up would help identify
best practice and inform future policies and approaches.
DETAILED RESPONSE
Introduction
5. The responsibility for inspection and
assessment of housing and council tax benefit transfers from the
Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) to the Audit Commission on 1
April 2008. One of the Commission's key strategic priorities is
to encourage continual improvement in public services so they
meet the changing needs of diverse communities and provide fair
access for all. We therefore welcome the opportunity to contribute
to this important agenda.
The case for rebranding council tax benefit as
a "rebate"
6. It is widely recognised that the term
"benefit" may deter some eligible people from submitting
a claim. Changing the name to a "rebate" may remove
this potential barrier. The term would be consistent with "Second
Adult Rebate" which is already administered by councils and
provides a reduction in the council tax bill for some people.
7. Any changes in the law regarding the
change in name would need to address how overpayments and fraud
would be described and dealt with. The approach taken would need
to be consistent with the rules for the recovery of housing benefit,
because error and/or fraud often span both council tax and housing
benefits.
The role and effectiveness of Government in increasing
council tax benefit uptake levels
8. All councils that administer housing
and council tax benefit have a duty to ensure that those who may
be entitled to the benefits are aware of them. Increasing council
tax benefit take-up is important, as part of the Commission's
priority to meet the changing needs of diverse communities and
provide fair access for all. Our work with councils contributes
to improving take up through, for example, our inspections involving
"Access to Services". We will be developing our approach
to this in our inspections of benefits from April 2008.
9. Our study into efficiency in revenues
and benefits services The Efficiency Challenge—The administration
costs of revenues and benefits revealed a number of examples
of effective local benefit take-up campaigns. In Kent, the councils
worked effectively together to increase take-up for pensioners.
The examples are replicated below.
Case study 3
Kent councils
The Kent Benefits Partnership (KBP) involves
all of the 13 benefits authorities in Kent and Medway and it includes
Kent County Council. The project aims to maximise council tax
benefit take-up in the area. The partnership processes new claims
for council tax benefit for pensioner owner-occupiers for 10 of
the 13 authorities.
The team of assesswment staff has access to all
five different computer systems operate dby the councils involved.
The IT links were enabled by the Kent Connects project and by
Kent County Council's ICT staff working with ICT staff in each
district. Funding has been provided by all the councils involved
along with a grant from the DWP performance standards fund. In
2005-06 the KBP is planning to expand so that it processes the
full range of council tax and housing benefits.
The partnership is still at an early stage and,
as yet, the financial benefits are not clear. Nevertheless, it
has already helped to increase council tax benefit take-up directly
by around 1,500 successful claims. The team of assessment staff
is also a useful potential training ground for the district councils.
One assessor has already moved from the project team to a council.
Source: Audit Commission.
10. Salford has adopted an imaginative approach
to improving health outcomes for older people at the same time
as increasing benefit take-up. The case study below was also featured
in The Efficiency Challenge—the administration costs of
revenues and benefits:
Salford Council has worked closely with its Primary
Care Trust and has linked benefit take-up to health issues. Joint
surgeries have helped to contribute to a large increase in flu
vaccinations for older people. This is helping to add value to
other services and helps to improve the quality of life for local
people. This shows that different types of collaboration can bring
different benefits. The advantage of all possible solutions should
be actively considered by councils challenging their services.
11. Kirklees Council has recently introduced
a new council tax reduction for all those aged 65 and over. The
exercise was also used to provide a "benefits check"
on entitlement. The Council received over 6,000 requests from
local people, resulting in at least 1,000 additional claims.
12. Effectively promoting benefits take-up
relies on being able to reach all members of the community as
it can be challenging to reach the most vulnerable and isolated
groups of potential customers. Our evidence suggests that local
campaigns are most likely to succeed. Local intelligence enables
take-up to be targeted effectively, including through collaborative
working with a wide range of local organisations.
13. Council tax computer systems do not
hold dates of birth because councils do not need this information
to determine council tax liability. This makes it difficult to
identify pensioners for targeted publicity about benefits. Enabling
information about potential eligibility to be passed between councils
and those dealing with Pension Credits could help councils maximise
take-up. Changes would be required to ensure that Data Protection
Act requirements were fully met.
14. Benefit take-up would be a good area
for further research. The product could be a good practice guide
showing which initiatives and campaigns have worked best across
councils.
The case for improvements to the processing of
pension credit claims to enable the Pension Service to act as
a portal to rebates for all callers, regardless of pension credit
eligibility, and to examine steps to improve data sharing
15. This is a positive suggestion. Any change
would need to ensure that relevant controls are in place to protect
the public purse from fraud and error. The more automatic the
process the greater risk of fraud, so councils would need to risk
assess claims and perform additional security checks.
The case for reform of the council tax benefit
eligibility criteria including the case for changing or abolishing
the saving limit in council tax benefit for pensioners, and the
case for aligning council tax rebate thresholds with other parts
of the tax system
16. The amount of savings pensioners can
have before being disqualified from receiving benefit differs
across different types of income and income support. For example,
the lower limit of savings for council tax benefit is £6,000;
the upper limit is £16,000. The upper limit for pension credits
is £47,000. State pension has no upper limit. There is an
opportunity to align the thresholds across all Social Security
and Tax Credit schemes. This would reduce confusion for customers
and help to prevent error.
17. The poorest pensioners are unlikely
to have significant savings, so raising or abolishing the savings
limit would not affect this group.
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