3 Council Tax Benefit
The Government's proposals
26. Council Tax Benefit (CTB) is an income-related
social security benefit designed to help people on low incomes
pay their council tax. It is paid whether or not the claimant
is available for, or in, full-time paid work, and it can be claimed
by owner-occupiers. Currently, local authorities administer CTB
in accordance with national criteria set by DWP, and are fully
reimbursed by the Department for the rebates made. Spending on
CTB in 2009/10 amounted to some 2.5% of total spending on benefits,
tax credits and pensions; however, only the state pension and
universal benefits like Child Benefit have more recipients. At
May 2011 there were 5.85 million recipients of Council Tax Benefit
in England, Wales and Scotland, of whom 62% were aged under 65.[55]
27. Clause 34 of the Welfare Reform Bill provides
for the abolition of Council Tax Benefit among other benefits.
While others will be replaced by the Universal Credit, Council
Tax Benefit will not. Instead the Government intends to devolve
responsibility for assessment and payment of council tax support
to local authorities, with responsibility for this policy area
being passed from DWP to DCLG and a duty to be placed on local
authorities to run such a scheme.[56]
The White Paper argued that
The introduction of Universal Credit provides the
opportunity to sweep away some of the centrally-imposed complexities
of Council Tax Benefit that make it difficult for people to understand.
[...] Local authorities will be better able to provide a joined-up
system of support for people on low incomes that dovetails with
the various rebate and discount schemes which are already part
of the Council Tax regime, while at the same time protecting vulnerable
groups.[57]
The Minister for Housing and Local Government, Rt
Hon Grant Shapps MP, further explained the Government's rationale
for the change:
To local authorities I think the big advantage is
that they will have a stake for the first time in what people
who live in those homes are doing; in other words, an incentive
to help get the person back into work, and so on. [
For
individuals], there is a real problem where, if you are living
in a situation where no-one appears to care about your situation,
it makes it harder to get back into a job. Clearly, having that
local knowledge will be helpful. The other point to make is that
council tax is a local tax set by the local authority. Somewhat
bizarrely, the benefit against that tax comes straight from central
government, wham, into the middle of it all. Of course, it makes
perfect sense to tie together these two ends so that the local
authority has a proper picture and control over it, and can assist
people finding their way back into work.[58]
The localisation proposals are part of the Local
Government Resource Review, which is also exploring local retention
of business rates and integrated 'community' budgets. A local
government finance bill will be introduced later in this parliamentary
session to establish a framework for local council tax support
schemes.[59]
28. A consultation on the proposals opened in
August, and will close in October 2011. The consultation document
proposes that billing authoritiesunitary and lower-tier
authorities who currently administer the Council Tax Benefit regime
on behalf of the DWPshould lead on the design and administration
of localised council tax support schemes.[60]
Collaboration between local authorities is suggested and encouraged
as a potential way to "help to reduce administrative costs,
manage financial risks by enabling local authorities to manage
funding over a broader area, and ensure local schemes support
wider local priorities for growth".[61]
The consultation acknowledges that some people may end up paying
more council tax than they currently do, "if your local authority
does not think that you are among those who need most support".[62]
The limitations on localisation
29. It will not be possible, under the new regime,
for a local authority simply to opt out of providing some form
of council tax support entirely.[63]
Beyond that basic level, however, there is sharp disagreement
about how much discretion local authorities should have in designing
their own schemes. Citizens Advice stated that it could see no
advantages to localisation of Council Tax Benefit,
However, if [it] must be localised, we believe that
local authorities should be bound by clear and rigorous rules
of accountability, where spending is justified in terms of wider
principles such as reducing child poverty, preventing homelessness,
promoting equality, and ensuring that everyone has the basic needs,
as well as due consideration of further costs to government if
people are not supported to manage their immediate needs. [...]
We believe that these proposals will create an intractable problem
by localising provision on the basis of minimal control, as it
is hard to see how consistent standards can be maintained without
direction from central government.[64]
Birmingham City Council set out the contrary case:
If the scheme is to be localised it must in our view
be with the minimum amount of central regulation. It would seem
illogical to be otherwise, [to] localise scheme design and delivery
but impose a large degree of central directives.[65]
Kerry Macdermott of IRRV predicted that consortia
would emerge among English local authorities for the administration
of council tax support, so that differences between schemes would
in the end be quite peripheral.[66]
He drew a parallel with the local administration of discretionary
housing payments: "That comes with a very high-level policy
statement of expectations from the DWP, which gives the parameters
for the award of discretionary housing payments. I think you will
find that that works very well in local government. We would be
realistic, pragmatic and responsible".[67]
30. Grant Shapps told us that "there certainly
will be some central direction", although he was unable to
give any details of what form this might take, because "the
exact scheme design on which you are pressing me needs to come
out of the consultation rather than the other way round."[68]
The consultation states that, while "Government wants to
give local authorities as much freedom as possible, within certain
parameters, to design their schemes",
there may be some elements of administration where
it may be desirable to: provide for a degree of consistency between
authorities to support data sharing and minimise the complexity
for tax payers moving between areas; [and] remove disincentives
to entering into temporary work by avoiding some of the potential
administrative complexity of claiming local support for council
tax.[69]
The consultation invites views on the desirable minimal
level of consistency between schemes, though does state that the
Government is minded to give local authorities freedom to set
their own income and capital thresholds for working-age claimants.[70]
31. It is already clear, however, that local
authorities will be operating under some substantial constraints
when designing their schemes, because of three policy aims which
will take precedence: protection of work incentives, protection
of pensioners from any reduction in support, and reductions of
10% in the overall budget for council tax support.
32. In its inquiry into the Universal Credit,
the Work and Pensions Committee encountered a substantial body
of opinion that a separate system of support for council tax is
inimical to the aim of welfare simplification through the Universal
Credit, and, if genuinely 'local', threatens to undermine the
work incentives that are a central plank of the Government's welfare
reforms.[71] The rate
at which benefit is withdrawn as a claimant starts to earn or
increases their earnings is known as the 'taper'. Currently different
benefits have different taper rates, but the Government's intention
is for Universal Credit to have a single taper of 65%meaning
that, as earnings rise, the Universal Credit is to be withdrawn
at a constant rate of 65 pence for each pound of net earnings.
This will produce a Marginal Deduction Rate (the impact on income
of the combined effect of benefits being withdrawn and tax) significantly
lower than the current maximum. Together with 'earnings disregards',
this is intended to ensure a predictable and consistent financial
gain for people coming off benefits and starting work.
33. Minister Grant Shapps told us that DCLG is
"100% signed up to the principle that work should always
pay. [...] a smooth, tapered Universal Credit is something of
which DCLG is every bit as supportive as DWP".[72]
We heard scepticism from some witnesses that both policies could
be achieved. Dr Peter Kenway told us that policy development on
Council Tax Benefit betrayed "a fundamental clash of objectives":
Are we trying to save money, which is the Treasury
objective; are we trying to localise, which I think is the objective
of the Department for Communities and Local Government; or are
we trying to make sure that work pays and welfare reform works,
which is a DWP objective? I do not think they can square all three.[73]
34. Some have argued that the solution is simply
to incorporate support for council tax into the Universal Credit.
The BenX Review Group countered that, were this to be done, either
a complex mechanism for paying the benefit amount directly to
local authorities would need to be put in place, or, if paid direct
to the customer, local authorities would be put in the position
of having to collect 100% of council tax, which would likely lead
to soaring arrears.[74]
Any difficulties in collecting council tax would result in "disastrous"
financial pressures on local authorities.[75]
35. The analyses of marginal deduction rates
in the White Paper assume that individuals are receiving help
with council tax, which may not always be the case under varying
criteria of local schemes.[76]
Dr Peter Kenway argued that, if localised council tax support
schemes have to preserve the 65% withdrawal rate of Universal
Credit, this would "require in a sense the thing to be designed
by DWP and [
] designed top down."[77]
The consultation document states that:
to help local authorities to develop schemes which
support the work incentives that Universal Credit is intended
to deliver, the Government invites views on proposed national
guidelines, guidance and model schemes for the design of local
support schemes so that the two systems work effectively together
to provide strong, transparent work incentives for individuals.[78]
However, the document invites views rather than giving
details about what the national framework might be that would
ensure this.
36. The Government has committed to maintaining
the current level of council tax support given to pensioners.
The consultation document proposes that "the criteria, allowances
and awards for council tax support to pensioners which local authorities
will need to provide for in their local schemes" will be
prescribed nationally.[79]
This means that councils will essentially only be designing schemes
for working-age claimants, although support for both working-age
and pensioner claimants will be paid locally. The document suggests
that councils might consider guarantees of protection to other
vulnerable groups in addition to pensioners, and asks for views
on the best way to balance protection for such groups with local
authority flexibility.[80]
37. The announcement in the 2010 Spending Review
that support for council tax would be localised was accompanied
by an announcement that the Government intended to reduce spending
on Council Tax Benefit by 10%.[81]
Local authorities will have a reduced grant to pay for CTB, and
make their own decisions to determine eligibility. The reduction
in spending is projected to save £490m each year from 2013-14.[82]
The prospect of this reduction has caused considerable concern,
both in terms of its impact on claimants and potential claimants,
and the consequences for local authority finances more generally.[83]
London Councils stated that
the cuts to CTB funding will come into force at a
time when overall funding available to local authorities is vastly
reduced. [...] Against this backdrop, CTB paid in England has
been steadily increasing in all regions over the 13 years up to
2009-10. This data is supported by the overall increase in the
numbers of CTB claimants receiving 100% benefit. [
] The
10% funding reduction has clear implications for the amount of
CTB paid in local areasit is likely that some CTB claimants
(existing and new) will see a reduction in the amount of benefit
that they are paid.[84]
Cllr Peter Fleming told us that
if you look at the people who receive Council Tax
Benefit at the moment and take out of the process those who get
100% Council Tax Benefit and older people, you are left with only
9% of people not within those two groups. [
] If you are
then talking about a 10% reduction in the total, those 9% will
carry an awfully large weight of expectation of picking up that
cut in CTB funding.[85]
Table 1
Approximate impact of 10% cut to CTB if over 65s protected
This simplified illustration is based on the average of monthly 2010-11 figures and assumes no changes to recipient numbers:
|
Annual CTB bill of £4.817 billion, with 5.8 million recipients:
- CTB recipients over 65: 2.2 million at average claim £835.33 per year = £1.857 billion
- CTB recipients under 65: 3.6 million at average claim £825.33 per year = £2.960 billion
|
If total CTB bill to be cut by 10% to £4.335 billion:
- CTB recipients over 65: 2.2 million at average claim £835.33 per year = £1.857 billion
- CTB recipients under 65: 3.6 million at average claim £691.02 per year = £2.478 billion
|
Non-pensioners would therefore face an average cut of 16% in their council tax support. Protection for other vulnerable groups, for example those who currently receive 100% Council Tax Benefit, would exacerbate this effect.
Sources: House of Commons Scrutiny Unit based on DWP figures at http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/hb_ctb/hbctb_release_jul11.xls
|
38. The consultancy Navigant has commented that
the point at which this reduction will take effect2013-14is
the point in the Spending Review cycle at which local authorities
had been expecting some respite from overall budget cuts. Navigant
argued that, rather than the average council grant reductions
of 0.8% for 2013-14 already announced, the Council Tax Benefit
changes could result in average reductions in funding for councils
of 2.8% and because the benefit is means-tested, more deprived
parts of the country would be likely to be the most affected.[86]
The New Policy Institute estimated that "the most affected
[would lose] more than four times as much per dwelling as the
least affected"figures which Grant Shapps told us
assumes a uniform 10% cut across all authorities, which may not
be the case.[87] Local
authorities could not simply pass on the reduction to claimants
without risking increases in council tax arrears, and Alan Barton
of Citizens Advice commented that if local authorities decided
that all residents needed to pay some council tax, questions
would arise about the practicality of collecting many very small
amounts.[88]
39. Kirklees Council summarised what it saw as
the combined impact all of these constraints would have on its
development of a local council tax support scheme:
Regardless of any decision the authority makes about
eligibility criteria, a sum equivalent to that 10% must be collected
to preserve the revenue stream. That 10% amounts to £3.5
million in this borough and at the lowest council tax payable
would amount to a sum of £70 per year. If certain groups
(for example pensioners) are protected from any increased liability
arising out of localisation then the burden of the 10% cannot
be evenly spread. If the intention is that the additional burden
becomes part of the incentive to find work, then the inference
is that those not in work will shoulder the burden. If we were
to assume that the burden for those out of work will approach
20% because of the uneven spread, the risks identified around
collection and impact on the revenue stream will be amplified.
Council tax is not as progressive as income tax and shifting the
cost of welfare benefits on to council taxpayers will increase
this. Without further information it is very difficult to see
how a localised scheme might operate any differently to the current
system of support. Means testing of additional financial support
appears to be the only option. If the system operates as a means
test then it is conceivable that local decisions about eligibility
criteria could operate to undermine the intent of Universal Credit.
That fear might be unfounded if local authorities are prevented
from increasing the burden for those starting work. In summary
it would appear that the 10% saving could increase the burden
on those least able to pay and in so doing could compromise local
authority revenue streams.[89]
40. The Government's intention to reduce the
overall budget for Council Tax Benefit by 10% while preserving
work incentives and protecting pensioners from increased council
tax bills gives local authorities very little room for manoeuvre
in designing their own council tax support schemes. It seems almost
inevitable that the impact of the 10% reduction will fall disproportionately
on some claimants, and is more likely to be felt in more deprived
parts of the country, unless local authorities decide to dip into
other funds.
41. The Government has a different view of this
issue. Asked whether he expected local authorities to pass on
the 10% reduction to claimants, or to dip into other budgets to
protect support for those claiming at the moment, Grant Shapps
argued that
that is old-school thinking in a sense, because it
says that a local authority has no control over what happens in
its authority boundaries, what economic activity is like, whether
there is growth in the area, whether those business rates are
kept, and the New Homes Bonus and the rest of it. [...] What we
propose here is a way of achieving a 10% reduction and, at the
same time, through giving local authorities a stake in the economic
activity, and therefore in the welfare of their citizens, the
opportunity to reduce that bill, not by unfairly not paying people
who are vulnerable and need itthe White Paper makes very
clear that they will be protectedbut ensuring that there
is a definite interest in starting up that new industrial estate,
business park and getting economic activity going so there are
jobs [...] if somebody is in work they will not be receiving the
[CT] benefit because they will not need to.[90]
[...] The culture of 'Let them rot in the houses while we pay
them benefit' must come to an end. We have to do this more intelligently
and involve the local authorities in the economic activity and
success of their areas. Bluntly, I do not think that is worth
10%; it is actually worth a lot more to local authorities, because
suddenly they get something back for making sure they are looking
after their residents.[91]
42. The 10% saving would, therefore, come from
"better management, administration and economic growth".[92]
Steve Webb added that the DWP's Work Programme will be targeted
at the most deprived areas; "Every person that the Work Programme
gets back to work will be less expenditure that the local authority
needs to make on Council Tax Benefit."[93]
Mr Shapps stated that, at present, any local authorities that
are trying to create jobs, wealth and enterprise in their areas
"are almost just doing that through the goodness of their
own hearts".[94]
It seems to us unfair, as well as dismissive of electoral accountability,
to categorise local authorities as uninterested in economic growth
unless they see pay-offs in their own balance sheet.
43. We agree that it is desirable
for local authorities to be able toin the Minister's phrase"control
their destiny", but the Government should not pretend that
control over diminished resources, within centrally-imposed constraints,
is unproblematic. Nor can it be considered a great advance for
the policy of localism. The proposals for the localisation of
council tax support seem to us to provide an illusion of delegation
with a minimum of real discretion, virtually guaranteeing that
the funds available to support working-age unemployed people will
be squeezed.
44. The Government believes the answer to this
criticism is economic growth, incentivised by local authorities
having to find a 10% saving and wanting to achieve still greater
savings. We have seen little
evidence to support the hope that new and better-paying jobs for
individuals, immediately sufficient to off-set the 10% reduction
in the benefit budget, will inevitably follow from these incentives;
the means of economic growth are never solely in the gift of individual
local authorities. We have commented in a previous report that
councils would have welcomed more involvement in the development
of the Work Programme to improve their capacity to tackle worklessness.
It is not at all clear that the supposed incentives of the new
council tax support system will make local authorities feel that
they are partners with central government in the achievement of
economic development.
Financial risk and management
45. While the Government's intention to achieve
10% savings relies at least to some extent on reductions in the
numbers of claimants, other witnesses were concerned about what
would happen should there be an increase either in the
numbers eligible, or the numbers of eligible people who make claims.[95]
CTB has the lowest level of take-up of any means-tested benefit.[96]
Council Tax Benefit take-up for 2008-09 was in the range 63% to
70%; the number of people estimated to be entitled to but not
claiming Council Tax Benefit was between 2.13 and 2.93 million
people. The take-up rate is substantially lower among pensioners
than non-pensioners.[97]
Cllr Peter Fleming noted that the funding cut could depress efforts
to encourage eligible non-claimants, particularly pensioners,
to claim: "How much will we be able to encourage them with
less money to go round? We can reduce the amount on admin, if
it is localised; we can make that money go further, but you cannot
start cutting the cash already."[98]
It is not known whether the budgets passed on to local authorities
will take account of current under-claiming.[99]
46. Council Tax Benefit is currently demand-led,
the cost being met by DWP out of Annually Managed Expenditure,
the source for expenditure considered volatile and therefore not
subject to firm multi-year limits. Localised schemes will instead
involve an unringfenced, fixed grant paid to local authorities
from DCLG Departmental Expenditure Limits. London Councils explained
the challenges it expected local authorities to face in the financial
management of local schemes as a result of the fixed and reduced
funding:
Should CTB be fully localised, it is unclear how
an authority would meet growth in its CTB expenditure. Current
regulations would prevent local authorities from borrowing to
meet its spending requirements and reduced funding levels will
limit the capacity for local authorities to respond to growth
through its own resources. Any response by the local authority
to do so could have a significant impact on frontline services
or council tax levels. The ability of a local authority to manage
a demand based benefit from a fixed (and smaller) cash funding
pot will be a significant challenge going forward. London Councils
officers would suggest that the localisation of Council Tax Benefits
could represent a significant financial risk to local authorities
should there be no recourse to a more flexible and buoyant funding
source.[100]
47. The consultation states that local authorities
themselves will need to plan to manage financial risks locally,
including contingency arrangements to provide for increased take-up
or demand or difficulties with collection. DCLG does not wish
schemes to be changed or withdrawn part way through a billing
year, or support to be rationed. Collaboration with major precepting
authorities (for example, by sharing any shortfall in council
tax revenue) is suggested as the default way of managing such
risks.[101] Steve Webb
told us that
in designing the system the local authority will
have to make a realistic assessment of take-up. If it can design
a simpler system it will have to allow for the fact that take-up
will be higher. That might mean it narrows the scope of what it
does but spends that money better, which is the goal of the exercise.[102]
Pressed on whether achieving better take-up among
pensioners without disadvantage to existing claimants would entail
councils using funding from other budgets, Mr Webb told us that
councils "will decide locally what their priorities are".[103]
48. We are concerned about the
financial risk to local authorities from assuming responsibility,
within a fixed budget, for a means-tested benefit for which demand
could increase as well as decrease. Collaboration between councils
may share but not remove the risk, at a time when most council
budgets will already be stretched to their limit. We recommend
that the Government provide some means to access flexible funding
to ensure that increased take-up does not result in local authorities
either rationing support or raiding other budgets in-year to fulfil
the terms of their council tax support scheme. Furthermore, a
fixed grant will disincentivise efforts by local authorities to
improve take-up among those groups who at present under-claim
Council Tax Benefit.
The timescale and timing of change
49. The consultation paper sets out the timetable
for implementing change. The consultation closes on 14 October
2011, with the Government's response to be published in autumn/winter
2011-12. A local government finance bill is to be introduced,
also in autumn/winter, which the Government expects it to be passed
in summer 2012. Local schemes are to be in operation from spring
2013.[104] The timescale
of change is the aspect of the reforms that attracted perhaps
the most widespread criticism in the submissions to our inquiry.
There has been frustration about the long time lag between the
initial announcement about localisation in the Spending Review
in October 2010 and the publication of the consultation document.[105]
50. Age UK expressed disquiet that the Welfare
Reform Bill, which would abolish Council Tax Benefit (and the
discretionary Social Fund), was introduced before any detailed
proposals for the replacement schemes had been worked out.[106]
The New Policy Institute said that it was "rash" to
introduce the Bill "before a plausible replacement had been
identified", and that
The delay in producing a consultation document suggests
that the seriousness of the situation has still not been properly
grasped. The replacement of Council Tax Benefit is not some minor
procedure for the out-patients department of welfare reform but
a major piece of surgery. We think the operation should just be
cancelled.[107]
51. Birmingham City Council set out its concerns
about the number of tasks that need to be completed for an April
2013 launch:
the design of the local scheme [...] will need to
be carefully modelled against both current and predicted expenditure.
[...] Proposals will require in-depth impact assessment both for
risks and equalities and a significant level of consultation both
with elected members and with citizens. Having overcome difficulties
in this area there will be work to adapt systems; determine where
the work is to be dealt with; training and information to staff;
communications with stakeholders and public; and many other tasks.
Containing this within an ever-reducing resource will be impossible
in our view.[108]
Local authorities also have in mind the need to design
specifications for, tender for and thoroughly test new IT systems
to support local schemes. Given the limited time available for
decisions to be taken, Kirklees Council suggested that many local
authorities would purchase a ready-made scheme with associated
software, or pool resources with a number of other local authorities,
either of which approaches could negate the advantages of local
tailoring.[109] London
Councils said that April 2013 was "a very challenging target"
for the introduction of new council tax support schemes.[110]
COSLA argued that "the timelines are so tight as to be unworkable",[111]
and Kirklees concluded that "the localisation of CTB support
by April 2013 is unrealistic. [...] it would appear wholly unachievable
without significant risk across the sector".[112]
52. Any councils hoping to get a head start on
designing their schemes may have been left disappointed by the
consultation document, which mostly invites views rather than
setting out more details of the proposal. Councils now know that
there will be a 'national framework' to protect the work incentives
of the Universal Credit, and national criteria for support to
pensioners, but they do not know what these will be. The consultation
offers no firm information about the basis on which grants will
be allocated to councils, promising a separate technical consultation
on this.[113] Collaboration
between local authorities is encouraged, such as a county council
or a joint body leading on the design of a single scheme in a
given area, arrangements which would require specific legal provisions.[114]
Collaborative risk-sharing arrangements also need to be worked
out. This will be a time-consuming process.
53. For the IRRV, the question of whether a new
system could be delivered to the timescale envisaged was dependent
on the resources that would be made available to help it happen.[115]
London Councils pointed out that the administration costs to local
authorities of the present Council Tax Benefit regime are combined
with the costs of administering Housing Benefit (£370 million
across England). The consequent economies of scale will not be
possible under the new framework, when housing costs support is
incorporated into the Universal Credit. No information has yet
been published about how local authorities will receive funding
for the costs of implementing and administering localised council
tax support.[116] The
consultation states only that "detailed work will be needed
to determine the amount of funding for the administration of local
schemes", and makes the commitment that "the Government
does not intend the administration of local schemes to put pressure
on local government finances."[117]
54. The wisdom of introducing several major changes
in a short span of timethe introduction of Universal Credit,
changes to the present Housing Benefit regime, reduced local authority
budgets, the 10% cut in CTB costs and localisation of both council
tax support and the discretionary Social Fundwas questioned
by some of our witnesses.[118]
There is widespread awareness of the fact that new IT and administration
systems could take some time to bed in, and that failures or delays
in any of these systems could leave some households in a very
precarious position.[119]
The BenX Review Group proposed that Housing Benefit and Council
Tax Benefit administration could be left with local authorities
until Universal Credit (incorporating the other relevant benefits)
and real-time integration of earnings with HMRC is well established.[120]
55. We asked Grant Shapps whether, if the consultation
throws up concerns about the timescale for implementation, it
might be put back. He responded: "We need to follow the evidence;
we need to listen to what people are saying to us about implementation.
We need it to work. [...] Let's find out what is said through
the consultation."[121]
However, while the consultation document invites views on the
Government's ideal of a one-off transition rather than a staged
transfer, and on what help the Government can give local authorities
in the transition period, it does not explicitly invite views
on whether the timescale is achievable.[122]
56. Consultation at a stage in the process where
responses are genuinely able to determine outcomes is of course
to be welcomed. But it is regrettable that so much time was allowed
to pass between the initial announcement about localisation of
council tax support and the publication of a document that invites
views but gives very little additional detail about the changes
ahead. By the time the Department's
response to the consultation is published, there will be little
more than a year for local authorities to design and implement
their council tax support schemes, which is an extremely challenging
timeframe. Too much time has been lost. The Government needs to
consider that, even if local authorities prove technically capable
of establishing new schemes to the original timescale, it might
not be wise to press ahead so hastily. Reform of Council Tax Benefit
will affect a huge number of households, and it is vital that
the systems used to deliver it are robust.
57. Furthermore, it is unnecessarily risky to
introduce a new system for council tax support at the same time
as the introduction of Universal Credit and localisation of the
discretionary Social Fund. Failure or delays in any part of the
new welfare system could leave the most vulnerable households
in a precarious position.
We recommend that the Government delay the introduction of the
new council tax support system by a year or more, if consultation
with local authorities indicates that this would reduce the risks
inherent in introducing many complex changes concurrently.
55 DWP, Quarterly Statistical Summary, 17 August 2011 Back
56
DCLG, Localising support for council tax in England: consultation,
August 2011, para 5.2 Back
57
DWP, Universal Credit: welfare that works, para 36 Back
58
Qq 51-2 Back
59
DCLG, Localising support for council tax in England: consultation,
para 1.5 Back
60
Ibid., para 7.1 Back
61
Ibid., para 7.2 Back
62
Ibid., para 4.5 Back
63
Q 58 Back
64
Ev 23 Back
65
Ev w47 Back
66
Q 29 Back
67
Q 29 Back
68
Q 61 Back
69
DCLG, Localising support for council tax in England: consultation,
para 9.4 Back
70
Ibid., para 9.8 Back
71
Work & Pensions Committee, White Paper on Universal Credit:
oral and written evidence, March 2011, HC 743, Ev 48, 85,
106 Back
72
Q 93 Back
73
Q 15 Back
74
Ev 21 Back
75
Ev 33; Q 29 Back
76
Welfare Reform Bill: Universal Credit provisions, Research
Paper 11/24, House of Commons Library, March 2011, p. 40 Back
77
Q 12 Back
78
DCLG, Localising support for council tax in England: consultation,
para 5.10 Back
79
Ibid. Back
80
Ibid., para 5.6, question 5b Back
81
HM Treasury, Spending Review 2010, Cm 7942, October 2010,
para 2.42 Back
82
Ibid. Back
83
Ev w6; Ev 21; Ev w48 Back
84
Ev w41 Back
85
Q 29 Back
86
'£500m black hole looms over 2013 benefit change', Municipal
Journal, 2 June 2011 Back
87
Dan Paskins, Council Tax Benefit: the effect of a 10% cut,
New Policy Institute 2010, p.5; Q 76; Ev 40 Back
88
Qq 9, 30, 32 Back
89
Ev w55 Back
90
Q 62-3 Back
91
Q 65 Back
92
Q 68 Back
93
Q 69 Back
94
Q 68 Back
95
Q 31 Back
96
Communities & Local Government Committee, Eighth Report of
Session 2006-07, Local Government Finance: Council Tax Benefit,
HC 718-I, para 8 Back
97
DWP, Statistical First Release, Income-related benefits: estimates
of take-up in 2008-09, 10 June 2010 Back
98
Q 32 Back
99
Q 9 Back
100
Ev w42 Back
101
DCLG, Localising support for council tax in England: consultation,
para 8.7 Back
102
Q 72 Back
103
Q 73 Back
104
DCLG, Localising support for council tax in England: consultation,
p. 47 Back
105
Qq 15, 17 Back
106
Ev w16 Back
107
Ev 28 Back
108
Ev w47 Back
109
Ev w55 Back
110
Ev w42 Back
111
Ev w50 Back
112
Ev w57 Back
113
DCLG, Localising support for council tax in England: consultation,
para 11.8 Back
114
Ibid., paras 7.7, 7.14 Back
115
Q 34 Back
116
Ev w42 Back
117
DCLG, Localising support for council tax in England: consultation,
para 12.3-4 Back
118
Q 9; Ev w56 Back
119
Ev w40 Back
120
Ev 22 Back
121
Q 80 Back
122
DCLG, Localising support for council tax in England: consultation,
page 49 Back
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