FIRST PUBLISHED BY: CAMBRIDGE NEWS
BENEFITS PAID TO HARD-UP RESIDENTS WILL BE CUT TO HELP COUNCILS SAVE MILLIONS OF POUNDS.
Claimants in south Cambridgeshire have been warned they face a “good kicking” under changes to Council Tax benefits. Options include restricting the level of support to claimants with less saved than the current limit of £16,000, and capping payments to the equivalent of a certain type of property, for example, a band D house in Council Tax terms.
Other ideas could see the end of backdating of payments and the entitlement to a second adult rebate. The savings are needed because the Government is passing on responsibility for the handout from next April but will provide 10 per cent less cash to distribute – about £600,000 each for Cambridge City Council and South Cambs District Council annually.
Pensioners and the vulnerable – such as the disabled and single parents with children aged under 5 – are protected, and as these amount to more than half of all claimants in both districts, the remainder will have to take on a greater burden.
Cllr Sebastian Kindersley, opposition leader on the district council, said he had “no grave misgivings” about the options at the latest cabinet meeting. He said: "We are giving the poorest people in society a good kicking".
“My concern is that we’re going to make a whole lot of people more vulnerable.” Exemptions in the city and in south Cambridgeshire for vacant and second homes are set to end, while charges for long-term empty properties are likely to be increased. The district council has already ruled out setting a maximum period of paying benefits, and including other benefits in assessments of income, and the city council says it wants to avoid this.
Cllr Simon Edwards, the district council’s deputy leader, said the changes could be used to encourage people back into work. He said: “We recognise the national cuts to funding mean there are tough decisions ahead. “We need to have plans that encourage people who are able to work to get back into employment.”
Cllr Julie Smith, the city council’s executive member for resources, said: “We have to make sure we don’t end up in a position where the books don’t balance but my strong preference is to find a way of ensuring the levels of Council Tax support remain roughly as they are at the moment.”
A district council consultation will run from August 1 to October 5.
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I support Council Tax Rebates in assisting home owners and tenants in getting a rebate on their over-paid Council Tax.