Council Tax Benefit has been replaced

From April 2013, the Government has replaced the national Council Tax Benefit scheme with local Council Tax Reduction schemes (also called Council Tax Support). Each local authority has designed its own scheme to help people on low income with their Council Tax bills.

To fund these new local schemes the Government will give each council 10 per cent less than the cost of the old national Council Tax Benefit scheme. At the same time, the Government has also said that pensioners must not lose any benefit compared with the old Council Tax Benefit scheme.

Our scheme

After consultation, we have decided not to cut the level of Council Tax Benefit despite the 10 per cent cut in Government funding because:

• the cost to the Council is relatively small (a quarter of one percent of the Council’s budget); and
• we believe that we can find savings from other sources in 2013-14, including from Tri-borough working with Hammersmith & Fulham and Westminster that will offset the cost.

As we decided not to make major changes, we have implemented the Government’s Default Scheme, which replicates the old Council Tax Benefit scheme. This means our local Council Tax Reduction scheme for the financial year 2013-14 is very similar to the previous current Council Tax Benefit system for all residents (pensioners and those of working age).

The Default Scheme is set out in the Council Tax Reductions Schemes (Default Scheme) (England) Regulations 2012. You can read the full regulations on the Government's legislation website. 

In future years (i.e. after 2013-14) it may be necessary to change the local scheme. If the Council’s Cabinet decides to do this, we will consult again.