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The shifting sands of council tax benefit

While local authorities try to get their houses in order on council tax benefit, the government is changing the rules of the game
Communities secretary eric pickles on the conference platform
The government has announced extra funding for councils to deal with changes to council tax benefit Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian
The government has announced extra funding for councils to deal with changes to council tax benefit Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

The localisation of council tax support marks one of the most significant reforms of the welfare system for 60 years. Yet, with only 10 weeks remaining before councils must decide on the new scheme, the future of council tax benefit in England remains highly uncertain.

Recent research by the New Policy Institute and False Economy provides some insight into what councils have been proposing. A sample of the proposed local schemes indicated that of 200 councils, only 20% intended to replicate the former system and make savings elsewhere in their budgets.

The vast majority intended to make the savings by reducing the amount of claimants and/or cutting the amount of support they receive. By far the most common measure considered was to introduce a minimum payment of typically between 15-20% of council tax liability (proposed by 70% of sample councils). Other popular measures included removing the second adult rebate (50%) and lowering the maximum savings limit (35%).

However, within a remarkably short space of time much of this research has become obsolete.

The announcement by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) that an additional £100m of funding would be made available to councils to develop schemes that meet certain criteria of "best practice", has played no small part in this development. Additionally, the amendment to the local government finance bill, which sets out that the reforms to council tax benefit will be subject to review after three years, has also altered the stakes.

Although the changes to the bill were arguably a well-intended way to incentivise councils not just to protect the poorest from dramatic changes but to monitor the effectiveness of the reform, they have come at a point when most councils consultations have already closed.

Despite more than 200 authorities having drafted new schemes, many are now either amending their plans in order to qualify for the grant, are reopening consultations or extending their consultation periods. Additionally, it is plausible that councils will opt to "wait and see", absorb the cut and reappraise next year, going through the process all over again.

As the most widely claimed means-tested benefit in England, the implications of the reform of council tax benefit are serious and far-reaching. It is deeply worrying that with a mere 10 weeks remaining for councils to decide on the new scheme, the sands continue to shift around its reform.

Sabrina Bushe is a researcher at the New Policy Institute

The findings featured precede a larger research project by the New Policy Institute, funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, which will detail the new schemes adopted by all councils across England and the effects of reform on the estimated 3.7 million council tax benefit claimants. The findings will be made publicly available online from early December.

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