Council consults over planned cuts to Council Tax help

Changes made to the Council Tax system by the coalition Government in Westminster meant that Council Tax Benefit was replaced by a local scheme called Council Tax Support from April last year.

Under the current scheme, discounts of up to 91.5% of a household's bill can be applied to working age people whose household income meets the scheme's criteria.

But now, following a report to the council's ruling executive cabinet earlier this month, the council is now consulting on a number of options that would see support cut with the lowest earning members of the community expected to bear a greater share of Council Tax burden.

The report, authored by the Council's Ralph Gill, outlined four potential options ranging from making no change to the current levels of support available through to cutting back support to 80% - A potential saving of just a little over £300,000.

Rising arrears

But the option of maintaining the status quo was dismissed outright however, with the Council's ruling Conservative Executive committee voting only to take forward the three options that would result in a cut to the level of assistance available.

The Executive's decision came in spite of warnings in the Chief Benefit Officer's report citing Citizen’s Advice Bureau figures showing an alarming 17% increase in enquires relating to Council Tax in the last year. The consumer advocacy group now describes Council Tax arrears as its biggest area of concern, with the largest number of enquiries coming from in-work households.

Figures also showed that there are over 460 households within the Selby District that are also affected by the so-called spare room tax on tenants of social housing. 70 of these have an average of £23.62 reduction in their weekly Housing Benefit; 394 have an average of £12.61 reduction. 

Cllr. Cliff Lunn (Con, Hambleton), Executive Member with portfolio for Finance and Resources, commented, “We want as many people as possible to take part in this major new consultation.

“It is an important opportunity for members of the public to directly influence how we use taxpayers' money to support the most vulnerable members of our community.”

The consultation will run from July 14th until August 24th. Those wishing to contribute are asked to fill out a short survey on the council's website at www.selby.gov.uk/surveys/ctax/counciltaxsupport.htm