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CTR (Scotland) increase of child premium from 01.04.17
Hi
A colleague just made me award that the Child Premium in CTR is to increase (Scotland). I apologise if this has been posted elsewhere but felt it’s worth sharing:
Legislation affecting the increase in the personal allowance
SSI 2016 No 253: The Council Tax Reduction (Scotland) Amendment (No 2) Regulations 2016.
This is effective from Saturday 01 April 2017.
This change applies to all CTR claims-working age and pensioner-, regardless of which Council Tax band applies to the property.
The child personal allowance in CTR will increase by 25% from £66.90 per week to £83.63.
Thanks
Allan
It is here Allan - http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/welfare-rights/news/item/amendments-to-the-council-tax-reduction-scheme-in-scotland1 - but easily missed and well worth highlighting :)
There’s also an extra £16.73 for each child for claimants on UC ( who have their CTR applicable amount based on their UC max amount) so that these claimants get the same additional support.
See reg 4 of SSI 2017 No 41 The Council Tax Reduction (Scotland) Amendment Regulations
2017
There are also structural changes to CTR Scotland to scale maximum support for bands E-H back to the level it would have been before the CT ratios were adjusted (with exceptions for claimants on lower incomes).
Just working on these regs * today, it looks to me that the formula being substituted for the maximum CTR is wrong: it results in 100% max support for bands A-D, but just approx 7% ,11% ,14% and 18% max support for bands E,F,G,H respectively which is clearly not the intention.
I’m sure that the formula quoted is giving the reduction in max support for the higher bands (where not exempt) but its been substituted into the main regs as the actual maximum. Does anyone have any relevant Scot.gov contact details for CTR?
(* that’s reg 6 and reg 13 of http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2016/253/made )
Surely the whole thing is misconceived isn’t it? The CTR higher band amendments seem to be founded on a belief that people in higher banded properties will end up paying more council tax under normal means testing arrangements after the new band spacings go through. But that is not how CTR works where (as in Scotland) the starting point is max CTR of 100% - an affordable contribution is assessed and that’s what you pay, irrespective of how much your full council tax would be. I cannot see how the proposed re-spacing of the bands alters that ... does it?
... But that is not how CTR works where (as in Scotland) the starting point is max CTR of 100% - an affordable contribution is assessed and that’s what you pay, irrespective of how much your full council tax would be. I cannot see how the proposed re-spacing of the bands alters that ... does it?
Well, that’s the point of the above amendments - the starting point for support will be less than 100% for bands E-H.
But how do they not qualify for regular CTR under Reg 14 in the normal way? The way I read it Reg 14A is only engaged at all if it results in a higher rebate than you would have got under Regulation 14 and Regulation 14 is only disapplied where the award works out less than the new Reg 14A award:
”(3A)The condition referred to in paragraph (1) is that the amount of council tax reduction calculated under this regulation is not less than the amount of council tax reduction calculated under regulation 14A”
That was why I took it to be an attempt to mitigate the effects of the higher band spacings rather than to restrict CTR.
[ Edited: 10 Mar 2017 at 05:26 pm by HB Anorak ]
... just approx 7% ,11% ,14% and 18% max support for bands E,F,G,H respectively which is clearly not the intention.
Are you looking at 14A.5.a.ii excess income, which produces very variable maxima as amount B changes?
Updated after playing around with our system’s figures. For your percentages to apply requires B to be set to to 1. Which requires a surplus income of exactly £35. Surplus incomes other than that will make B smaller than 1 for lower surpluses or greater for larger ones.
[ Edited: 10 Mar 2017 at 06:08 pm by Gareth Morgan ]Having read the policy note accompanying the SI (equivalent of an explanatory memorandum in England and Wales) I am more convinced than ever that this amendment does not set out to restrict CTR for people in higher banded properties:
This instrument amends the principal Regulations to reflect the Scottish Government’s manifesto commitments ... to exempt households living in higher band houses but with an income less than £25,000 from the change in how the council tax rate for properties in council tax bands E to H is calculated. The intention is to provide relief, equal to the increase in council tax arising from the changes to the multipliers which will be introduced by the Council Tax (Substitution of Proportions) (Scotland) Order 2016.
So it is intended to cushion the impact of the higher tax that will result from adjusting the band spacings. It is not an attempt to ensure that even CTR claimants get clobbered if they live in high-banded properties: quite the opposite, the intention is to protect people from the full impact if their income isn’t that high. But regular CTR does that already doesn’t it? I think what they are trying to do is provide marginal relief for people whose income is a bit too high to qualify for regular CTR, but still not so high that they won’t feel the pinch from the band adjustments. I think the maxima in Reg 66 are actually correct because if you look at the amount awarded under Reg 14A(7) it is the whole maximum CTR applicable to the claimant - you would want this to be a very small amount which is what caught Jon’s attention.
In plain English it is saying:
- your income is less than £25,000 a year
- you don’t qualify for CTR the normal way, not even after your Council Tax bill has gone up
- but you are understandably hacked off about your Council Tax going up
- so you can have this alternative very small rebate to cheer you up a bit
- don’t worry if your income is just a shade over £25,000: the relief tapers @20% just like a normal CTR assessment
So let me see, yes I think I’ve got this:
- the alternative maximum under Reg 14A is the amount you have to pay now, minus the amount you would have had to pay if they had left the bands alone: just the increase in other words
- if your income is less than £25,000 (or less for singles) this is what you will get
- if your income is more than £25,000 (or single equivalent) it tapers off at 20% a week
- in some cases this might be less than a normal Reg 14 rebate in which case there is a “better buy” comparison a la 2AR
... just approx 7% ,11% ,14% and 18% max support for bands E,F,G,H respectively which is clearly not the intention.
Are you looking at 14A.5.a.ii excess income, which produces very variable maxima as amount B changes?
Updated after playing around with our system’s figures. For your percentages to apply requires B to be set to to 1. Which requires a surplus income of exactly £35. Surplus incomes other than that will make B smaller than 1 for lower surpluses or greater for larger ones.
Thanks, Gareth - I must admit I’d temporarily failed to distinguish the reg 14/14A “amount B” from the reg 66 “amount B”.
Having read the policy note accompanying the SI (equivalent of an explanatory memorandum in England and Wales) I am more convinced than ever that this amendment does not set out to restrict CTR for people in higher banded properties:
This instrument amends the principal Regulations to reflect the Scottish Government’s manifesto commitments ... to exempt households living in higher band houses but with an income less than £25,000 from the change in how the council tax rate for properties in council tax bands E to H is calculated. The intention is to provide relief, equal to the increase in council tax arising from the changes to the multipliers which will be introduced by the Council Tax (Substitution of Proportions) (Scotland) Order 2016.
So it is intended to cushion the impact of the higher tax that will result from adjusting the band spacings. It is not an attempt to ensure that even CTR claimants get clobbered if they live in high-banded properties: quite the opposite, the intention is to protect people from the full impact if their income isn’t that high. But regular CTR does that already doesn’t it? I think what they are trying to do is provide marginal relief for people whose income is a bit too high to qualify for regular CTR, but still not so high that they won’t feel the pinch from the band adjustments. I think the maxima in Reg 66 are actually correct because if you look at the amount awarded under Reg 14A(7) it is the whole maximum CTR applicable to the claimant - you would want this to be a very small amount which is what caught Jon’s attention.
In plain English it is saying:
- your income is less than £25,000 a year
- you don’t qualify for CTR the normal way, not even after your Council Tax bill has gone up
- but you are understandably hacked off about your Council Tax going up
- so you can have this alternative very small rebate to cheer you up a bit
Yep that makes a lot more sense - I’ve definitely grabbed the wrongest end of the stick here. Just working through now to see how that happened. Thanks! ( Ploughing through the English CTRSs at the moment so it’s weird to see support being extended. )
[ Edited: 10 Mar 2017 at 07:35 pm by Jon Blackwell ]