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Council Tax Reforms in wales
Could anyone help with information on plans to make all individuals pay an amount towards their council tax bill regardless of benefits. I can’t find any information about if this is going ahead and when?
Thanks
hi cleo -
this from rightsnet news back in may 2012 -
Wales is to retain a national scheme for council tax support from April 2013.
In a statement to the Welsh National Assembly yesterday, Minister for Local Government and Communities Carl Sargeant highlighted that council tax benefit is to be abolished at the end of March 2013 before going on to say -
‘In England, local authorities have been left to develop their own schemes, meaning that there could be hundreds of different approaches. This could see claimants in England with similar circumstances receiving very different levels of council tax support depending on where they live. I have been clear that this will not be the case in Wales. Here, we will have a nationally defined scheme that avoids a postcode lottery and provides a consistent level of support across Wales. We aim to ensure equality and fairness for all claimants.’
NB - whilst the provision of council tax support in England, including its localisation, will be governed by the arrangements set out the Local Government Finance Bill, the Welsh and Scottish governments have been given the power to decide on their own schemes, to be administered with a 10 per cent cut in funding.
cheers - shawn
The draft regs and notes can be found on the Welsh Government website. I’m away and on on my iPad so I cant point to them.
Aaron Shotton, deputy leader of the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) and its spokesman for finance and resources, said: “From next April, some claimants face potential cuts of more than 20% to their council tax benefit, and the WLGA has called on the Westminster Government to give an accurate and transparent announcement on the financial and social cost of their reforms.
“Local councils face a highly challenging fiscal environment, where the impacts of welfare reform and cuts to public spending on the most vulnerable in our society remain uncertain. Wherever possible, Welsh councils will work to mitigate the negative effects of the current financial climate in order to protect the communities that they serve.”
The whole article is here, Benefit changes slammed as ‘new poll tax’ for the poor
cheers gareth ... here we go -
‘We have sought to draft regulations that will provide for a single national framework scheme to be introduced and to enable modest local discretion provided that this is locally funded.’
http://wales.gov.uk/consultations/localgovernment/countaxred/?lang=en
http://wales.gov.uk/consultations/localgovernment/countaxred/?skip=1&lang=cy
thanks for all the info now trawling through regs with coffee and chocolate to try and cheer myself up to deal with all welfare reform and impact it is going to have.