Council punishing districts poorest Lib-Dems claim
The decision, opposed by all the Liberal Democrats, means that some low income claimants who are in work will be forced to shell out a minimum payment of 10 per cent instead of the current total of 8.5 per cent.
Pensioners and those in the vulnerable group - identified as being those in receipt of various forms of disability benefit - are protected and will see no change in their level of entitlement to assistance with council tax charges.
The council says it has been forced to ask for the extra money because it will not receive the same £170,000 transition grant from central government that it did last year.
However, the leader of Newbury Town Council, Julian Swift-Hook, said: “It is absolutely clear that the district council is imposing an additional tax burden on to those who can least afford it.
“They are continuing to support second home owners who are not among the worst off and using the increased tax take from some of the poorest people in the district. It is a social injustice.”
The Lib Dems say they would have raised the necessary funds by charging council tax to the owners of empty properties.
However, during a full council meeting earlier this month, Alan Law (Con, Basildon) defended the move, saying: “The government has removed the £170,000 transition grant that allowed us to set the contribution at 8.5 per cent in the first place.
“As this grant is no longer available we have no choice but to go back to 10 per cent. It is an increase of about 44p per week.”
Jeff Brooks, leader of the council’s Liberal Democrat party, hit back, saying: “It might not sound like a lot to you, but for someone on minimum wage it could mean the difference between putting something nice on the table for Christmas dinner or not, let’s be very clear about this.”
An amount of £6.23m will be drawn from the council’s Revenue Support Grant to contribute towards funding of the scheme, with the balance being met from income generated by earlier changes to Council Tax discounts - a total of £1.27m.
Under the Council Tax Reduction Scheme – which replaced Council Tax Benefit from April 1 - each council is required to establish its own local Scheme for Council Tax Support.
