Council tax bill set to rise for more than 2,000 West Berkshire residents

District council vote to cap Council Tax Support

MORE than 2,000 West Berkshire residents will need to tighten their purse strings after councillors voted to impose a cap on the level of council tax support offered to working age claimants.

Council Tax Support (CTS) is partly funded by West Berkshire Council and partly through a central government grant.

It currently offers the area’s most vulnerable residents up to 90 per cent discount on their council tax bill.

However at a meeting of the full council earlier this month members voted to cap the reduction at 70 per cent for working age claimants, which it is hoped will save the cash-strapped local authority almost £400,000 per year.

The savings package also proposed to cap the maximum amount of relief given at that of a band D property, meaning that those in council tax bands E to H would not receive a bigger reduction in their bill.

Changes also mean that claimants will not be eligible for a reduction if the entitlement amounts to less than £3 per week, as well as the scrapping of the second adult rebate.

It is thought that the change will affect more than 2,000 low-income households, potentially increasing their council tax bills by more than £200 per year.

Those of pension-age and vulnerable persons in receipt of certain benefits will be unaffected by any of the proposed changes.

However, Lee Dillon (Lib Dem, Thatcham North) objected to the proposal, saying: “We can’t support the proposal because the reduction from 90 per cent to 70 per cent puts a council tax rise on the 2,000 poorest members of our community.

“If your council tax bill is £1,000 and you’re paying 10 per cent of that, it means you pay £100, but if you have to start paying 30 per cent of that bill then your council tax could rise by £200.

“We’re also seeing the stripping away of tax credits, so we’re seeing people squeezed by central government and now we’re seeing them squeezed by this authority.”

Opposition leader Alan Macro (Lib Dem, Theale) agreed, saying it was a “great shame” that working residents on a low income working would once again be affected.

Alan Law (Con, Basildon) defended the proposals and said: “I have to say I totally support this package with a saving of almost £400,000 per annum.

“We’re not targeting the most vulnerable – they are exempt from this.

“We still have a hardship scheme that can address those people that are most impacted.”

The council voted in favour, with the three Liberal Democrat members, Alan Macro, Lee Dillon and Billy Drummond, voting against.

The changes will come into effect from April 1, 2016 as West Berkshire Council continue to look for ways to make £14.8m worth of savings.

At the same meeting, councillors also voted unanimously to scrap the 28-day reduction in council tax for vacant properties which it says will save around £250,000 per year.

The move means that vacant properties will no longer be entitled to a 100-per-cent discount in council tax for the first 28 days, barring special circumstances.