Jobless face paying out for council tax

[davieG]

Merc

Everyone of working age – including the unemployed – will be expected to pay at least 15 per cent of their council tax under a new system proposed in Harborough district.

Owners of vacant properties would also have to pay full council tax after a month.

Under changes to the national council tax support scheme, each authority is getting 10 per cent less from central Government.

If adopted in January, Harborough District Council's proposed scheme would create a benefits cap of 85 per cent for claimants of working age.

It would come into force in April.

Council leader Mike Rook said: "We will be getting less money from the Government to fund the benefits we give out. So we need to have a scheme in place which is affordable within the funding available, while seeking to protect the most vulnerable."

Pensioners and war widows will be exempt to the changes and receive full council tax benefits.

He said: "We also felt that a discretionary fund should be created to help those who fit the criteria and deserve extra support based on their particular circumstances. This new scheme will allow us to be financially sustainable."

The fund of £35,000 will allow the council to support the most vulnerable residents on a case-by-case basis.

He said there would also be a reduction in the existing discounts for vacant properties, encouraging empty properties to be brought back into the rental market. Vacant properties would be exempt from council tax for a month, with owners required to pay full tax after that period.

[Steven]

These people should be in this thread.

Absolute cvnts of our time Pt.MXXVI

[Rincewind]

It's coming in force anyway. The housing will no longer be paying the benefits. Instead it will be added to the JSA etc and go into the bank meaning the claimant will be responsible for paying rent and CT. They will also have to pay a proportion of CT.

This is a good idea on paper and for the many that are able to manage their finances but it will cause problems for those who are not so good. A mother will use money in the bank to feed and clothe the children before the rent

Yes, before anyone says it, she should manage her money better and I agree, but we are not all given an accountants brain. There is help and guides but some will still miss out.

Boom time for pawnbrokers and loan sharks ahead.

[Charl91]

Yes, before anyone says it, she should manage her money better and I agree, but we are not all given an accountants brain.

You really don't need an accountants brain to manage your money though - it's Primary School level maths! Anyone without learning disabilities should be able to do it without a problem.

[pSinatra]

This is based on the assumption that everyone out of work is nothing more than a benefits scrounger.........all of them!! A popular belief that will be popular with those in the community who are fortunate enough to be in employment. Unless they find themselves being made redundant, out of work & not able to support their family.

I have worked for a local council & I have seen the vast amounts of money wasted. Their structure is completely top-heavy & there are far too many people getting paid far too much money for jobs that are not necessary. They have always taken their income for granted & now they had the money from central government reduced & council tax frozen. Instead of having a hard look at themselves, reducing wasteful practices & streamlining their business (starting at the top).........they are taking the easy option & penalising the vulnerable.

[BunkMoreland]

I don't really see any point in making the unemployed pay council tax as you are effectively giving them money and then just taking it back. A pointless transaction. I'll be pleased if this means students have to pay council tax though. Maybe it will instill in them an idea as to why pushing all the bins over on the way home from their scabby discoteques is neither big, clever nor funny.

[Rincewind]

Had two similar letters from the benefit office. Altered my payments because the job centre had informed them my circumstances had changed. This is ridiculous because they changed because the council had told them my circumstances had changed so they suspended my JSA then told the council my circumstances had changed who then told the job centre............etc etc

They do not say why. Tomorrow I will take letters and bank statements in to Wellington Street and they will say 'Oh yes we will adjust your claim' Then they will inform the job centre but leave out the reason.

Merging the two will be good for this reason alone but there should be no need for it if there was proper communication between departments.

All the council had to do was to look up the records. Instead they sent two letters saying the same thing. That is one stamp wasted on me. How many others does it happen to?

[Rincewind]

I don't really see any point in making the unemployed pay council tax as you are effectively giving them money and then just taking it back. A pointless transaction. I'll be pleased if this means students have to pay council tax though. Maybe it will instill in them an idea as to why pushing all the bins over on the way home from their scabby discotheques is neither big, clever nor funny.

Used to see that often when I walked there to work on Knighton road. Mostly on Saturday and Sunday morning. It was like an obstacle course.

[Rincewind]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/cutting-benefits-to-poorest-a-tragedy-8374315.html

[ADK]

If people are on welfare then i don't see the point in it. Maybe the local government should be able to claim funds from central government for any persons resident in their ward who are exempt from paying council tax (no idea if such a thing exists). Or just scrap council tax alltogether and the local councils get a fixed amount per resident or some other criteria (per house?). I'm all for simplification of the tax system.

[davieG]

Maybe if people see money leaving them for local services they might treat their neighbourhood with a little more respect, people that drop litter, vandalise, plaster graffiti seem oblivious to the fact that their council tax paying fellow citizens are coughing up evermore money to put it all right.

That was one of the plus points of the despised poll tax.

[ADK]

I don't see why paying council tax encourages people not to drop litter or vandalise. They would pay the same amount regardless.

[davieG]

I don't see why paying council tax encourages people not to drop litter or vandalise. They would pay the same amount regardless.

Well it seems to me the attitude is that's what we've got street cleaners for, they don't pay for them so why should they care. It may not have a massive impact and maybe they'd need reminding but if they saw their council tax going up every year just maybe it might register.