Posted 08.10.12
The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that the Government will set aside an extra £450 million to help freeze Council Tax bills in England.
Over the last two years the Government has provided grants of around £2 billion to help freeze Council Tax. A further freeze in 2013-14 would represent a real terms cut of around 2% and a fall of 9% in real terms over the past three years.
The £450 million will be made available, through a new grant scheme, to local authorities who decide to freeze or reduce their Council Tax next year. If they do, councils, police and fire authorities will stand to receive £225 million of funding in both financial years 2013-14 and 2014-15, equivalent to raising their 2012-13 council tax by 1%.
In addition, in 2013-14 the Government will propose to lower the local authority tax referendum threshold to 2%. This would mean if a local authority seeks to raise its relevant basic amount of Council Tax by more than 2%, local people would have the right to keep Council Tax bills down through a binding referendum veto. The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government will formally set out the detail on this in December.
CoalitionWatch from HouseMark: 10th October 2012
The Conservative Party plans to end automatic access to Housing Benefit for people under the age of 25.
Chancellor George Osborne, speaking at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, reiterated the Government's commitment to cut a further £16 billion from public spending including £10 billion in welfare cuts by the first full year of the next Parliament.
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NHF's Response
Posted 11.10.12
Responding to the Government's plan to cut Housing Benefit for young people under the age of 25, National Housing Federation Chief Executive David Orr said:
"Housing Benefit is a crucial safety net that should be decided on the needs of the individual, not simply their age. Cutting the Housing Benefit of under-25s will put many young people at risk of homelessness, particularly those who can't go back to their family home. Some may not even have a home to return to.
"The best way the Government can keep the Housing Benefit bill down is to focus on increasing the supply of housing and ensuring there are enough decent affordable homes."
