Posted 24.12.12
Proposals to reduce benefits in Birmingham have been revised following public consultation - but Government cuts to funding still leave the City Council with no alternative but to cut support to some of the poorest families.
Councils are being required by government to administer and take up responsibility for Council Tax benefit as of 1 April 2013; and the funding to councils will be cut by 10% - which means a £11.08 million shortfall in Birmingham.
Consultation on a draft Council Tax Support Scheme for Birmingham ran for three months from September, and a report to the Council's Cabinet on the 7th January will propose further mitigation in light of extensive feedback from the public.
The revised scheme now includes protection for claimants who are in receipt of Employment and Support Allowance and who in addition also receive a qualifying disability premium.
Protection will also be provided for claimants who receive a carers premium. The minimum amount that people who are not in the protected categories will have to pay will now be set at 20% rather than the originally proposed 24%, directly as a result of the consultation feedback.
Other mitigating measures announced in September will still be included in the scheme - meaning pensioners (including claimants of working age in receipt of a war pension), people entitled to a disability premium, families with children under the age of six and families with a disabled child of any age are protected in that their benefit will be calculated based on 100% of their Council Tax liability, rather than 80%. A hardship fund of £1 million will also be made available.
In total, the consultation, which ran from 10 September to 2 December 2012, attracted 2,700 telephone calls, 8,000 webpage visits, 1,300 formal online responses and over 200 people attended five public meetings that were staged across the City.
