Council Tax: Social Care Precept

Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top Excerpts

Wednesday 20th April 2016 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

My noble friend is right that councils have worked very hard over the past five years to deliver a better deal for local taxpayers, and that the important thing is to keep council tax down while satisfaction with local public services must be maintained. However, further savings can be made when councils account for one-quarter of all public spending. There is much that can be done that is appropriate in terms of merging services, as my noble friend has said.

[Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top (Lab)]

My Lords, will the Minister reconsider dealing with this simply with a national perspective? Following Parliamentary Questions that I have tabled, if he looks at the north-east as a whole, he will see that not only is it that not a single local authority would raise through the 2% precept enough to cover the minimum wage for the number of people who are publicly dependent for social care, but the better care fund will not be anything like sufficient to supplement the 2%. We have incredibly unequal and unfair distribution across the country. Will he commit to ensuring that the Government address this issue urgently so that vulnerable people are not put at risk by this global policy that does not address separate need, particularly in the north-east?

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

My Lords, I think I have already made it clear that the Government are taking action. For example, local council tax support is also available to help the vulnerable, and £3.7 billion was provided for that support in each of the last three years. I should also say that, looking particularly at certain groups such as the disabled, we have provided £500 million. That will be available by 2019-20 over those years for the disabled facilities grant, which is more than double what is spent at the moment.