Asked by: Jon Cruddas (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 8 June 2020 to Question 49601, when he plans to publish data on the number of additional households claiming local Council Tax Support as a result of covid-19 and the subsequent economic downturn.
Answered by Luke Hall
The Department publishes quarterly official statistics recording the number of local council tax support claimants, at the following address: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/910192/LCTS_claimants_2020-21_Q1.xlsx . The next release covering the second quarter of 2020/21 is planned for 25 November.
Asked by: Jon Cruddas (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will commission independent research into the additional costs to local authority council tax support schemes of covid-19 and the subsequent economic downturn.
Answered by Luke Hall
The Department publishes annual revenue budget and outturn data on local authority revenue expenditure and financing. These include council tax revenue foregone under local council tax support schemes. Outturn data for 2020-21 are scheduled for publication by Autumn 2021. These will capture costs to local authorities of providing local council tax support during the pandemic and will be available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing#2020-to-2021 .
Asked by: Jon Cruddas (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 8 June 2020 to Question 49601 on Council Tax Reduction Schemes: Coronavirus, how many local authorities have responded to his Department’s financial monitoring survey on numbers of claimants; and how many local authorities have yet to respond.
Answered by Luke Hall
The Department collects monthly monitoring returns on the financial impact of Covid-19 on local authorities, including data on the number of local council tax support claimants. In the most recent round, returns were received from 310 out of 314 billing authorities surveyed.
Asked by: Jon Cruddas (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of additional households that may claim council tax support in 2020-21 as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Simon Clarke
My Department is working with local authorities to collate data on the impacts of Covid-19 through a financial monitoring survey. The survey includes questions on changes in the number of households claiming council tax support in 2020-21 and about support provided through the £500 million Council Tax Hardship Fund which was announced at the Budget.
Asked by: Jon Cruddas (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 February 2020 to Question 12851, on Council Tax Reduction Schemes, how much income was forgone as a result of providing council tax support for working age and pensioner households in each London borough in 2019-20.
Answered by Simon Clarke
Council tax expected to be forgone in 2019-20 as a result of providing council tax support for working age and pensioner households was published as part of the Council Taxbase 2019 statistical release: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/council-taxbase-2019-in-england.
The amount of council tax expected to be forgone is included in the CT Support section of the local authority level dropdown.
Asked by: Jon Cruddas (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 February 2020 to Question 12853, on Council Tax Benefits, if he will provide details of the steps his Department has taken to tackle the findings in the Institute of Fiscal Studies research, published in January 2019, on the effect of the abolition of council tax benefit on low-income households.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Government considers views from a wide range of organisations, including the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and takes account of them as part of its ongoing management of council tax policy. Local authorities are responsible for the design of schemes that provide council tax support to low-income households in their area.
Asked by: Jon Cruddas (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 February 2020 to Question 12854, on Local Council Tax Support Schemes Independent Review, if he will provide details of the external organisations his Department has engaged with in the implementing the recommendations in Eric Ollerenshaw’s Independent Review of Local Council Tax Support Schemes.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Department regularly meets with a wide range of stakeholders – including representatives from local authorities, the Local Government Association, debt advice bodies, and other Government Departments – to discuss council tax policy, including local council tax support
Details of Ministers' and Permanent Secretary meetings with external organisations can be found at the following links on gov.uk:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dclg-ministerial-data
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/business-expenses-and-hospitality-for-dclg-senior-officials
The Department does not maintain a record of all meetings which take place between officials and external organisations.
Asked by: Jon Cruddas (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Government response to recommendation 9 of Eric Ollerenshaw’s 2016 Independent review of local Council Tax support schemes, whether his Department has issued guidance to local authorities on the collection of data on the effect of their schemes on claimants.
Answered by Luke Hall
The Government collects data from local authorities on the amount of council tax income forgone as a result of providing local council tax support to working age and pensioner claimants. We do not consider that requiring local authorities to provide more detailed information would be proportionate. Local authorities are best placed to decide what level of council tax support is appropriate in particular circumstances.
Asked by: Jon Cruddas (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities & Local Government, with reference to the Government's response to recommendation 10 of Eric Ollerenshaw’s 2016 Independent Review of Local Council Tax Support Schemes, if he will commission independent in-depth research into the effect of the introduction of local council tax support on low-income households affected by other reductions to social security benefits.
Answered by Luke Hall
The Government does not propose to pursue such research at this time, particularly as similar work has been carried out by the Institute of Fiscal Studies and others. However, we will continue to consider whether additional work might be helpful in further developing the Government’s understanding of local council tax support.
Asked by: Jon Cruddas (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings in the Institute of Fiscal Studies research, published in January 2019, on the effect of the abolition of council tax benefit.
Answered by Luke Hall
The Government has noted the findings of the Institute of Fiscal Studies’ research and closely monitors council tax collection rates, which were 97.0 per cent in 2018-19, as well as overall council tax levels and increases.