Asked by: Jon Cruddas (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
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 Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
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 - Minister of State (Education)
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 Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
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 - Minister of State (Education)
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 Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what external organisations his Department has engaged with in implementing its response to Eric Ollerenshaw's Independent Review of Local Council Tax Support Schemes.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The Government engages with a wide range of organisations to understand the impact of council tax - including local council tax support schemes - on taxpayers.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the recommendations contained in the report from Mr Eric Ollerenshaw on Review of local council tax support schemes, published in March 2016, if he will commission research into the effect of local council tax support schemes on the budgets of other welfare programmes.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
The Government has no plans to commission research on the effect of council tax support schemes on the budgets of other welfare programmes. The Government published a formal response to Eric Ollerenshaw's review of local council tax support schemes in January 2018.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the review by Eric Ollerenshaw entitled Three Years On: An Independent Review of Local Council Tax Support Schemes, published in 2016, whether his Department has issued guidance to local authorities to collect data on the effect of their local council tax support schemes as by that review.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
The Government has not issued guidance to local authorities to collect data on the effect of their council tax reduction schemes.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Independent Review of local council tax support schemes by Eric Ollerenshaw, published in October 2016, if he will implement the recommendation in that review to commission academic research on the effect of local council tax support schemes within the wider context of other welfare and socio-economic changes.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
The Department has considered the recommendations made by Eric Ollerenshaw in his review of local council tax support schemes. The Government response to the review’s findings will be published shortly.
Asked by: Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when his Department plans to publish its response to the Ollerenshaw Review of Local Council Tax Support Schemes (LCTS), published on 31 March 2016; and what steps he plans to take to better understand the effect of LCTS on individuals and councils.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
The Department has considered the recommendations made by Eric Ollerenshaw in his review of local council tax support schemes. The Government response to the review’s findings will be published shortly.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when his Department plans to publish its response to the Ollerenshaw Review of Local Council Tax Support Schemes, published on 31 March 2016.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
The Department is carefully considering the recommendations made by Mr Ollerenshaw. The Government’s response to the review’s findings will be published in due course.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to respond to the findings of the Ollerenshaw review of local council tax support.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
The Department is carefully considering the recommendations made by Eric Ollerenshaw OBE. The Government’s response to the review’s findings will be published in due course.