Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Haringey Cabinet Proposing Abolition of Council Tax for Low Income Residents
Haringey Council is considering a scheme to remove the burden council tax from the borough's lowest income residents.
A paper going to cabinet tomorrow, aims to deliver on a manifesto pledge to “redistribute the burden of council tax.”
It is thought that around 6,000 families would benefit
If the proposal is approved by the cabinet, a ten week consultation will assess the levels of support for the scheme. If levels are sufficient, the scheme will be voted on by the full council.
Tags for Forum Posts: council tax
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Rob & Debbie on
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Does anyone have a link to the proposal ? Please could it be posted
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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Of course someone else will have to pay more. There are some very wealthy households in Haringey.
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“Haringey Council will stop imposing council tax on families with children claiming working aged benefits from April 2019. A small but vital start to reversing the ravages of austerity”. Decision at Cabinet meeting on 14th Augusthttps://t.co/pKirg8Se80 pic.twitter.com/wCB0DWZnxT
— Rev Paul Nicolson (@taxpayers_a_p) August 13, 2018
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Michael has done the maths for you below. You have totally jumped the gun.
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Permalink Reply by Protheroe O'Shea on
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The vast majority of people who get housing benefits are in work. People like teaching assistants, nurses cleaners etc. They absolutely deserve support with CT.
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Permalink Reply by Dana Carlin on
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Anka, low income residents used to get council tax benefits based on their income from the government, administered by the local authority. In the same way as housing benefit is administered. (Although universal credit is being rolled out in Haringey from October and then this will all change). When these benefits are calculated, you are only allowed the maximum the state thinks you need to live on. It’s not actually very much. People on unemployment or full disability benefits were entitled to full housing benefit and council tax benefit.
One of the austerity changes brought in by the Tory/LibDem coalition was to say to local authorities - we are not paying for council tax benefit anymore. We are going to give you the lump sum to distribute. But we are not giving you the full amount, we are only giving you 90% of the money you need. On top of all the other cuts to council funding and the changes to the formula, that meant authorities with higher levels of deprivation have had far deeper cuts.
This left councils in a difficult position. Pensioners were protected, but councils had to work out how to deal with these cuts. Haringey had made a commitment not to raise council tax. So, like a lot of other councils, Haringey at present makes the poorest residents, even those entitled to full housing benefit, pay a proportion of their council tax. (Disabled and pensioners are exempted) Except many can’t afford it. So they get into arrears, we send bailiffs etc. People have become street homeless because of council tax arrears. These are our poorest residents. They pay the highest proportion of their money in tax (VAT etc). And collecting this money also costs.
In our Labour manifesto this year, we committed to looking at a fairer way to deal with this. The council has to run our services. Most money goes to adult social care. But what is the point in hounding the poorest for this proportion of their council tax?
So, the idea is that we will give full council tax support to families etc. And we will consider whether to raise council tax on our highest band properties (with reductions for low income households in those properties). (Council tax rises have not yet been considered by the council - so this is some way off). These proposals all have to go out for consultation, so you will have your say. And the amounts are not high - the increases if they go ahead may be £10-£20 a month. That’s a few pounds a week.
These are difficult choices. But if we want to live in a fairer society, if we believe that we are all responsible for the children in our communities, we need to pull together. Austerity hasn’t ended yet.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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To get this into proportion, there are over 100,000 households in Haringey and this scheme would benefit 6,000 of the very poorest in the borough. Even with maximum council tax discount these household still pay something like 10-15% of the annual full council tax bill. That amount redistributed amongst the remaining 90,000+ households in the borough is minuscule per household (less than £10 per year/ 20p per week for band E payers) but it means those 6,000 households don’t have to make such a stark choice between food, fuel, rent and council tax.
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I’m afraid I have to disagree. My eldest nephew is a single parent with an 10 year old son with severe behavioural problems. Because of this he has to have one to one teaching and that is only available between 11am and 2pm. Because of his son’s behavioural problems he cannot get child care even if he could afford it. Try as he might my nephew cannot find a job that will let him work those hours so he lives on benefits. Talking to other parents who also have children at the same educational resource he has found that is not alone in having these problems. For him his council tax payment is his entire winter fuel bill.
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Ok, how would you decide if it was down to you? You obviously have strong views about poor people having too many children, for example. So how many kids are poor people allowed to have?
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People on benefits should have as many children as they want, only others should have as many as they *think* they can afford.
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