'Cockney Benefit Tourist Invaders' jibe as Brent Council relocates families in Sandwell

Illustration used in the Halesowen News

Following Sandwell' Council's loss of a court case which over-ruled their attempt to withhold Council Tax benefit for two years from new residents who are families rehoused by Brent and other London boroughs in Sandwell, near Birmingham, Brent Council is again sending families to the city.

The Halesowen News LINK states:

In a memo entitled Out of Area Placement Notification seen by the News Brent Council warned Sandwell Council officers of its plans.

The memo said:

We are housing tenants again in the Sandwell Council area due to the change in the council tax status.

We will be housing clients in temporary accommodation and emergency hotel accommodation (mainly houses) with offers of two year tenancies.

The memo also revealed Brent Council would be advising Hammersmith and Fulham Council to do the same.

The story goes on:

Deputy council leader Councillor Steve Eling said:

Within just weeks of the court's judgement that deemed there was no evidence of people being relocated from London to Sandwell, a London borough has placed a family here and another has confirmed it will be dumping poor families in Sandwell, apparently taking advantage of cheaper rent here.

This is a direct result of the court's judgement in the case of Brent Council and would appear to apply equally to the others. As a result, we're powerless to stop this happening.

We believe some of these families don't want to come here either because it takes them away from family and friends.

This will create an added burden on Sandwell Council taxpayers who will now have to pick up 100 per cent of the bill for these extra families who can't afford to pay council tax - as well as potentially for families that London boroughs have already placed here.

That's why we introduced the two-year residency rule in the first place, to protect Sandwell taxpayers and Sandwell families who are most in need.

Following the court's judgement, we've had no choice but to suspend that policy. We'll now have to either make further cuts or ask everyone - including the most vulnerable and poorest people in the borough - to pay something towards their council tax bill.

Following the court's judgement, we now have a £1.6 million shortfall in the money to cover the cost of council tax discounts.

The stereotype in the illustration above may be ridiculous but such stereotyping of Brent families, already removed from friends and family, clearly presents a danger that they will encounter prejudice and resentment on arrival in Sandwell and the possibility that the children of 'invading' 'Cockney Benefit Tourists' will encounter bullying in school.

Thankfully the Halesowen News quotes the warmer words of another local councillor:

Councillor John Tipper said:

Whatever the finances of the matter is we have to remember these people who are coming into Sandwell are probably not coming by choice and are human beings who should not be demonised. I hope the people of Sandwell offer the hand of friendship to these newcomers.

Solidarity as more Brent residents are summonsed by Brent Council for non-payment of Council Tax

Members of Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group, Brent Trades Council,  Ealing Housing Co-op, Unite Community, Brent Fightback and Brent Green Party stood outside Willesden Magistrates Court today when a new tranche of Brent residents appeared in response to summonses issued by Brent Council for non-payment of Council Tax.

Following Council Tax benefit changes many residents who previously did not have to pay the full amount, and in some cases any, now have to pay. Brent Council's scheme expects more in payment than many other local authorities, some of which have chosen to maintain 100% council tax benefit.

Speaking to local residents as they arrived it became clear that these weren't the 'idle and feckless scroungers' as stereotyped by ConDems and the media.

They were often people on low pay or zero hours contracts who found themselves having to choose between paying their rent or paying the Concil Tax. Needless to say they opted to pay rent to keep a roof over their heads.

Previously Muhummed Butt, leader of Brent Council,  has justified the summonses as the only way to force residents to engage with the Council about their arrears. Today a Brent Council officer was in court to give advice before any formal proceedings and some residents came out having settled terms for payment or been referred for further help with benefits. One resident was complimentary about the helpfulness of the officer.

It does seem a pity that residents had to go to court at all, with all the associated worry and stigma, and I hope backbench councillors and the Opposition will explore with the Cabinet how to better enagage people before matters reach this stage.

Preferably of course it would be best to revise the scheme so that people are not faced with the unpalatable choice of having to choose between payment of Council Tax and payment of rent or purchase of food.  However, the Council approved the scheme earlier this year with only slight modifications, despite protests.

Contacts:
www.unitetheunion.org/community   Pilgrim.tucker@unitetheunion.org
http://kilburnunemployed.blogspot.com/  kilburnuwg@gmail.com
Zacchaeus 2000 - Justice for Debtors http://z2k.org/

When is a Brent consultation NOT a consultation?

How the poor will be hit by Council Tax Support scheme

The Special Meeting of Brent Council on Monday will be making decisions on the new Council Tax Support scheme that will leave many residents worse off. This follows the Coalition handing implementation of the schemes to local councils whilst at the same time reducing the money available by at least 10%.

The overall result in Brent is that residents who used to receive Brent will now generally  have to pay double the contribution to Council Tax that they used to pay.   These residents will also be hit by other benefit changes including the Housing Benefit cap and the Universal Benefit cap. 24,604 residents will be affected by the changes which can only have the effect of pushing more people into poverty.

The following table gives an overall picture but the full document needs to be read for detail on excemptions and the means-testing involved.
 

Description of deduction	Amount of weekly deduction 2012/13	Proposed weekly CTS scheme deduction	Annual change in 2013/14
Adult in receipt of pension credit guarantee credit or savings credit	Nil	Nil	Nil
Adult in receipt of employment support allowance (income related) main or assessment phase	Nil	Nil	Nil
Adult in receipt of job seekers allowance (contribution based) or employment support allowance (contributed based)	£3.30	£6.60	£171.60
Gross income of adult  in remunerative work is less than £183	£3.30	£6.60	£171.60
Gross income of adult in remunerative work is greater than or equal to £183 but less than £316	£6.55	£13.10	£340.60
Gross income of adult in remunerative work is greater than or equal to £316 but less than £394	£8.25	£16.50	£429.00
Gross income of adult in remunerative work is greater than or equal to £394	£9.90	£19.80	£514.80
Adult in receipt if job seekers allowance (income based)	Nil	£6.60	£343.20
Adult in receipt of income support	Nil	Nil	Nil
Adult working less than 16 hours per week or is on maternity, paternity, adoption or sick leave	£3.30	£6.60	£171.60
Any other adult not included in the above descriptions	£3.30	£6.60	£171.60

There are likely to be difficulties concerning collection of council tax where resident are already financial pressed or where they have not paid anything before.

A second decision that the Full Council will have to make is on changing the amount of tax paid on empty properties. Owners of such properties will now have to pay more Council Tax and in the case of long-term empty homes this could be a 150% tax after two years.

These are the proposals set out in the report:
 

• Class A empty properties (requiring major repairs or undergoing structural alterations) – reduce the current 100% exemption to 50% discount for the first twelve months.

• Class C empty properties (vacant and substantially unfurnished) – reduce the current 100% exemption to zero so that the owners of such properties pay 100% of their Council Tax liability with immediate effect from the date of vacation.

• Second Homes – Remove the current 10% discount so that owners of such properties pay 100% of their Council Tax liability

• Long term empty properties – charge a 50% premium after they have been empty and unfurnished for 2 years so that the Council Tax liability for such properties is 150% (after two years).

This is the full report:

 

How Council Tax Support proposals will hit the poor

 The proactive Chalkhill Residents Association has put up posters around the estate urging residents('THIS IS IMPORTANT')  to respond to the consultation on Local Council Tax Support. The consultation ends on 10th August.  Unfortunately, despite paper copies of the consultation form being available in libraries and One Stop Shops, you really need to view the on-line documentation to get a full idea of the repercussions of the change from Council Tax Benefit to Local Council Tax Support. Unfortunately the complexity of these documents will put many off.  LINK   There was a public meeting about the changes at Brent Town Hall on Friday which unfortunately was not very well advertised with no details on the consultation site or on the leaflets. It didn't help that it was on the Olympics Opening Ceremony day.

In an article in the Guardian last week LINK Polly Toynbee put the changes into context stating that this was another example of the Coalition devolving the axe to councils: 

Here's the background: on average, households pay £1,000 a year in council tax. Until now, households on low incomes were exempt or paid only according to their means, so 5.9m households received council tax benefit. From next April, the benefit is cut by 10%, which is bad enough; but then insanity takes over. Each local authority will be given the sum that was handed out in benefit in their area (less 10%) to disperse as they please. They must keep paying the full benefit to pensioners and "the vulnerable". Each council must choose who is "vulnerable", as the government refuses to provide its own definition. Half of the recipients are pensioners, so protecting them means all other low-income households bear the whole cut, averaging 20%. People who live in areas with a lot of pensioners or a lot of the "vulnerable" will suffer the biggest cuts, as much as 30% or more.

Brent Council says that this represents a cut of at least £5.2m in 2013/14 taking account of the increasing number of people claiming benefit.  They say that if they were to retain the current Council Tax Benefit scheme it would have to reduce current services: 'Instead Brent is proposing a new scheme that is as fair as possible and in line with the needs of the community'. They are clearly caught between a rock and a hard place but end up carrying out the Coalition's cuts.

They set out these 'Key Principles':

Principle 1: Everyone should pay something

At present, claimants in receipt of income support, job seekers allowance (income based) and employment support allowance (income related) and other claimants not receiving these but with an income below the required level for their basic living needs, generally receive 100 per cent council tax benefit and therefore pay no council tax.

The council proposes that all working age claimants (unless protected) should pay at least 20 per cent of their council tax under the CTS scheme.

Principle 2: The most vulnerable claimants should be protected (from the minimum contribution)

Claimants will be protected from the 20 per cent minimum contribution if they or their partner or dependants are entitled to a disability premium or enhanced disability premium (normally given where disability living allowance has been awarded) or disabled earnings disregard, or the claimant is in receipt of disabled persons reduction for council tax purposes, war disablement pension or war widow’s pension.

Principle 3: The scheme should incentivise work

At present, the first £5 of a single claimant’s earnings, £10 of a couple’s earnings and £25 of a single parent’s earnings are not counted when calculating their weekly income for the purposes of determining their entitlement to council tax benefit.

The council proposes to increase this level by an additional £10 a week under its proposed scheme for single claimants, couples and single parents. This would mean that the first £15 of a single claimant’s earnings, £20 of a couple’s earnings and £35 of a single parent’s earnings would not be counted when calculating their entitlement to council tax support

Principle 4: Everyone in the household should contribute

At present, a deduction is generally made from potential weekly council tax benefit entitlement in respect of other adults aged 18 or over living in the claimant’s home. These are referred to as non-dependants. A non-dependant is a person who is living with the claimant but who is not dependent upon them, and not living in their home on a commercial basis, (i.e. as a joint tenant or sub tenant). Non-dependants include an adult son or daughter, a mother or father, friend etc of the claimant.

These people are assumed to be giving the claimant some money towards their council tax regardless of whether or not they are actually doing so. This assumed contribution is based upon the non-dependant's circumstances.

The draft scheme proposes doubling existing levels of these contributions. Additionally for other adults in receipt of job seekers allowance (income based), a charge of £6.60 is proposed instead of no charge as at present.

The current deduction rates applied to council tax benefit in 2012/13 and the proposed rates for the council’s local CTS scheme are shown in Appendix C.

Principle 5: Better off claimants should pay relatively more so that the least well off receive greater protection

The draft scheme proposes to continue to reduce entitlement to help with Council Tax as income / earnings increase. However, it is proposed that the calculation of this is adjusted so that the rate at which Council Tax Support reduces where weekly income exceeds basic living needs is 30p in every pound rather than the 20p currently applied. This is referred to as the taper and it is often expressed in proportionate terms. It is currently 20% per week for the existing Council Tax Benefit scheme and will become 30% per week under the proposed Council Tax Support scheme.

Principle 6: Benefit should not be paid to those with relatively large capital or savings

At present, working age claimants with savings and investments above £16,000 are generally not entitled to council tax benefit.

Our proposal is that working age claimants with capital such as savings and investments amounting to over £6,000 shall not be entitled to council tax support

Feature 1: Removal of second adult rebate scheme for working age claimants

The current second adult rebate scheme (whereby claimants whose own income is too high to receive CTB, but have other adult(s) in the household whose income is low, can receive a council tax discount of up to 25 per cent) is to be abolished for working age claimants.

Feature 2: Rate of allowances and premiums to be frozen at 2012/2013

levels

Premiums and personal allowances used to determine basic living needs for a claimant and their family when calculating entitlement to CTS shall be held at the rates applied for 2012/13.

 For practical purposes the most valuable document is probably worked calculations for particular circumstances and so I have made that available below:

The document sets out what the claimant will have to pay each week  from 1st April 2013 when Local Council Tax Support comes in, compared to current Council Tax Benefit. In the examples below the extra money the claimant will have to find (the difference between Council Tax liability and Council Tax Support) is in blue.

• A Single Person in receipt of Job Seekers Allowance (Income Based) living in a Band A property. Claimant will need to pay extra £2.62 weekly 
• A Couple with 3 children, in receipt of Job Seekers Allowance (Income Based) and Child Tax Credits, living in a Band D property. £5.24 weekly 
•  A Single Parent with 2 children, in receipt of Income Support and Child Tax Credits, living in a Band C property. £3.49 weekly 
• A Couple with 2 children, in receipt of Job Seekers Allowance (Income Based) and Child Tax Credits, living with another adult (i.e. a non-dependant) in a Band F property. The non-dependant is also in receipt of Job Seekers Allowance (Income Based). £14.17 weekly 
• A Single Person earning £90.00 per week and living in a Band A property. £3.82 weekly 
• A Couple with 3 children, with a total income of £400 per week (made up of Self-Employed Earnings and Tax Credits), living in a band D property £16.96 weekly. 
• A Single Parent with 2 children, with a total income of £270 per week (made up of Salary and Tax Credits), living in a Band C property £3.49 weekly. 

These extra payments will of course come on top of the housing benefit cap and other changes which will make the poor worse off.

I would welcome a report of guest blog from anyone who was at Friday's meeting. Send to mafran@globalnet.co.uk

Brent faces 'difficult decisions' on Council Tax support

Brent Council will be consulting in June on the level of Council Tax payment for those on benefits. It is likely that many families and individuals will have to pay more.

From the Brent Council website:

The Government is abolishing the Council Tax Benefit scheme and is asking councils to replace it with their own locally run service called Council Tax Support. To ensure we have a scheme that suits our borough Brent is consulting with residents on its proposals. 

As well as having to create a local scheme that is suitable for Brent, the council will also have to work within a budget that has been reduced by ten per cent.  Early estimates suggest this represents an initial reduction of at least £3.5 million, but this gap will increase if the number of people claiming benefit goes up, which already appears to be the trend.  

This shortage in funding means we have to make some difficult decisions about who gets financial support and how much.  

To create a system that is as fair as possible and in line with the needs of the community, Brent Council is putting together proposals for a new system and is consulting with residents to see how you feel this would work in our borough.

• Why is the Council Tax Benefit scheme being abolished?
• What the changes mean
• What happens next? 

Why is the Council Tax Benefit scheme being abolished?

The benefit system is facing a radical over-haul which was kick started back in 2011 with changes to Housing Benefit For the most part reform has meant the amount of money available to councils has been reduced.

At the same time, the Government has introduced the Localism Bill, much of this bill involves the government handing over control of budgets and decision making powers to local councils. One of the many benefits to be affected by these changes is the national Council Tax Benefit scheme which will be replaced by local Council Tax Support in April 2013.

What the changes mean

• Every single council will have their own local Council Tax Support scheme, with its own eligibility criteria.
• Next year Brent will have ten per cent less money for Council Tax Support than it currently spends on Council Tax Benefit.  It will also have to manage what it spends on helping people within this budget, even if more people start to claim benefit.
• The government has specified that certain groups such as pensioners will be  protected and should see no changes to their entitlement - however, it's up to each council to consider whether to protect other groups - and how to fund any extra protections.
• The government wants councils to incentivise people to find work, by making the system support them better when they move into work.

• Brent has to decide whether to change the current rules for claiming Council Tax Benefit in order to operate the new scheme at a lower cost. However, if a council decides to keep the current scheme and continues to assess people as the government does now, then it will have to make cuts to other services in order to make up the reduction in funding.

What happens next?

Consultation starts in June and ends in early August.  A decision - taking account of your feedback for a localised version of the scheme - will be made later in the year.