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Are cuts to Council Tax Support in England a false economy for councils?

Key points Total uncollected council tax is £400m higher than in 2013-14 when Council Tax Benefit was abolished. The number of local authorities that have either retained CTB or set no minimum payment continues to decline, and more local authorit…

Published: 10th Aug 2017
Authors: Carla Ayrton, Karen Barker
Category: Council Tax

Key changes to council tax support in 2017/18

Key points Council tax support (CTS) gives low-income working-age families a discount on the amount of council tax they have to pay. So if CTS is cut, the result is a tax increase for those families affected. 74 councils changed their schemes in …

Published: 4th Apr 2017
Authors: Otis Long, Carla Ayrton
Category: Council Tax

Have cuts to Council Tax Support in England led to rising council tax arrears?

Council Tax arrears have risen in the years since the introduction of Council Tax Support (CTS), a local replacement for Council Tax Benefit (CTB) which tends to be less generous. This briefing paper looks at the relationship between the generosity o…

Published: 12th Dec 2016
Author: Carla Ayrton
Category: Council Tax

Key Changes to Council Tax Support in 2016/17

April 2016 marks the beginning of the fourth year since Council Tax Benefit (CTB), a national system of support for council tax bills, was localised and replaced by Council Tax Support (CTS). Since April 2013, councils have had the freedom to devise …

Published: 5th Apr 2016
Author: Theo Barry Born
Category: Council Tax

Council tax reform in the age of localism: why councils should take the lead

Why council tax reform is needed now 1. In England (and Scotland), council tax is still levied on the basis of the 1991 property values used when the tax was introduced in 1993. Since then, all houses and flats have gone up in value but some have go…

Published: 2nd Dec 2015
Authors: Peter Kenway, Ines Newman
Category: Council Tax

Key changes to Council Tax Support in April 2015

The national system of Council Tax Benefit (CTB) was abolished in April 2013 and replaced with locally devised Council Tax Support (CTS). Now in its third year this summary shows how the system is changing and its impact on the working-age families r…

Published: 2nd Apr 2015
Authors: Theo Barry Born, Hannah Aldridge
Category: Council Tax

The overlaps between the Bedroom Tax and cuts in council tax support

The Affordable Homes Bill, currently gathering dust in parliament, aims to reduce the number of families who pay the “Bedroom Tax” (or “removal of the spare room subsidy”). At the same time, changes to council tax support mean increasing numbers of l…

Published: 17th Feb 2015
Author: Hannah Aldridge
Category: Social Security and Welfare Reform

How have low-income families been affected by changes to council tax support?

April 2014 marks the first anniversary of the introduction of Council Tax Support (CTS) – the successor to Council Tax Benefit (CTB) for working-age adults in England. This summary shows how the system is changing and its impact on families receiving…

Published: 1st Apr 2014
Authors: , Peter Kenway, Hannah Aldridge
Category: Council Tax

The Impact of Localising Council Tax Benefit

In April 2013, Council Tax Benefit (CTB) was abolished and replaced by Council Tax Support (CTS). In England, 326 local authorities had to devise their own local CTS schemes but with 10% less funding. This summary looks at the impact of that change o…

Published: 28th Mar 2013
Authors: , Peter Kenway, Hannah Aldridge
Category: Council Tax

A Poisoned Chalice for Local Government

This paper analyses the implications for English local authorities of the Government’s consultation document on the replacement of council tax benefit (CTB). Local authorities now have 18 months to design, construct and introduce their own replacemen…

Published: 24th Oct 2011
Author: Peter Kenway
Category: Local Government

Council Tax Benefit: the effect of a 10% cut

The Government’s plans to reduce spending on Council Tax Benefit by 10 per cent will have a disproportionate impact on local authorities which are in areas of high level of deprivation – with the most affected losing more than four times as much per …

Published: 1st Dec 2010
Author: Dan Paskins
Category: Council Tax

A Benefit to 8 Million Households: what CTB does and how to improve it

This document presents a concise account of possible changes to Council Tax Benefit (CTB), both to make it fairer and to increase the rate of take-up which is worse than that for any other means-tested benefit. It has been written to help the Local G…

Published: 1st Sep 2007
Author: Peter Kenway
Category: Council Tax

Is the Council Tax Dead? Questions of Principle for the Government and the Lyons Inquiry

In September 2005, the Government announced that it was cancelling the exercise already underway to create a new valuation list for all homes in England and to postpone any change to the basis on which council tax is levied until after the next Gener…

Published: 1st Sep 2006
Author: Peter Kenway
Category: Council Tax

Reflections on Fairness and its Implications for the Evaluation of Council Tax Reform

This note responds to the request for ‘technical’ feedback to the interim report of Sir Michael Lyons’ Inquiry into Local Government (hereafter Lyons). Its focus is the way that Lyons has evaluated the different options for reform of the Council Tax …

Published: 1st Feb 2006
Author: Peter Kenway
Category: Council Tax

Making it Fair: Council Tax Benefit and Working Households

This paper is a sequel to Council Tax: the answer?, published last year by the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU), which set out a series of proposals to reform the council tax in April 2007, at the same time as the revaluation of all propertie…

Published: 1st Jun 2005
Authors: Peter Kenway, Guy Palmer
Category: Council Tax

Council Tax: The Answer?

The future of the council tax is now a hot subject. But this is not because people have come to believe passionately in the need for reform. Rather, it is because council tax has been rising faster even than earnings, never mind prices. So over the f…

Published: 1st Mar 2004
Authors: Peter Kenway, Guy Palmer
Category: Council Tax

Balance of Funding Review: Options for Reform of Council Tax

This paper presents an analysis of the options for reforming the council tax, a subject with which the New Policy Institute has been engaged for some years now. Its remit only covers reforms to the current system and so, for example, it does not look…

Published: 1st Jan 2004
Authors: Peter Kenway, Guy Palmer
Category: Council Tax

The Impact of Council Tax on Older People’s Income

This report examines the council tax system from the point of view of pensioners.The latest rises in the tax impact on all households whether pensioner or non-pensioner.Yet forpensioners, they are just the latest turn of a screw that has been tighten…

Published: 1st Sep 2003
Authors: Peter Kenway, Jenny Pannell
Category: Council Tax

Council Tax Revaluation: Coping with Regional Effects

The subject of this paper is the forthcoming revaluation of domestic properties across England for the purposes of establishing their liability for council tax. The revaluation will take place in 2005 and its results will affect council tax bills fro…

Published: 1st Jul 2003
Authors: Peter Kenway, Guy Palmer
Category: Council Tax

Council Tax Benefit Restriction

This paper examines the current policy of restricting council tax benefit (CTB) at the level of band E. With a principal focus on the differential impact at a regional level, it considers both the evidence on who the policy affects at present and the…

Published: 1st Jul 2003
Authors: Peter Kenway, Guy Palmer
Category: Council Tax

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