Each council will have the freedom to make some decisions on the amount of council tax benefits payable.
Manchester City Council’s executive committee has approved changes to council tax benefit (CTB), which will require all residents to pay a minimum 15% of bills from next April. An estimated 71,000 Manchester households would be affected by the authority’s decision to claw back £6m cash it stands to lose from the Government’s plans to localise CTB arrangements. Council leader, Sir Richard Leese said the nationally imposed changes – which involve reducing by 10% the cash available for authorities to pay the benefit, saving £500m a year from the £4.8bn national welfare costs- are hitting the people who can least afford it.
….……….and in another round of Pilots at LAs
Five new future council pilot schemes have been announced by the Local Government Association (LGA). Looking to locate savings and revenues in the selected town halls, the pilots have received a combined £150,000 from contributions made by the LGA and match funding by the authorities themselves.
Work will be focussed on demand management, behaviour change, improved commissioning and the creation of new delivery structures, such as social enterprises, in each council. The future council pilots include Buckinghamshire CC, which will look to develop its foster care initiatives, and East Riding of Yorkshire and Scarborough BC which is working on the development of a virtual customer service centre.
Birmingham City Council, Trafford MBC and Amey, and Rushcliffe BC have also been named as ‘future council’ pilots.