Thousands of Greenwich borough’s poorest residents are set to lose their exemption from council tax bills as part of the council’s £33 million programme of cuts.
Since 2020, about 15,000 working-age residents on low incomes have been given a 100 per cent discount on their council tax. Before that a maximum of 85 per cent applied.
The full discount was applied three years after a report by the Greenwich Fairness Commission, chaired by the late former civil service head Bob Kerslake, recommended making the move.
“Local organisations suggested that council tax liability can be a real challenge for the most vulnerable residents, who are reliant on benefits to pay it in any case,” the report found.
But now Greenwich plans to scrap the universal 100 per cent discount – hoping it will help save the Labour-run council £1 million.
One option is to introduce a 100 per cent discount for Band A bills only, and then take this amount of higher bills – so Band B home would pay £214 a year and a Band D home would be £640 a year.
The other option would be to return to the old 85 per cent discount, or even as low as 70 per cent.
Working residents who receive council tax support would also have to pay more, while other discounts for those with other people living with them would be reduced or removed altogether.
Councillors voted to approve a review of council tax support in February, but the details of what is planned have only just been released. At the time, Matt Hartley, the local Conservative leader, said the 100 per cent discount had stopped the council wasting money on bailiffs attempting to collect cash from people who did not have the funds.
Mariam Lolovar, the cabinet member for business and skills, said then that the scale of the council’s financial problems meant that “we have to look at everything” when it came to making cuts.
The full £33 million programme of cuts was approved by councillors in March.
One change that would benefit residents is that people who go onto universal credit would have their details passed on by the Department for Work and Pensions, cutting the amount of form-filling needed.
Despite the election of a Labour government in July, austerity in local government seems set to grind on for some time yet. The council has warned that another £27 million of cuts are likely to be made next year.
A consultation into the council tax support cuts, with full details of what is planned, is at localcounciltaxsupport.commonplace.is.
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