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Blog

Localisation of social security: what can the advice sector tell us?

11 March 2019
In the last few years, a slew of reports have been published focusing on the impact of the coalition government’s decision to localise various elements of the national social security system, including council tax benefit (now council tax support) and the discretionary social fund (now local welfare assistance).
Blog Council tax reduction Localisation London
Blog

Protecting the vulnerable – how to keep 100% Council Tax Reduction in your area!

25 October 2017
As the elected Mayor of Bedford Borough, in 2013 I faced 40 per cent cuts in local government financing, a new localism agenda and welfare reform.
Blog Council tax reduction Localisation UK Welfare reform
Blog

Betty: still too poor to pay

02 September 2016
Yesterday we published a new report with Z2K, which shows the impact that abolishing council tax benefit has had on low income Londoners. Still too poor to pay: three years of localised council tax support in London reveals that localising council tax support has led to increasing numbers of households receiving court summonses, falling into council tax arrears and being referred to bailiffs.
Blog Child poverty in London Costs and spending Council tax reduction London
Blog

What do experts and professionals think of the ‘local welfare safety net’?

17 November 2015
Does local discretion on social security deliver ‘localism in action’ or a postcode lottery? That’s one of the questions being asked by the Commons Work and Pensions select committee in looking at the interaction between the national benefits system and locally-run schemes.
Blog Costs and spending Council tax reduction Discretionary housing payments Localisation UK Welfare reform
Blog

The dark side of localism: when boroughs want to keep "council tax tourists" out

14 August 2014
In the 1949 Ealing comedy Passport to Pimlico, residents of the London borough set themselves up as a separate state with predictably comic results. When Pimlico’s governing committee lifts post-war rationing, shoppers flood to the new dominion only to find themselves trapped when its borders are later closed.
Blog Costs and spending Council tax reduction Localisation UK Welfare reform
Blog

A new poll tax?

16 July 2014
If I lost my job tomorrow, one of the things that I would expect would be that while I was not earning, I would not be paying tax. However, in 26 out of 33 London boroughs this is not the case: I would still need to pay council tax.
Blog Child poverty in London Costs and spending Council tax reduction Localisation Welfare reform London