22-06-04

19,000 people in Edinburgh missing out on Council Tax Benefit – Barrett

John Barrett, Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West, today released new figures, which showed as many as 19,000 people in Edinburgh are eligible for but not claiming council tax benefit.

Answers to Mr. Barrett's parliamentary questions have shown that 38,100 people in the City of Edinburgh area are getting council tax benefit.  However, latest estimates from the Department of Work & Pensions suggest that the take-up of this benefit could be as low as 66%.  This would leave 19,050 people in the Capital eligible for the benefit but not claiming.

The figures also showed that as much as £137 million is going unclaimed in council tax benefit across Scotland.

In a statement, John Barrett said:

"It is astonishing that so many people in Edinburgh are not getting the help they need to pay their council tax.  Although there are some people who will never apply for any benefit, it is clear that there are many who are still unaware they are entitled to extra help.

"In the long term, I would like to see council tax scrapped and replaced with a fairer system which is based on people's ability to pay.  That in itself would remove the need for a benefit, as fairness would already be built into the system.  However, in the meantime, the Government must redouble their efforts in encouraging take-up of council tax benefit to ensure those who need extra help get it."

ENDS

Notes to Editors

• Mr Barrett asked the following parliamentary questions of the Department for Work & Pensions.

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much money was claimed in council tax benefit in each year since 1997, broken down by region.
 
Mr. Pond: The information is in the table.

Council tax benefit expenditure, £ million
Government office region	1997-98	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03
Scotland	287.0	302.7	306.6	310.0	315.6	321.5
Total	2,394.7	2,452.6	2,517.8	2,579.9	2,689.3	2,838.1

Notes:
1. All expenditure figures are rounded to the nearest £0.1 million.
2. Expenditure figures for 1997/98 to 2001/02 are final outturn figures supplied by local authorities in 'final audited' subsidy claims. The figures for 2002-03 are the latest available estimated outturn figures, provided by local authorities in their 'initial final' subsidy claims, and are subject to revision in the 'final audited' claims.
3. Figures are total yearly amounts paid to beneficiaries, regardless of the source of funding. They include payments subsidised by DWP, those funded through local authorities Housing Revenue Accounts, spending financed by the National Asylum Support Service and benefit spending financed from local authorities' general funds.

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people are in receipt of council tax benefit in the City of Edinburgh local authority area.

Mr. Pond: The number of council tax benefit recipients in the City of Edinburgh at August 2003 is 38,100.

Notes:
1. The data refers to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple.
2. The figure is rounded to the nearest hundred.
3. Figures for non-responding authorities are estimated.
4. Council tax benefit data excludes Second Adult Rebate cases.
Source:
Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System, Quarterly 100 per cent. caseload stock-count taken in August 2003.

• Latest estimates of take-up of council tax benefit is as follows.

Take-up between 66% and 72% by caseload

Take-up between 70% and 76% by expenditure

Source: www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/income_analysis/Summary_of_Key_Results_for_0001.asp