Green councillors have called Labour’s proposals to reduce help for low income households through the Council Tax Reduction (CTR) scheme ‘uncaring and short-sighted’.
The CTR scheme subsidises the amount that low income working age households pay towards their Council Tax. Brighton & Hove’s Labour administration is proposing to increase the minimum contribution those affected have to pay from 15% to 25% – a two-thirds increase. The proposals are part of a consultation and are in face of a major shortfall in council finances due to cuts in funding from central government.
Green spokesperson on finance, Cllr. Ollie Sykes, said:
“We’re very disappointed with these proposals which will be a devastating attack on the poorest people in our city. The council tax demands on many low-income families will rocket with new council tax bills increased by as much as 67%!
While we appreciate that the problem stems from the relentless funding cuts by the Conservative government, by passing this burden on to the poorest people in our city, the Labour administration is turning a blind eye to the people who need help most. For a Labour administration that set up a Fairness Commission only to propose something weeks later that is so unfair is utterly uncaring. This is textbook short-sighted decision-making, storing up more problems for the future.”
He added: “The Greens would focus our fight against cuts on the government rather than punishing our poorest residents. We would also use the opportunity of a consultation exercise, like this, to find out what our residents want the council to do to deal with an expected £100 million shortfall over the coming years.”