In thinking the Govt have not thought through the changes to council tax benefit?

[JakeBullet]

As of next April most of the poorest members of society will be asked to make a contribution to their council tax. There are real issues with this as for most families although the amounts will be smallish, perhaps amounting to less than £7 a week it comes at a time when they are already being squeezed financially.

The feeling amongst councils is that many will refuse to pay, especially if it is a stark choice between paying this amount or buying food. As the amounts are so small it will be uneconomic to go down a route of trying to enforce it.

I am a single parent and currently rely on benefits (my son is autistic), however because my family consists of just myself and DS it is likely that a small amount going back towards council tax will not pose a problem. The same might not be true for other families who for whatever reason find themselves on benefits.
I don't think the Govt have thought this one through and in reality what this will mean is that councils which supply vital services will face massive shortfalls.

I don't think the Govt have thought this one through.

And, good luck getting a second part time job when you can't work evenings and weekends.

You absolute COCK.
(Sorry MN)

ifnotnow

if they are drug dealers that require supporting by gf's on benefits then they are not really very good drug dealers.

but you just made it onto my list of posters i think are ace

YANBU.

My fil was sectioned yesterday, he has bi polar disorder. He used to have a very well paid job, he had a life he had friends. He lost all that when he became ill 16 years ago and had to rely on disability benefits ( huge leap going from earning ?600 + a week to surviving on ?150 )

Back in August he had an atos assesment ( over the phone apparently ) where it was decided he was A ok, he was to move on to jobseekers and would be fit to work.

So he stopped taking his tablets so he could find work as a machine operator ( which you can't do on the heavy meds he takes )

He's had no income since then, he has a works pension which we found out he hasn't been claiming either, he's been living on sod all because he just can't cope with the situation, he can't cope because he's severely mentally ill and thought he'd be able to just 'get a job'

And don't even get me started on the lack of mental health services......

Ha ha! Thanks sockreturningpixie

Good thing the Big Society is there to support your poor FIL Probably..

I get so FUCKED OFF with people who still are deluded enough to buy into the Daily Fail shite of "people choosing benefits as a lifestyle".

I am disabled.
I am a single mum.
I would kill to be able to work. My health prevents that. And if you knew me before my illness started, you would have never believed that I would end up claiming benefits to get by. I don't have a choice.

These changes have not been thought through by anyone. And its terrifying.

Oh motherfucking cunting twatfaces

Ah yes the BIG society.

He hasn't seen his mental health nurse for months, the crisis team that came out when he was being assesed at home fucked off because they felt threatened leaving his dd to sit with him. He was signed off by them months ago and those limited services are being slashed even more.

There is no 'big society' the reality is if his dd hadn't spotted the signs it would have been missed, he could potentially have become extremely dangerous and hurt somebody, because that's what can happen when people lose control and there's nobody there to catch them in time.

So would our 'big society' have been responsible if he didn't have a dd to keep an eye out ? What about the people who have no one t give a shit ??

I hate the "benefits as a lifestyle" brigade too...they need to look further than the Daily Mail before they look out of the window and make their minds up about the people up the road.

I have seen lots of that on here...".people up the road in nice apartments/houses with shiny cars (and flat screen TVs) all not in work" etc with no way of knowing if their belief is true.

I am in a council house and for a while drove a lovely brand new Yaris.....which was a lease car through work. It went back as soon as the job ended. It would be easy though for someone to think "Gosh, she is part time yet drives a brand new car" without knowing that the payment for it came direct from my salary.

My son is disabled and maybe they could have wondered if it was "a free car" (another term I have seen bandied about).

Fact is unless they live in this house with access to my finances they actually "know" buggar all......but they can second guess things wrongly and make dreadful judgements.

I remain concerned....in my previous job I worked with families in all circumstances, the numbers of families who are long term out of work benefit claimants is not as huge as the DM would have us believe. Most people get benefits in th form of tax credits which they would not need if employers paid a living wage.

There are lots of genuine claimants that need welfare as they truly cannot work but there are also lots that could work more to support themselves but dont. You only have to look on here to see that. People posting they wont increase their hours as that would mean less benefits, people who reduced hours when tax credits came in and they realised they could work very little and still be given money, people who wont use childcare as its not for their precious one so claim instead, choosing to have just one wage and the luxury of a sahp etc.

The benefits system cannot go on as it is, it needs to get strict. We should have a welfare state that helps those truly unabe to work or short term in the event of a job loss. Tax credits will be going soon as thankfully peope have wised up to them and the criteria for UC appears much stricter in its proposals. Installing our children with a good work ethic and a belief that people provide for themselves can only benefit us in future.

Lougle that ruling has been challenged by the Government. Until the appeal has been heard by the Supreme Court we will be expected to pay £40 a week rent and £27 a week council tax as well as losing £56 a week disability premiums on our tax credits.

So yeah.... we're screwed basically.

But when all is said and done this government was voted in. Albeit not by a majority. So Labour went wrong somewhere. And I still don't think they know where. Was it the banking crisis. Could they have handled it differently. I think you have to go back and see exactly why a government that has brought about hardship to a lot of people has been voted in. Maybe the best way to reform the welfare state would be to set up an all party committee to look into it. Rather than a government who will only look after its own.

happy.

tax credits actually pay you a bonus if you qualify and work longer hours. and regardless of how you percieve it childcare costs are very high some families cant actually afford to fund it.

and thats not just the lower paid.

the uc system treats employed low paid workers the same as unemployed people. and makes very little distinction between people who

you know what i cant be fucked to explain this again to anybody whose far to stupid to have actually looked into the changes before they start raving about how fucking great they are clearly they have no ability to think about anything outside of a daily fail headline.

not worth my time

Well you could be right seeing the reception Milliband got when he even dared mention the dreaded word cuts. I can't see why very rich people can't pay more tax. Like 50% on salaries over say pick a figure out of the air. £100,000. And the tax loopholes for the companies like Starbucks have to be closed. But the Conservatives won't do that. It's a mess.

As usual it's all half truths and oh those nasty Tories. It'd be jam today if it wasn't for those nasty Tories eh?

Let's try to look at what is actually happening. Council tax benefit is being replaced. Money is now being given to council's directly and it's up to them how they distribute that. Yes, they've been given a 10% cut which in the current climate of austerity is to be expected.

So...it's now up to council's what they do. They can raise council tax for everyone else to make up the shortfall in funding. Or they can change the rules so less people are entitled. Or a mixture of both. They could even spend less elsewhere if they so desired. It's now a local decision.

Whether this is a shrewd political move in shifting the blame or a necessary economic reality. That will depend which camp you are in. For those who think the Tories are making cuts purely because they are bastards, well they are so blinded they'll never listen to reason anyway. For those who think something else should be cut, I'm interested in hearing what.

The days of central government having a magic money tree are over. Moaning about it doesn't change this fact.

Cutting isnt fixing anything though. We are in a double dip recession and borrowing is up.

But oh no. Lets ignore all that and cut more

Thing is niceguy as I said in my OP, it'd not the fact that most people will have to pay a small amount of money towards their council tax bill. It's the fact that for some this might make the difference between feeding a family successfully or not. If it comes down to that stark choice then most people are going to say "stuff the council tax, my children need to eat". Because the amounts are relatively small it is not going to be economically viable in most cases for a council to chase the payments. This is going to lead to vital services being short changed at a time when everything else is cut to the bone.

It doesn't affect me, I am a single parent on benefits as my son is disabled. However, I only had one child as that was all we could afford at the time so a small amount being paid to the council will not affect me.....I'll pay it happily. The same might not be true for a family with three children where the breadwinner has suddenly lost his/her work.

This is not actually a "Tory bashing" thread, I just said I don't think the Govt have thought this through enough....I'd be saying the same no matter what the Govt were....and actually we have a Coalition Govt and NOT a Tory one strange as it may appear. That is why I say Margaret Thather started the housing crisis but Labour did bugger all to change things when they were in power.....all are worthy of criticism.

I'm still a bit concverned about potential civil unrest under this government. I'm seriously worried about the potential rise in crime. If changing the benefits system results in more crime, I'm dead against it.

and perhaps ensuring that if cuts are made those cuts dont hit the poorest whilst not actually saving the country any money.