A Welsh Assembly grant will see Caerphilly County Borough Council receive more than £210,000 this year to provide help to pensions with their council tax bills. Under the Assembly scheme £4 million is being made available to local authorities in Wales.
No guidelines are provided to local authorities on how to distribute the funding, which resulted in a postcode lottery of support last year. Caerphilly Council followed the pattern of most Welsh Authorities, supporting pensioners already in receipt of council tax benefit (CTB), while other authorities adopted universal schemes.
Challenged by Welsh Conservative Assembly candidate, Owen Meredith, Caerphilly Council confirmed it has not yet reached a decision on the allocation of support for this year. Mr Meredith is urging the council to provide a flat rate of support to all pensioners. He said:
“This is a great scheme and I give credit to the Assembly Government for introducing it. However, I am disappointed that Caerphilly Council took decisions which failed to help hundreds of pensioners who are really feeling the squeeze and get no help from elsewhere.
“Providing support only to those already in receipt of CTB fails to help those who need it most. Pensioners who, often having taken the responsible decision to save for their retirement, find themselves too ‘well off’ to qualify for benefits but are none-the-less struggling to pay their bills.
“I have urged the council to follow the example of Torfaen, Bridgend and Denbighshire in providing a flat rate of support to all pensioners liable for council tax. This ensures those with the greatest need, who miss out on other benefits, receive this vital support.”
Mr Meredith has written to Cllr Colin Mann, the cabinet member responsible for finance on Caerphilly County Borough Council asking him to take action. The Assembly provides Local Authorities with a £5,000 grant to cover the cost of administering their chosen scheme.
Mr Meredith added:
“This can be done and I expect the council to act. There is no excuse for neglecting hundreds of pensioner taxpayers in this way.
“Had greater thought been applied to this prior to council tax bills for 2011/12 being issued in March, the council could have reduced the administrative cost further and ensured 100% awareness by promoting the scheme at that time. They certainly knew the money was coming.”
