Hundreds to lose council tax benefits
Almost 2,000 people will have their council tax benefit reduced or cut completely as Crawley Borough Council attempts to plug the funding gap left by the government’s Welfare Reform.
The council was faced with a £945,000 shortfall after the government declared that, from April, it would no longer meet the entire cost of council tax benefit.
Following consultation with the public, a number of changes were made to the support system, which has led to 1,200 people having their support decreased, while 760 had it cut completely.
But there was no change for 7,300 people, whose benefit levels remained the same.
A council spokesman said: “The government’s reforms meant the council had to change the scheme in order to make up the large funding gap. Otherwise the difference would have to be met through increased council tax.”
The shortfall relates to the amount of council tax demanded by the borough council, West Sussex County Council and Sussex Police, minus the 10 per cent which will be met by central government.
Crawley Borough Council’s segment adds up to £119,259 (12.62 per cent of the total).
But a council spokesman stated that, as the collecting agency and the agency responsible for dealing with benefits, the borough faced the burden of finding the necessary savings.
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Weather for Crawley
Wednesday 22 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 5 C to 15 C
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Wind direction: North west
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