I'm sure you're already aware that the Local Finance Act November 2012 makes provision for the localisation of a Council Tax Support scheme in England. In Wales similar provisions have been made for a Council Tax Reduction scheme. In doing so, the Government has effectively abolished the national Council Tax Benefit scheme from April 2013 with an expectation that councils will introduce their own replacement, taking account of local knowledge and requirements.

Importantly, the Government has also reduced the Government's contribution to the successor scheme by 10% so the replacement will have a budget, in year one, which is 10% less than the current scheme. This means that councils will be faced with some very difficult decisions about who they can assist and to whom they're likely to ask to pay more to offset the expense of protecting others.

What does the change mean?
Every council will effectively have its own local scheme to help its residents on low incomes with their Council Tax payments.

The Government has underlined the new scheme should: