Council Tax Benefit Julia Goldsworthy To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of raising the income level at which a household no longer receives full council tax benefit (a) to £174 for a single person between the ages of 60 and 74 and (b) to £177 for a single person aged over 75 years. Kitty Ussher [holding answer 25 March 2009]: The following table shows estimates of the cost and number of council tax benefit (CTB) beneficiaries; and the saving and number of losers, if the following changes are made to the income level at which a household no longer receives CTB: Option 1: Income level for single people between 60 and 74 set to £174 Option 2: Income level for single people over 75 set to £177. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Change in applicable amount |Number of beneficiaries|Cost in annually managed expenditure (£ million per year)|Number of losers|Saving in annually managed expenditure (£ million per year)|Impact on annually managed expenditure (£ million per year)| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Option 1 |190,000 |40 |10,000 |0 |40 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Option 2 |180,000 |40 |30,000 |-10 |30 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Notes:1. All figures are for Great Britain.2. Beneficiaries and losers are rounded to the nearest 10,000. Costs and savings are rounded to the nearest £10 million. These estimates include both customers who gain/lose and those who become or lose entitlement to the benefit.3. Each beneficiary represents a benefit unit, which can be a single claimant or a couple.4. The impact is estimated using the Department’s Policy Simulation Model for 2008-09, using data from the 2006-07 Family Resources Survey uprated to 2008-09 prices,benefit rates and earnings levels, and is calibrated to latest published forecasts and policies.5. Results are subject to sampling and reporting errors and estimation assumptions, and are therefore indicative only. No behavioural changes are assumed.| | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------