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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness King of Bow on 2014-03-31.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government which local authorities have increased the minimum payment required under their local Council Tax Reduction Schemes following the withdrawal of transition funding for 2014–15.

Baroness Stowell of Beeston

We do not collect this information centrally. These are local schemes, and it is for local authorities to ensure that the effect on specific groups of council tax payers is proportionate and fair.

The £100 million transition grant was a voluntary grant for the first year only of the new system of local council tax support. We have been clear from the outset that it was intended to give councils time to transition to the new localised regime and realise greater efficiencies such as cutting fraud and error, which cost £230 million in 2012-13.

Spending on council tax benefit doubled under the last Government, costing taxpayers £4 billion a year – equivalent to almost £180 a year per household. Welfare reform is vital to tackle the budget deficit left by the last Administration. Our reforms to localise council tax support now give councils stronger incentives to support local firms, cut fraud, promote local enterprise and get people into work.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness King of Bow on 2014-03-31.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Stowell of Beeston 21 October 2013 (WA 120–1), what estimate they have made of (1) fraud, (2) claimant error, and (3) departmental error, in the payment of Council Tax Benefit in 2012–13.

Lord Freud

The information requested can be found in the latest national statistics on Fraud and Error in the Benefit System: 2012 to 2013 Estimates. This report was published on 16 January 2014. The link to the report can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/271654/fraud-and-error-in-the-benefit-system-2012-13_estimates-160114.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness King of Bow on 2014-03-31.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Stowell of Beeston on 30 January (WA 253), whether they will place in the Library of the House a copy of the terms of reference of the review being carried out by Social Finance into innovative models of providing temporary accommodation for homeless families.

Baroness Stowell of Beeston

I have placed a copy of the terms of reference contained within the Social Finance contract in the Library of the House. The final report will be published in due course, and I will write to the noble Baroness with a copy when it is available.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness King of Bow on 2014-03-31.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much income from capital receipts from sales under the Right to Buy scheme has been paid to HM Treasury by local authorities in each year since 2010–11.

Baroness Stowell of Beeston

The table below answers the noble Lady’s question:

Notes

¹ Figures include the payable part of mortgage repayments and repayments of discounts paid in the current year in respect of Right to Buy sales made in previous years.

² For 2010-2011 and 2011-2012, figures include the payable part of receipts arising from all other disposals of dwellings. For 2012-2013 and 2013-2014, figures only include receipts arising from sales of dwellings to secure tenants which are below market value and some shared ownership sales.

³ All figures are provisional, though those for all years up to 2012-2013 have been audited which means that they are less likely to be amended.

⁴ Until the end of 2010-2011, receipts received by authorities which were debt-free on 31 March 2004 were payable not to HM Treasury but to the Department of Communities and Local Government and its predecessor departments.

⁵ The figure for 2013-2014 is only for the first three quarters of that year.

For 2009-2010, receipts arising from the sale of dwellings received by local authorities that were not debt-free that were paid to HM Treasury amounted to £132.7 million. For 2008-2009, the equivalent figure was £135.9 million.

The reinvigoration of Right to Buy since April 2012 has ensured, for the first time ever, that the receipts from the additional sales (those over what was forecast prior to the change) are reinvested to help fund new homes for affordable rent. So far, £300 million has been generated from additional sales and already over 2,000 homes have been started on site or acquired.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness King of Bow on 2014-03-31.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Stowell of Beeston on 18 March (WA 24), whether they decided against appointing a representative of private tenants on the Private Rented Sector Taskforce; and if so, why.

Baroness Stowell of Beeston

As I explained in my previous answer, the Taskforce is a technical advisory group to provide professional and expert knowledge on increasing institutional investment in the private rented sector and support new build schemes.

It does not have any remit on broader policy on the private rented sector. It does not seek to ‘represent’ the views of any sector or group. The determination of government policy remains a matter for Ministers.

Notwithstanding, the Taskforce has engaged with organisations representing private tenants and the broader private rented sector.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness King of Bow on 2014-03-31.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Department for Communities and Local Government will be paying new burdens funding to compensate local authorities for the additional costs of introducing local Council Tax Reduction Schemes in 2015–16.

Baroness Stowell of Beeston

In line with the new burdens doctrine, we will be assessing the need for continued new burdens funding for Local Council Tax Support in 2014-15, alongside consideration of the allocation of Local Council Tax Support Administration subsidy.