Pippa Bartolotti, Leader of the Wales Green Party said, “The Welsh Government has dragged its feet over this issue, and is likely to announce a blanket increase very soon. This is simply unfair on those already struggling with forced austerity, but it is doubly unfair to make the poorest in our communities shoulder this burden.A home levy of over £9 a month will hit hardest in the areas with the highest levels of deprivation”
“We believe that councils should design schemes which protect vulnerable groups as well as pensioners, and which maintain strong work incentives. Rushing these measures through without taking the care to consult flies in the face of the more equal society Wales aspires to be.”
The Wales Green Party condemns this further drain on resources from Westminster. At national level, the Green Party believes the Government's cuts programme is unnecessary and is economically damaging.
Pippa Bartolotti added, “There are going to be significant new administrative costs attached to this new scheme. Councils throughout the country will face trying to collect relatively small sums of money from households that simply don’t have it. As the Institute for Fiscal Studies has pointed out, this will be extremely difficult, and costly.
“We challenge the Welsh Government to delay this decision and consult on alternative options so the funding gap can be met in a fairer way, by people on all incomes."
Many local authorities are beginning to worry that a 10% reduction in government grant for council tax support now looks more likely to be more than 12%, when calculated using the grant illustrations outlined by government. Scotland is delaying implementation of the 10% cut.
Pippa Bartolotti is the Leader of the Wales Green Party