Council Tax increases 'yet another burden for pensioners'

27/03/2008

Help the Aged has condemned this year's rise in Council Tax fearing that, faced with a catalogue of increases for essential items, this will be yet another burden for pensioners.

 

Responding to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) figures which show an average four per cent increase in council tax, Mervyn Kohler, special adviser for Help the Aged, says: “While the percentage increase in Council Tax is not a big shock, the amount (£1,374) for a Band D house in England is a considerable weight to bear.

 

“Only 54 per cent of older people claim the Council Tax Benefit that is rightfully theirs - the Government and Local Authorities must work harder to ensure this figure is improved. People should be paid this benefit automatically so they don’t have to wade through a convoluted system to claim.