The hon. Gentleman needs to take stock of just how much council tax benefit someone in band A in his local authority might be getting and compare it with the discount that they might receive through the raising of tax thresholds. He might then grudgingly have to agree that the situation is not as bad as he maintains.
Amendment 1 would require the Government to consult on regulations prescribing requirements for schemes. Of course external scrutiny of plans for the framework is important, which is why the Government have published the detailed statements of intent for the key regulations that will deliver the policy. We will publish further statements of intent at each stage, as necessary. That will provide an opportunity for us to engage with local government on the detail of our plans before draft regulations are produced, and give local authorities the key information they need to develop their schemes. There is no need for additional requirements to consult with local authorities, such as amendment 1 would impose. In addition, we are working closely with local government representatives to design the framework within which local authorities will be required to operate, including considering what—if any—provision needs to be made for how local authorities should prepare schemes.
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Amendment 3 is a bit of a stray. It would remove the deadline of 31 January for making revisions to or wholly revising schemes. The Government are clear that
schemes cannot be amended in-year, but changes can be made between years. It is necessary to set a deadline of 31 January for revisions to schemes to provide certainty for council tax payers about when a final scheme will be issued. To remove the deadline could create significant uncertainty for low-income groups concerned about what support they will be able to claim.
Amendments 11 and 12 relate to the default scheme. I hope that I have already said enough to make it clear that the Government propose that the default scheme should retain the criteria and allowances currently in place for council tax benefit. We published a detailed statement of intent setting out how we expect to provide for the default scheme of regulations. As it is not intended that the default scheme will provide for any reductions in support, there will—as the hon. Member for Warrington North (Helen Jones) said—be a strong financial incentive for local authorities to avoid that, but the amendments are designed to guarantee that under the default scheme there will be no reduction in the level of support. Well, the scheme itself will have no reduction in the level of support.