Regular readers will recall that we reported that Walsall’s Labour Cabinet were set to debate the issue of what to do about the “Localised Council Tax Reduction Scheme” for 2015/16:

On the night there was no debate, just a statement off the Labour Social Care Chief about it not being an easy decision to make. She went onto say that it was all the fault of the Coalition Government because of the £86 million cuts Walsall Council has to find over the next four years. No mention of the part the last Labour Government played in creating the deficit in the first place

She then put forward the following option to be recommended to Council:
•Option 1. Reduce the benefit by 25% The Council would still need to find another £5.4 million to fund it. Claimants would have to pay more Council Tax.

In putting forward this recommendation Labour will be hitting some 15,160 working age claimants. The total number of working age claimants is 19,676, of these 4,516 are disabled who are automatically protected as are 15,271 pensioner claimants. The cost of fully supporting all claimants is £7.7 million.