Council Tax reduction

portly1

Fluffs123 wrote: »

You probably think you are bulletproof and invincible.

Who said that I am? I gave up a long time ago believing that - probably 40 years ago!

Life is s**t to be honest but it is the life you have been given.

Make the best of a bad situation. Pick your battles but knowi that you will never win the war.

seven-day-weekend

Fluffs123 wrote: »

Don't get me started on the lack of means testing of pensions!!!

I assume you mean only for those who chose not to pay into the system for years? I paid in for 40 years to get my State Pension. I also paid in to get my Local Government Pension. Many people have paid for longer. Why should we not get a decent amount?

Of course those who have not been able to pay for various reasons should have a decent pension, but I don't see why those who chose not to pay anything should get as much as those who have.

nannytone_2

portly1 wrote: »

What surprises me is that we didn't hear of that many tenants who rent privately when they suffered a reduction of the HB due to (a) number of bedrooms needed and (b) renting a property in a too expensive area.

But when it comes to HA & council tenants, they don't think that they should be treated the same as private tenants. Why?

i wrote to my MP twice complaining about it. once on my own behalf and once as part of a group.
i have never been a tenant in a private let and at the time was living in a house owned by my ex partner and received no benefits.

so yes, some of us did protest!

nannytone_2

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

I assume you mean only for those who chose not to pay into the system for years? I paid in for 40 years to get my State Pension. I also paid in to get my Local Government Pension. Many people have paid for longer. Why should we not get a decent amount?

Of course those who have not been able to pay for various reasons should have a decent pension, but I don't see why those who chose not to pay anything should get as much as those who have.

but those of us that paid in for 30 years and then had to stop working through no fault of their own should have to scrape through til pension age?

seven-day-weekend

nannytone wrote: »

but those of us that paid in for 30 years and then had to stop working through no fault of their own should have to scrape through til pension age?

My husband had to give up work before Pension age due to sickness (he still is not of Pensionable age until January 2014). I do know what it is like to have to struggle. We had £600 a month to live on for five years. That is why we were delighted when I received my State Pension in 2010.

My comments were about people who ARE of pensionable age, and I did say that those who were UNABLE to pay in should get a decent pension.

Housing_Benefit_Officer

Some very good news though - as all us Housing Benefit Officers will start being made redundant due to the transfer of Housing Benefit to Universal Credit the Local Council Tax Support will keep some of us employed and due to more recovery action there will be jobs in Council Tax for some of us.

Fluffs123

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

I assume you mean only for those who chose not to pay into the system for years? I paid in for 40 years to get my State Pension. I also paid in to get my Local Government Pension. Many people have paid for longer. Why should we not get a decent amount?

Of course those who have not been able to pay for various reasons should have a decent pension, but I don't see why those who chose not to pay anything should get as much as those who have.

Well I suppose it depends whether you think of the system as some kind of glorified deposit account.

Fluffs123

Housing_Benefit_Officer wrote: »

Some very good news though - as all us Housing Benefit Officers will start being made redundant due to the transfer of Housing Benefit to Universal Credit the Local Council Tax Support will keep some of us employed and due to more recovery action there will be jobs in Council Tax for some of us.

Won't you be able to transfer to UC as assessors, or whatever they're called? Your expertise and experience in dealing with those on HB and CTR should be invaluable.

portly1

Fluffs123 wrote: »

Won't you be able to transfer to UC as assessors, or whatever they're called? Your expertise and experience in dealing with those on HB and CTR should be invaluable.

If it goes the same way as government departments went, most of the older, more senior and most experienced staff were either made redundant or pensioned off.

This left a staff base that obviously costs a lot less, but also less able to do the work.

Unfortunately with HMRC in particular the powers that be realised too late and had to draft in contracted staff from the accountancy profession as well as the retired/staff at three times the cost to fill the void.

I do hope that councils don't fall into the same trap as HMRC and the Insolvency Service did.

SandraScarlett

Fluffs123 wrote: »

Well I suppose it depends whether you think of the system as some kind of glorified deposit account.

Well what would you call a system whereby you were [STRIKE]asked[/STRIKE] told to pay a set amount of your wages for a set amount of time, on the promise and understanding, that at the end of this time, you would receive an income, that is about a quarter of the average wage?

And at the end of that time, usually about 40 years, you had to listen to people suggesting that if you were prudent, and managed to save some money, you shouldn't receive that pension?

Or, as in my case, your DH has Alzheimers, and is like a 75 year old toddler, but, because you were prudent, and have some savings, you have to pay £50 for 5 and a half hours attendance at a Day Centre, or close to £1,500 a week if they need permanent care? That's "fair", is it?

xx