On Tuesday 13th January Barnet’s Policy and
Resources Committee voted to recommend more than doubling the authority’s
council tax charge for low income families and individuals.
If approved by the full council meeting on 20th
January the decision will see the amount Barnet’s poorest residents pay
increase from 8.5% to 20%.For a workless resident in a Band D property this will mean
the amount they pay will increase from £109.09 per annum to £280.21. Such a
charge would make up 7% of a Jobseekers Allowance Claimant’s annual income,
equivalent to almost 4 weeks income.
Joanna Kennedy, Chief Executive of Z2K said:
“Barnet Council is proud of its low Council Tax rates and
even cut its charges by 1% this year. Yet while the borough’s richest residents
will be enjoying a freeze in their rates next year if this decision goes ahead,
its poorest will be struggling to cope with a more than doubled bill.
Insufficient benefits levels mean that low income families
and individuals in Barnet are already struggling with relatively modest level
of the current charge.
The stories we have heard from residents about the extra
stress and anxiety these bills are causing, to say nothing of the material
hardships claimants are putting themselves through in order to pay them, are
absolutely heart-rending.
If this increase goes ahead the end result will undoubtedly
be mothers going hungry as they struggle to pay their bills”
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The Zacchaeus 2000 Trust (Z2K) is a London-wide
anti-poverty charity that promotes the improvement of living conditions on the
basis of economic and social justice through the provision of evidence-based
policy alternatives to government, and by direct engagement with the lives of
the poorest and most vulnerable.
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