Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what account he takes of local pensioner numbers in West Sussex in the way he allocates council tax benefit support grant. [121396]

Brandon Lewis, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State: The localisation of council tax support is an important welfare reform that will help tackle the budget deficit that we have inherited from the last Administration, and provide stronger incentives to get people back to work and promote local economic growth.

We have protected pensioners from any change as they have fixed incomes and cannot reasonably be expected to go back to work. Pensioners who have saved and worked hard all their lives deserve dignity and security in retirement.

The proposed distribution of funding for council tax support is based on shares of previous expenditure on council tax benefit, including shares of expenditure on pension age claimants. The recent consultation, ‘Localising Support for Council Tax—Funding Arrangements Consultation’, sets out how the Government intends to distribute funding to support local schemes and seeks views on possible adjustments to allocations to avoid potential budgetary pressures in a few authorities. The consultation closed on 12 July, and the Government response will be published in the autumn.

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