Bristol City Council scrap tax benefit cuts in U-turn

The proposed cuts are due to be formally abandoned at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday

Plans to cut £3m in council tax benefits for a city's poorest families have been scrapped in a council U-turn.

Bristol's deputy mayor has warned the decision means the council will have to find savings from elsewhere to balance the books.

The changes would have seen household entitlement reduced by between 10% and 41% a year.

The proposed cuts are due to be formally abandoned at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

The current Council Tax Reduction Scheme (CTRS) costs the authority £43.4m - 8.9% of the council's annual revenue budget.

The results of a public consultation showed most people supported changes to the current Council Tax Reduction Scheme (CTRS), with 60% of the 6,500 respondents favouring cuts, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

'Lifeline'

Making the surprise announcement on mayor Marvin Rees's blog, deputy mayor Craig Cheney said "now is not the time" to make changes, despite full council approving the Labour administration's proposals last February.

"When I was growing up in Bristol, my family was supported by council tax benefit. It was a real lifeline for us," Mr Cheney said.

"[The move to abandon the cuts] is of course welcome news for families, but it does mean that next year's budget requires another £3m of savings.

"There are no easy decisions left, no efficiencies to make, and no fat to trim. More difficult decisions lie ahead."

He added that if councillors cannot balance the budget, the Conservative government would do it for them, with the CTRS and frontline services "first on the chopping block".

Acorn said the move will be welcomed by 23,000 Bristolian families

The decision comes as a victory for community union Acorn which has campaigned for months to retain the benefits in full, including the threat of legal action and disrupting several City Hall meetings.

A spokesperson said: "23,000 Bristolian families who otherwise would have been pushed ever further towards food banks, overwhelming debt and homelessness can breathe a sigh of relief this Christmas.

"This is the second time Labour has tried to cut it and the second time Acorn has stopped them."

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