§ Mr. ColemanTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) when he plans to make a statement on how many council tax benefit claimants have been affected by the introduction of the Council Tax Benefit Regulations; [64692]
(2) when he will publish his review of the introduction of the new Council Tax Benefit Regulations. [64693]
§ Angela EagleCouncil Tax Benefit was restricted to band E levels from 1 April 1998 for properties in bands F, G or H. The Government are committed to monitoring the effects of the restriction in partnership with local authorities. We are examining the most efficient way of collecting information as the rule beds in: all existing718W claimants at the point of change were unaffected by it. We are seeking to minimise the administrative burden on local authorities. To this end officials have discussed options with local authority staff. Subject to the co-operation of local authorities, we propose to commission research in 1999. This research will be published in due course.