§ Ms KellyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the operation of the council tax benefit subsidy limitation scheme for 2000–01. [96951]
§ Ms ArmstrongThe guideline for the 2000/01 scheme will be the same as last year: a 4.5 per cent. increase in council tax or such higher increase as is necessary to give the council an increase in its budget requirement equal to its full cash SSA increase. As indicated last year, the scheme will operate cumulatively. For each authority, we will use its previous year's council tax at guideline as the starting point.
All other aspects of the scheme will operate on the same basis as last year.