Graham Stuart, Member of Parliament for Beverley and Holderness, was disappointed that Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has refused to commit the Government to maintaining the Single Person Discount on Council Tax, worth over £400 a year for single people in Beverley living in a Band B property.
As a result, Graham has set up a petition calling on the government to maintain the Single Person Discount.
In Parliament on Monday, Angela Rayner announced that the Labour government would not increase Council Tax.
Graham asked the Deputy Prime Minister whether she would guarantee that the government will not scrap the Single Person Discount of 25% on Council Tax. Rather than answering the question, Ms. Rayner chose to blame the previous government and avoided answering the question all together.
Graham was very disappointed by this lack of clarity from the government, mere minutes after the announcement that there are no plans to raise Council Tax.
Pensioners and working-age people in Beverley and Holderness are rightly concerned at the state of their personal finances, and Graham will do all he can to continue to make their case in Parliament.
Graham Stuart said: “Following Angela Rayner’s pledge not to increase Council Tax, I was surprised and disappointed that she didn’t take the opportunity to guarantee the Single Person Discount would continue.
“I know the government has made it clear that it would support working people, but it’s surprising that it refused to rule out hiking council tax by around £400 a year for people living alone.
“Some pensioners living alone could be around £700 worse off when combined with the loss of the Winter Fuel Payment – and we’re only two months into this government.
“It’s not fair – and I’ll do all I can to make your views heard.”
