Sandwell Council: We can win benefits test ruling

Sandwell Council is being forced to plug a £1.6 million shortfall in its finances after a judge said its policy of denying new arrivals help with their council tax was illegal.

The council had been considering making all residents pay a minimum of 12 per cent of the tax on their property after the ruling left it with a black hole in the budget.

But last month the council's cabinet recommended the money be taken from the authority's reserves instead.

Council leader, Councillor Darren Cooper, said talks are ongoing between the authority and government ministers over its policy.

And he said the council remains hopeful the Government will rethink the rules and allow it to re-instate its scheme to save its precious reserves.

"We are potentially going to have to find £1.6 million because if we don't we will be charging everybody something irrespective of their ability to pay," he said.

"It may be that we don't have to use that money because Government come to support us and give us the go ahead to put the residence test back in.

"We are still having talks. The Government can resolve this for us. All they need to say is that the interpretation of the law that Sandwell Council used was the correct way to do it.

"All the main political parties are now talking about a residence test. David Cameron is saying that if people come from Europe it should be about two years before they claim anything and to be fair I probably agree with that."

This comes after Sandwell Council accused London councils of 'dumping' families in its borough.

Newham Council has re-housed a large family in Smethwick and Brent Council has been in touch to say it was looking to place tenants in privately-rented homes in Sandwell.

Sandwell Council set up a scheme in April 2013 that banned anyone who had not lived within the borough for two years from receiving a reduction in their council tax bill. It followed the Government's decision to scrap council tax benefit for working age people and leave it up to local authorities to decide how to offer help to people on low incomes or on welfare.

But a judge ruled the residency test was illegal, forcing the council to scrap the scheme. Mr Justice Hickinbottom said the council had given no thought to the 'collateral damage' of needy people and it had no power to introduce the 'residence requirement'.