Martin Lewis issues update over £394 council tax hike under Labour

Martin Lewis issues update over £394 council tax hike under Labour
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


Martin Lewis has said he is "pleased to say" a reported council tax hike and scrapping of the discount for single-households is NOT happening. The BBC Sounds and ITV star spoke out on Twitter, now X, over the new Labour Party government decision.

Mr Lewis said: "Pleased to say it seems this is NOT happening. @Telegraph reporting Treasury has now ruled out getting rid of the council tax single person discount (having previously not ruled it out when asked) in the coming budget."

Replying to Mr Lewis, one said: "This is a bit of a media/Govt cat and mouse game, isn't it? Journo: "Will you rule out cuts to x?" Govt: "We won't say what we're ruling out until the budget." Headline: "GOVT REFUSES TO RULE OUT CUTS TO X!" Man in pub: The b*****rds are going to cut X!"

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"To an extent yes. Except govt had ruled some stuff out and refused to comMent on others which caused mixed messages. It needed to be consistent on all for people not to read acroszls," Mr Lewis went on to say in response to the comment.

Mr Lewis said: "I agree when govt has a blanket rule such as "these were in our manifesto so we won't do them" with everything else we won't comment until the budget The problem here was some things that werent in the manifesto were ruled out, which then means if others things (that were being strongly proposed) weren't commented on there is inconsistency"

The average council tax per dwelling will be £1,578 in 2023-24, an increase of 5.7% over 2022-23. The 25 per cent single-person discount reduces this by £394.

Earlier, Mr Lewis had said: "Reports out that the govt hasn't ruled out ending the 25% single person council tax discount. Clearly this would be a painful hit for single adults and single parent families, but also 1) What about the similar reduction for Severe Medical Impairments?

"Someone with an SMI doesn't count for council tax purposes, so if as is common they live with another adult, there's an 25% reduction equivalent to the single person reduction. Surely they're not going to end the reduction for these vulnerable people too? 2) Substantial council tax changes shouldn't be done without a rebanding.

"Up to 400,000 homes are in the wrong band because we still rely in Eng & Scot on a stop-gap temporary valuation done in 1991 to dictate what bands people are in. If such a big change comes, surely there should be even more emphasis on ensuring that people are in the right band and not overpaying."