Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Answer of 27 February 2014, Official Report, column 442W, on council tax benefits, what progress he has made in identifying the right data sources for an independent review into council tax support schemes; and with which local authorities his Department has been working.

The Department is currently working with the Council Tax Partnership Forum and local authorities to identify appropriate and proportionate data for the review. The Council Tax Partnership Forum consists of representatives of local authorities, fire and rescue authorities, the Society of County Treasurers, the Society of District Council Treasurers, the Police Authority Treasurers Society, the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Society for Information Technology Management, Unitary Treasurers, London Councils, the Local Government Association, the Institute of Revenues, Rating and Valuation, and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy.

The timetable, coverage, process for data collection and detailed terms of reference for the review will be agreed and published in due course.

Spending on council tax benefit doubled under the last Government, costing taxpayers £4 billion a year - equivalent to almost £180 a year per household. Welfare reform is vital to tackle the budget deficit by the last Adminstration.

Our reforms to localise council tax support now give councils stronger incentives to support local firms, cut fraud, promote local enterprise and get people to into work. We are ending the last Administration's 'something for nothing' culture and making work pay.