Pensioner tax plan abandoned

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Pensioner tax plan abandoned

BBC News

November 18, 2003

Plans to offer Hampshire's elderly voters a rebate for part of their council tax have been abandoned.

Hampshire County Council chiefs say the scheme cannot go-ahead following legal advice that they would not be able to favour just one section of the community.

Kent County Council has also abandoned its proposal to peg pensioners' council tax rises to inflation which would have seen other voters pay more.
The councils have been warned they could face costly court challenges if they went ahead with the schemes.

Hampshire County Council had looked at offering other council tax discounts but said that, as district councils would have to make up the lost revenue, that was not practicable.

Council leader Ken Thornber said: "I said from the outset that I would investigate every option and that nothing regarding local rebates had been ruled in or out.

"Our investigations have indicated that such a scheme for pensioners is, unfortunately, not one that legally we can pursue.

"Although many older residents have been in touch with me to say that some sort of discount would be helpful to them, typically, they have put others' needs before their own.

"They indicated that any form of rebate should not be at the expense of other vulnerable low-income groups or the education of children."