Late changes to Council Tax Benefit reforms would create considerable complexity

In a recent ministerial statement, the government announced a significant change to its policy to localise Council Tax Benefit (CTB) from next April. Stuart Adam, James Browne and Paul Johnson of the IFS ask why such a significant change has been applied to a policy two years after it was first announced, less than six months before councils will have to implement it and after many have already consulted on the structure of proposed schemes.