Written question asked by Nigel Waterson (Conservative) on Tuesday, 23 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 25 March 2010. It was answered by Helen Goodman (Labour) on Monday, 29 March 2010 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Council Tax Benefits

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions her Department has had with (a) Ministers and (b) officials in the Department for Communities and Local Government on the renaming of council tax benefit as council tax rebate.

Answer: Discussions at ministerial level took place during the passage of the Welfare Reform Bill and the Government agreed that changing the name of council tax benefit to council tax rebate could have a positive impact on benefit take-up. We want to make the change at the earliest opportunity and discussion take place between officials of Department for Work and Pensions and Communities and Local Government as part of the process for achieving that.

Secondary information