---

Welfare Reform Bill

My Lords, I am sorry in a way that this amendment has not been grouped with the subsequent group of amendments, because it could be a little difficult repeating our arguments. I have no particularly strong views on whether we should re-label council tax benefit as council tax rebate. On the one hand, that would detach it from the benefit system, which for some people would be desirable. However, on the other hand, others are passported on to it by virtue of housing benefit, and you may lose the connection with passporting by renaming the benefit a rebate. On one hand, there are gainers while, on the other, there may be losers. Will my noble friend the Minister, in reply to my noble friend Lady Turner, or in his own speech later on, remind the House whether former servicemen, particularly those with war pensions—the constituency for which the RBL, rightly, campaigns—are entitled to 50 per cent reduction as of right of their council tax? If so, that may to some degree account for the relatively smaller take-up. It may be a dignity issue, but the sums involved may become that much lower by virtue of the reduction in the council tax bill for those people. As we all know, in looking at claims to benefits, although substantial sums are unclaimed, very often, as with pension credits, people at the very edges may have only £2, £3, £5 or £10 to claim and may think that it is not worth the hassle, because they judge the sums as relatively modest. Could my noble friend help me on that point?