Question reference: S6W-04375
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 18 November 2021
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Current status: Answered by Shona Robison on 2 December 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government which local authorities categorise military compensation as income in relation to applications for benefits for (a) housing and (b) council tax reduction.
Answer
(a) As per the guidance on Discretionary Housing Payments and the guidance on the GOV.UK webpage, anyone receiving Industrial Injuries Benefit (and equivalent payments made as part of a War Disablement Pension or the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme) are exempt from the benefit cap. Therefore, all local authorities should disregard this payment as income when assessing applications for housing related benefits.
(b) The Council Tax Reduction Regulations instruct that armed forces independence payments should be fully disregarded as income in the calculation of council tax reduction. Therefore, all local authorities should disregard these payments as income in relation to applications for council tax reduction.