Tens of thousands of households in Doncaster still waiting for council tax rebate

Earlier this year, the Government announced that every household in council tax bands A to D would receive a £150 rebate to help with the cost-of-living crisis.

These payments started landing in people's bank accounts in April – but new figures from the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities show that 22,530 of the 126,500 eligible households in Doncaster were still waiting as of the end of July.

But it could take longer to reach council taxpayers without direct debit arrangements, as local authorities need to attempt to contact them and carry out checks.

The Government has also pledged £144m in 'discretionary funds' to help those not covered by the main rebate scheme, or to provide further support to those who are.

However, the figures show that no households in Doncaster had been paid from the discretionary fund as of the end of July.

Debbie Hogg, Director of Corporate Resources at Doncaster Council, said: “As of 5 September 2022, 90.11 per cent (113,995) Energy Rebate payments have made to eligible households, from an estimated 126,500 total eligible households in Doncaster.

“The payments can be split into those paying their Council Tax by Direct Debit on 1 April 2022, which resulted in 77,002 being made direct to their bank account in April 2022, and those who have successfully applied for the payment, of which 36,991 have been awarded a direct payment. There remain a further 108 applications that are still outstanding and we are working our way through these to make payment where applicable. This leaves about 12,500 potentially eligible households who did not apply.

“The application process ran from April to 14th August 2022. All eligible households were contacted directly by letter advising them to apply. In cases where we also held an email and mobile phone numbers, they also received direct contact through these channels, again inviting them to apply. There were also social media campaigns and website messaging informing people about the scheme.

“As a safety net to ensure all eligible households receive the £150 Energy Rebate, we will be crediting the Council Tax accounts on these properties with the payment before the scheme ends at the end of September 2022, in line with Government guidance.”

Debbie added: “Doncaster Council received £724,350 from the Government’s Discretionary Energy Rebate funding. This has been used firstly to support low income households in receipt of Council Tax Reduction on 1st April 2022, in Council Tax property bands E – G, who didn’t qualify under the main energy rebate scheme. In Doncaster, 138 households qualify for this and will each receive a payment of £150 in the next week.

“The remainder of the funding has been used as part of a local cost of living support payment of £200 to all eligible households in receipt of Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction or the housing element of Universal Credit. The £200 payment is partially funded from the Household Support Fund as well as the Discretionary Energy Rebate funding, with the remaining cost being met through Council reserves. So far over 26,000 households have received this payment in Doncaster, so the Discretionary Energy Rebate funding has in part supported this number of households.”

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