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Energy bills rebate

Bram@Ladywood
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Ladywood Community Advice Service Birmingham

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According to the govt’s factsheet ‘Households in England in Bands A-D that pay less than £150 or do not pay Council Tax
as a result of Local Council Tax Support will also be eligible for a payment of £150.’
Anyone know how they plan to administer this?

Paul_Treloar_AgeUK
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From the same factsheet

Further details will be set out by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and local authorities.

Afaik, no-one knows anymore at this stage as this is policy on the hoof at it’s worst.

Gareth Morgan
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Administration by CT departments.

03/02/2022
FOR THE ATTENTION OF THE COUNCIL TAX SECTION
Dear Colleague
Support for energy prices – the council tax rebate

Today, the government has announced measures to help protect millions of households from rising energy costs. This includes a £150 council tax energy rebate. Detailed guidance and funding allocations will be published in the week beginning 7 February, but we are writing to you today to give as much early certainty as possible.

The Government will provide funding for billing authorities to give all households in England whose primary residence is valued in council tax bands A – D a one-off council tax energy rebate payment of £150. This payment will operate outside of the council tax system, using council tax lists to identify eligible households.

We will also provide funding for billing authorities to operate a discretionary fund for households in need who would not otherwise be eligible. This could include for example individuals on low incomes who live in properties valued in bands E – H.

We know that you will have been working hard to prepare bills the coming financial year. The calculation of bills and the presentation of charges will not be impacted, but we will be making regulations as quickly as possible to require the addition of a reference to the scheme on the face of the demand notice and in the accompanying council tax leaflet. The requirements will apply to bills issued in respect of the 2022-23 financial year only.

In tandem, the Government will also lay regulations – well ahead of the 11 March deadline for finalising schemes - to require that council tax energy rebate payments must be disregarded as income for the purposes of calculating eligibility for both working-age and pensioner local council tax support schemes in 2022-23. We will issue a further council tax information letter to confirm when the regulations have been laid.

In accordance with the New Burdens doctrine, billing authorities will be compensated in February for the administrative costs of providing the rebate. We expect to provide funding for the scheme itself in March.

We are extremely grateful for your support in delivering this measure to assist households in your area.

Elliot Kent
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As I think has been pointed out elsewhere, one way to achieve the end result of assisting the poorest families in meeting their living costs would be to increase welfare benefits - just pulling an example off the top of my head, they could have increased everybody’s UC standard allowance by £20 per week. That would have the advantage of targeting those in need without the additional burdens of requiring an entirely new system of financial support to be invented on the fly.

Vonny
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Maybe do something about BP being taxed at -19%, like fund a decent social security system instead of giving BP money to give to their shareholders?

Ianb
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“billing authorities will be compensated in February for the administrative costs of providing the rebate.” - will be interesting (and no doubt depressing) to see what these costs amount to compared to the amount being distributed.

Vonny
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from the guardian politics blog:

Because the September inflation rate is the benchmark, benefits are set to go up by 3.1% in April. But the Bank of England now expects inflation to rise to more than 7% by the spring.

When it was put to Coffey that this would leave claimants in an “impossible position”, she replied:

We have this consistent approach using the same index year on year… inflation moves around and I think it was a reasonable approach to continue with that consistency.


But how does this square with the fact that they can break the consistency to freeze most benefits for 4 whole years when they choose to and continue to freeze LHA rates again?

Peter Turville
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The factsheet link and memo posted by Paul & Gareth above don’t make clear how the £150 CT rebate will be paid in practice to liable persons in properties valued in bands A-D given that it ‘will operate outside of the CT system, using CT lists to identify eligible households’.

Presumably if there is a liability of £150.00 or more this will be deducted from the 22-23 bill when issued.

But for those who have nil (or less than £150) liability due to, for example, to Council Tax Reduction or living in an exempt property (‘severe mental impairment’, students) would have to receive payment by another method?

Or is there some ‘double speak’ going on between describing it as a discount against liability or as a payment based on valuation (rather than liability)?

What about residents of HMO’s where the liable person(s) is the owner / landlord rather than residents?

I assume councils are desperate to understand how it will work in detail?

Perhaps govt. has use up the back of all the envelopes for party invitations?

Jen
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‘The Government will provide funding for billing authorities to give all households in England whose primary residence is valued in council tax bands A – D a one-off council tax energy rebate payment of £150. This payment will operate outside of the council tax system, using council tax lists to identify eligible households’.

***

We are starting to get questions about this now from people getting full council tax support e.g. passported by PCGC. From above I would assume that they have a liability for CT, even though it is paid for by CTS, and therefore they will still get the rebate. Though it would necessitate some sort of form being sent to get bank details etc?? If anyone can confirm or otherwise that would be great - hate having an announcement made with limited/vague information to pass on to clients!

Gareth Morgan
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Jen - 10 February 2022 01:27 PM

We are starting to get questions about this now from people getting full council tax support e.g. passported by PCGC. From above I would assume that they have a liability for CT, even though it is paid for by CTS, and therefore they will still get the rebate. Though it would necessitate some sort of form being sent to get bank details etc?? If anyone can confirm or otherwise that would be great - hate having an announcement made with limited/vague information to pass on to clients!

That’s the intention

Ianb
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Jen - 10 February 2022 01:27 PM

.. I would assume that they have a liability for CT, even though it is paid for by CTS, and therefore they will still get the rebate.

I don’t think it’s safe to assume anything. Being made up as they go along and I’m not convinced the envelopes have big enough backs.

Prisca
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hi
its all smoke,. mirrors and chinese whispers but my understanding ( use the term loosely) is that it inst a reduction /rebate against a council tax bill
The Government are using Ctax records to identify householders who are liable for ctax in ban A - d properties
( not 2nd homes, just bog standard liaiblites)
#if ctax if paid by direct debit, the council will issue a payment of £150 to the account from which the ctax is normally collected

if no d/d in place, the council will contact the householder and ask for bank details to make the payment

We are not permitted to credit this £150 to a customers bill as far as we know! Even of we dont get a reply

Our problem is that our most vulnerable, strapped for cash, customers dont pay by d/debit ( not least because if UC changes each month, often so does the amount of CTS and therefore so do their ctax instalments - its really hard to budget for when the instalment can vary month on month)

personally, i think keeping the £20 UC uplift would have given the financial support to those that need it and would have been a lot cheaper to adminster….

BC Welfare Rights
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If a household’s energy bills are in the name of one person, they take the compulsory £200 loan, then switch the name on the bills to another household member, are the energy companies going to be able to get the £200 back?

Ianb
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BC Welfare Rights - 10 February 2022 06:02 PM

If a household’s energy bills are in the name of one person, they take the compulsory £200 loan, then switch the name on the bills to another household member, are the energy companies going to be able to get the £200 back?

The loan is not linked to an individual or even to a household.
All current at the time bill payers will get the £200.
All future bill payers will be paying it back.
So, for example, people currently living at home who move out to become independent adults will be paying an extra £40 a year for 5 years even though they didn’t benefit from the £200.

Paul_Treloar_AgeUK
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The council tax rebate 2022-23 – billing authority guidance is now available.

Where a council holds live direct debit instructions for a liable council tax payer of an eligible household

20. Where a council holds live direct debit instructions for a liable council taxpayer of an eligible household, they should make an automatic payment as early as possible in the 2022-23 financial year, provided that they are assured that the household is eligible and the bank details have been verified. Where multiple residents of an eligible household are jointly and severally liable for council tax, and a council holds live direct debit instructions for that household, the full £150 payment should be made to the direct debit account. Councils should, as far as possible, exclude any direct debits from automated payments (and follow the steps from paragraph 23 onwards) where the name on the bank details does not match a liable party.

21. Councils should make clear to recipients that the grant is being provided on the assumption that they were a liable council tax payer (or would have been if the property were not exempt) and that the property met the criteria set out at paragraph 11 on 1 April 2022. They should set out that, if this is not the case, the grant may be liable for recovery. They should also make clear that the grant is being provided to support all residents of the household.

22. Councils may wish to take additional steps before payment to prevent erroneous payments and the need for clawback. These may include waiting to make payment until after the first direct debit council tax payment for 2022-23 has been taken on the given live instruction, or asking taxpayers to self-certify that they meet the eligibility criteria. Councils should be aware of the risk of mandate fraud and may want to exercise particular caution where direct debit details have been changed or newly provided since the scheme was announced on 3 February 2022.
Where a council does not hold live direct debit instructions for an eligible household

23. Where a council does not hold live direct debit instructions for an eligible household, the government expects them to make all reasonable efforts to contact the household as early as possible to make them aware of the scheme and invite them to make a claim.

24. Councils can determine an appropriate claims method locally, considering the software solutions available to them, but should include an option for residents who are digitally excluded, for example assisted applications by phone. Payment methods other than BACS are acceptable, but all payments within scope of the reconciliation process should be made by 30 September 2022. As part of the claims process, councils can choose whether to offer £150 credit to an eligible household’s council tax account as a payment option.

25. Councils should ask the claimant to self-certify that they are (or would be in the case of exempt property) a liable taxpayer, that they meet the eligibility criteria at paragraph 11, and that are claiming on behalf of the household. In doing so, councils can refer taxpayers to their powers under section 3(1)(c) of The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 to request information for the purposes of identifying the liable taxpayer.

26. Councils should include information on how households can contact them if they have any doubt that it is the council making contact. The government will not tolerate any council tax payer falsifying their records or providing false evidence to gain access to the Council Tax Rebate or Discretionary Fund. A ratepayer who provides false information or makes false representation in order to benefit from the Council Tax Rebate or Discretionary Fund may be guilty of fraud under the Fraud Act 2006. Councils may wish to alert claimants to this as part of the claims process.

27. Councils will be required to undertake pre-payment checks prior to payment of any grant which is not awarded to a live direct debit holder. These should allow them to:
a) Satisfy themselves that the person who is applying is entitled to payment; and
b) Satisfy themselves that payment details provided (if applicable) belong to an entitled person and relate to the relevant address

28. Councils should retain a record of:
i) all evidence provided as part of claims, and
ii) all pre-payment checks undertaken

29. To assist the pre-payment checks discussed in paragraph 28 above, the government will make available Spotlight, its due diligence risking tool. The fees incurred to use Spotlight for checks carried out for the Council Tax Rebate and Discretionary Fund will be covered by the government, and not be councils themselves. Spotlight can assist with the pre-payment checks listed above with its bank account verification function, which allows councils to confirm the name and address of a payee against the bank details provided. It can also check for instances of multiple applications being made with the same bank account. Workshops will be made available to explain how to use the toolkit and understand the results. The use of Spotlight or an equivalent tool to support pre-award due diligence is required, and evidence of checks undertaken needs to be retained by councils for audit purposes. Councils should hold a record of any instances of attempted or successful fraud, either uncovered by Spotlight (or an equivalent tool), or other processes such as via tip-offs.

Mike Hughes
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Elliot Kent - 08 February 2022 03:28 PM

As I think has been pointed out elsewhere, one way to achieve the end result of assisting the poorest families in meeting their living costs would be to increase welfare benefits - just pulling an example off the top of my head, they could have increased everybody’s UC standard allowance by £20 per week. That would have the advantage of targeting those in need without the additional burdens of requiring an entirely new system of financial support to be invented on the fly.

Yes but then it really would become much harder to justify not having the same increase for those on legacy benefits.

CA Adviser
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Does anyone know if the LA can offset the payment against arrears?

Prisca
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hi,
the payment isn’t towards council tac and won’t be credited to ctax accounts - council tax records are being used to identify the householder ( the thinking being that its likely the person who pays the council tax will likely be the person who pays for the gas/electric at the address.

the council won’t “credit” council tax bills - where ctax is paid by direct=debit, the £ will be paid into that same account
If no d/debit, then the LA will contact the customer and tell them how to apply to get the money.

One of the options will be if the customer wants the money posted to their ctax account ( apoparently() but its a customer choice, not the LA default position

CA Adviser
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Thanks Prisca, that’s very helpful.

BC Welfare Rights
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I may have missed it but I can’t see what happens if the CT payer does not have a bank account. Does anyone know?
Edit
I suppose footnote 3 of the guidance and the reference to payments other than by BACS might cover it

[ Edited: 24 Mar 2022 at 10:39 am by BC Welfare Rights ]