Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate his Department had made of the number of households that did not pay council tax by direct debit by local authority when the Council Tax Energy Rebate was announced.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Department did not make any estimates of households that did not pay council tax by direct debit by local authority when the rebate was announced.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to monitor arrangements made by councils to determine the allocation of the discretionary fund for the Council Tax Energy Rebate; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Paul Scully
The monitoring data published at www.gov.uk/government/publications/council-tax-rebate-monitoring-data-april-june-2022 includes data on the allocation of funds from the discretionary scheme. Decisions on how the funds should be used are a matter for the local councils concerned.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to a situation where a landlord's name appears on a Council Tax direct debit and where that landlord is also the liable person, but where the tenant pays a rent to the landlord which is deemed to include council tax, whether such a landlord is entitled to keep the £150 Council Tax Energy Rebate payment.
Answered by Paul Scully
In most circumstances, the occupant of a property is liable for council tax rather than the owner. Where the liable council tax payer for a chargeable dwelling does not occupy the property, for example in a house in multiple occupation or residential care home, nobody will be eligible for the rebate in relation to that property. Councils can consider supporting occupants in these circumstances through their discretionary fund.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his Department’s guidance on the Council Tax Energy Rebate which states that councils can choose whether to offer £150 credit to an eligible household’s council tax account as a payment option, whether a local authority can use that £150 payment to reduce the arrears of a council taxpayer.
Answered by Paul Scully
Taxpayers can choose to accept the rebate as a credit on their Council Tax account in order to reduce Council Tax arrears. However, rebate payments should only be made as council tax credits in circumstances where the tax payer has elected to receive a credit rather than a BACS or voucher payment or where an application has not been made or a voucher has not been cashed after a reasonable period of time has elapsed.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many households had received the £150 Council Tax Energy Rebate payment on (a) 1 April, (b) 1 May, (c) 1 June and (d) 1 July 2022.
Answered by Paul Scully
Monthly data on the delivery of the scheme are available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/council-tax-rebate-monitoring-data-april-june-2022
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Council Tax Energy Rebate, whether households that were not resident on 1 April 2022 are entitled to a payment from the discretionary fund.
Answered by Paul Scully
Eligibility criteria for payments from the discretionary fund are for the local council concerned to determine.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Council Tax Energy Rebate, whether (a) a house in multiple occupation and (b) any other properties would be entitled to receive a £150 payment plus an additional discretionary fund payment.
Answered by Paul Scully
Tenants of houses in multiple occupation are often not liable for council tax but if they are responsible for energy costs, they may be able to apply to their local council for support from its discretionary fund. The eligibility criteria for discretionary fund payments are determined by local councils, and may include providing discretionary support in the form of a ‘top-up’ payment to households who are eligible for the core rebate or payments that total more than £150 to tenants of a house in multiple occupation.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his Department’s guidance on the Council Tax Energy Rebate, published on 16th March 2022 which states that councils can use the discretionary fund to offer carefully targeted 'top-up' payments to the most vulnerable households in bands A to D, or to offer discretionary support exceeding £150, whether there is an upper limit to the amount that can be paid from that fund to any one household.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Department has not set an upper limit to the amount that can be paid from the discretionary fund to any one household.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the guidance entitled Support for energy bills - the council tax rebate 2022-23: billing authority guidance, published on 16 March 2022, whether the requirement that payment methods other than BACS are acceptable would require councils to make payments in cash.
Answered by Paul Scully
Councils should not normally make payments in cash. Where, exceptionally, a cash payment is considered appropriate, councils should satisfy themselves that the person receiving the money is entitled to payment and keep an appropriate audit trail.