How councils could give you extra help with bills amid cost of living crisis

SOME households not eligible for a £150 government rebate will still be able to get financial help towards energy bills.

Councils have been awarded a sum of money to help residents.

When the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, announced support for energy bills earlier this year, a discretionary fund of £144 million was allocated to local authorities.

The fund was intended to support households as household bills soared.

It means some people will be eligible for financial help even if they do not qualify for the £150 tax rebate.

The fund can also be used to provide further support to households that do qualify for the rebate.

How the funding is administered is at the discretion of the local authority. However, the government has provided some guidelines as to how it will be used.

The Mercury reached out to the city and borough councils across the county about their respective plans for funding.

This is how much money each council was awarded and how some will be administering the money. Some are still in the process of planning how the funds will be handed out.

Leicester City Council, £836,250

In the city, eligible households in bands E to H will receive a payment of £150.

It will be paid into the bank accounts of people who pay their council tax by direct debit. For those who do not, the money will be sent as a Post Office voucher that can be for cash. To be eligible, occupants must have received council tax support or a qualifying discount or exemption in

2021/2022. They must fall into one of these categories to qualify:

■ In bands E-H and having received council tax support and/or council tax discretionary relief (including pensioners);

■ In bands E-H and containing at least one adult classed as severely mentally impaired;

■ In bands E-H and receiving a relevant exemption/discount, e.g, Disabled Band Relief, “granny annex”, single person discount (due to likelihood of increased bills per adult);

■ A household including a careleaver under the age of 25;

■ A household participating in the Homes for Ukraine scheme (in 2022/23).

Other households will be invited to apply for support. Occupants who pay energy bills in a shared property with a non-resident landlord will be required to show an energy bill as evidence.

A spokesman said the council “will usually pay £150 per property”.

Those who moved into their homes after April 1, but would otherwise have met the criteria for the main tax rebate scheme, and have not received or were eligible for a £150 payment on another property, will qualify for the council’s discreexchanged tionary fund support. This will also have to be applied for and will be limited to £150 per property.

The city council is expected to invite the eligible groups to apply, if required, later this month. The discretionary fund is a limited grant which means once all the money has been awarded, the scheme will end.

Charnwood Borough Council, £231,300

The council is making payments in line with the tax rebate scheme. Plans for the discretionary fund are under way.

A spokesman said: “We are developing a scheme to administer this discretionary fund and hope to have details finalised soon.

“The government has made it clear we have until November to distribute the funds but we will clearly be aiming to get this financial support to people as soon as possible.

“We are making more than 40,000 council tax energy rebate payments to people who pay council tax by direct debit and will shortly start to issue more than 20,000 Post Office vouchers to people who do not pay council tax by direct debit.”

We will clearly be aiming to get this financial support to people as soon as possible Charnwood

Blaby District Council, £119,850

Households that fall into council tax bands E to H will be eligible for support from the discretionary fund.

A spokeswoman for the council plans for administering the fund are “in progress”.

Information will be available on the council’s website once the discretionary scheme is finalised.

Melton Borough Council £73,050

Melton Borough Council has not finalised plans on how its discretionary fund will be spent.

However, according to the counley cil, it is expected households across all bands will be eligible for extra support.

The website states two initial priorities are households on “those households on council tax support living in bands E to H” and “a top-up for those households on council ~ tax support living in bands A to D first.” More information will be published at the end of this month.

Oadby and Wigston, £72,450

The council has decided to administer the discretionary fund to groups of residents who are identified as likely to be in financial difficulty, according to council records.

Eligible residents will be contacted individually by the council to confirm the documents required to demonstrate eligibility before making the payments, according to the policy shared on its website.

Three eligible households have been split into three groups which are as follows:

Group 1 – Council tax support recipients in bands E to H; Severely mentally impaired residents in bands E to H; Residents in receipt of a disabled band reduction in bands E to H; Residents in this group will receive a payment of £150.

Group 2 – Residents identified as being in financial difficulty by the financial inclusion officer; Residents in this group will receive of £150.

Group 3 – Council tax support recipients in bands A to H. For this group, a share of the remaining discretionary fund is to be distributed equally across all CTRS recipients.

Harborough, £106,800

Harborough District Council, Hinckand Bosworth Borough Council and North West Leicestershire District Council work are working together to distribute the rebates as part of the main tax rebate scheme through their joint Revenue and Benefits Partnership.

At this stage, it has not been confirmed whether the councils will administer the funds in a joint scheme.

A council spokesman said: “We have received £106,800 of government funding for the discretionary scheme in Harborough.

“We are focusing on the main rebate scheme and will then confirm details of the discretionary scheme with our residents. We are working on it as quickly as we can.”

Hinckley and Bosworth, £143,100

A council spokesman said: “The discretionary scheme payments will not be launched until such time that we have received the software and we have paid those eligible for the main scheme that pay by direct debit.

“The date is to be confirmed – expected early June.”

North West Leicestershire, £133,350

According to the council website, it is anticipated that the discretionary scheme will be launched in June.

FUND FOR THOSE WHO DID NOT GET THE £150 REBATE