Committee raises questions over council tax rebate

The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee has written to Michael Gove about the Chancellor’s announcement that millions of households will receive a council tax rebate.

Clive Betts, chair of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee, wrote to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities about a  series of issues including asking how qualifying households without a bank account will get the £150 rebate, as announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak last month, the access to the rebate for those not using Direct Debits, whether those in pension credit will receive the council tax rebate in full, and also questions concerning how the discretionary fund will be distributed.

The correspondence also asks how the government will ensure the rebate is received by tenants who have an arrangement where their landlord pays the council tax on their behalf.

Betts said: “The government has made significant efforts to get good headlines for introducing the £150 rebate. However, it has now left local authorities with the headache of managing the allocation of these payments. Additionally, it has now emerged that access to the rebate will be difficult for those who do not pay through Direct Debit. The government needed to ensure that qualifying households received prompt support, but have instead imposed the burden of responsibility and bureaucracy on to local authorities.

“The Secretary of State needs to spell out how households, including those who receive council tax support or who receive pension credit, will receive the rebate. There also needs to be more clarity on what will happen in households where tenants pay their council tax to their landlord? Payments must go to tenants and we need to avoid the prospect of landlords receiving multiple rebates.

“The rebate is welcome but we need to know more from Whitehall about what they are doing to support local councils deliver this policy and provide firm assurances that councils will not be hit by further costs from administering the rebates.”

The rebates are among measures announced by the government with the aim of helping households with energy costs. The one-off payment of £150 will be paid by local authorities to people living in properties in council tax bands A to D.