Item ‘Called in’ from the Cabinet meeting of 21 March 2022

The Chair of the Overview Scrutiny Committee has called in the following item for the meeting on Thursday 31 March 2022:

Item 10. Support for energy bills - the Council Tax Rebate 2022/2023

Reason:

·       To examine the Council’s response to the administration of the Council Tax Rebate 2022/2023.

·       To evaluate the cost to the Council of administering the rebate and the staffing resource required.

·       To consider the challenges that may occur in administering the rebate and the audit / anti-fraud processes that will need to follow.

Cabinet Member:      The relevant Cabinet Member for this matter is invited to attend.

Officer:                       The relevant officers for this matter are invited to attend.

Please find the Cabinet reports for this item attached to this agenda.

The Director (Corporate Services) informed Members that on 3 February 2022, the Government announced a package of support known as the Energy Bills Rebate to help households with rising energy bills, worth £9.1 billion in 2022-2023. This included:-

·       £200 discount on their energy bill this autumn for domestic electricity customers in Great Britain. This will be paid back automatically over the next 5 years;

·       £150 non-repayable rebate for households in England in council tax bands A – D, known as the Council Tax Rebate; and

·       £144 million of discretionary funding for billing authorities to support households who are in need but are not eligible for the Council Tax Rebate, known as the Discretionary Fund.

The Director (Corporate Services) informed Members of the following:

Council Tax Rebate 2022-23

·       The Council had been allocated £5,297,100 for the core scheme of Council Tax Rebate 2022-2023. This was equivalent of paying £150 to 35,314 households, which was required to be distributed to eligible households by 30 September 2022

·       Where the Council holds live direct debit instructions for a liable council taxpayer of an eligible household (currently 27,000 for GBC), the guidance states that an automatic payment should be made as early as possible in the 2022-23 financial year, provided that there was assurance that the household was eligible and the bank details had been verified.

·       The Council has an estimated 16,000 households to contact and take through a process to obtain and verify bank details before payment of the Council Tax Rebate.

·       The Council anticipates that around 900 of these households will not be eligible for the scheme (e.g. empty households or households that fall into the exempt category)

·       The title of the scheme is misleading and can cause confusion to recipients; it’s not a rebate and operates outside of Council Tax.

Discretionary Fund

·       The Council has been allocated £249,150 for the Discretionary Fund. This was equivalent of paying £150 to 1,661 households, which was required to be distributed by 30 November 2022.

·       The guidance advised that the Council could determine locally how best to make use of this funding to provide payments to other households who were energy bill payers but not covered by the Council Tax Rebate. This could include households living in properties valued in bands E – H (currently 6,463 properties) that were on income related benefits such as Council Tax Reduction (currently 233 claimants in bands E-H) or those where the energy bills payers were not liable for council tax. The Director (Corporate Services) advised that the intention would be to work closely with colleagues across Kent to ensure commonality with the discretionary scheme.

·       Cabinet granted delegated authority to the Director (Corporate Services), in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Performance & Administration, to develop a discretionary Council Tax Rebate scheme and associated policy, and to make the necessary arrangements to assess eligibility and determine award of funding to eligible households. Delegated authority was also granted to the Director (Corporate Services) to make any further technical amendments to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35

1.    Cabinet to delegate authority to the Director (Corporate Services), in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Performance & Administration, to develop a discretionary Council Tax Rebate scheme and associated policy, and to make the necessary arrangements to assess eligibility and determine award of funding to eligible households.

2.    Cabinet to delegate authority to the Director (Corporate Services) to make any further technical amendments to the scheme where further government advice is issued and ensure that the Portfolio Holder for Performance & Administration is kept informed of any such amendments required.

The Cabinet was informed that on 3 February 2022, the Government announced a package of support known as the Energy Bills Rebate to help households with rising energy bills, worth £9.1 billion in 2022-2023. This included:-

·         £200 discount on their energy bill this autumn for domestic electricity customers in Great Britain. This will be paid back automatically over the next 5 years;

·         £150 non-repayable rebate for households in England in council tax bands A – D, known as the Council Tax Rebate; and

·         £144 million of discretionary funding for billing authorities to support households who are in need but are not eligible for the Council Tax Rebate, known as the Discretionary Fund.

The Director (Corporate Services) informed Members that a total £5,546,250 had been allocated to the Council. The sum consisted of:-

·         £5,297,100 for the core scheme of Council Tax Rebate 2022-2023. This was equivalent of paying £150 to 35,314 households, which was required to be distributed to eligible households by 30 September 2022; and

·         £249,150 for the discretionary fund. This was equivalent of paying £150 to 1,661 households, which was required to be distributed by 30 November 2022.

In relation to the Council Tax Rebate, the Government had provided an explanatory sentence and information leaflet to be included in council tax demand notices (bills) issued to households. Where the Council holds live direct debit instructions for a liable council taxpayer of an eligible household, the guidance states that an automatic payment should be made as early as possible in the 2022-23 financial year, provided that there was assurance that the household was eligible and the bank details had been verified. At the time of preparing the report, bank details were held for 20,285 council tax payers out of 36,113 properties in band A-D in the Borough. There had been press coverage to encourage Direct Debit take-up since late February. Where the Council does not hold live direct debit instructions for an eligible household, all reasonable efforts to contact the household will be made to make them aware of the scheme and invite them to make a claim.

In relation to the Discretionary Fund, the guidance advised that the Council could determine locally how best to make use of this funding to provide payments to other households who were energy bill payers but not covered by the Council Tax Rebate. This could include households living in properties valued in bands E – H (currently 6,463 properties) that were on income related benefits such as Council Tax Reduction (currently 233 claimants in bands E-H) or those where the energy bills payers were not liable for council tax. The Director (Corporate Services) advised that the intention would be to work closely with colleagues across Kent to ensure commonality with the discretionary scheme.

The service will also work closely with the Communications Team, Digital Team and Customer Services to ensure that households were provided with clear and timely information about the Council Tax Rebate scheme and Discretionary Fund.

Members expressed concern  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32