Rotherham Council “on course” to begin paying households £150 council tax rebate by mid-May

Those in band A-D properties – which make up 94 per cent of Rotherham homes – will receive an automatic rebate of £150 to help them with rising energy costs from the government, via their local council.

For those with Direct Debits set up to pay their council tax, the money will be automatically deposited in their account during April.

The government say that the rebate will be provided as a separate payment, rather than as part of your council tax bill so it can be rolled out quickly.

Judith Badger, Rotherham Council’s strategic director finance and customer services, said: “Almost 108,000 of the near 119,000 properties in Rotherham fall into council tax bands A to D and so qualify for the £150 grant to help meet the rising cost of energy.

MORE: Estimated 34,000 Rotherham households don’t have Direct Debit set up to receive £150 energy support payments

“Properties above band D will receive a payment of approximately £80.

“Distributing this funding is a significant administrative process and we are requesting that residents do not contact the council with enquiries if possible while we work hard on getting them processed and out to our residents as soon as possible.

“We remain on course to commence making payments to direct debit payers by the end of April 2022, completing by mid-May.

“Eligible households will receive a letter to confirm when payment is on its way.

“For the 34,000 households who don’t pay by Direct Debit, we will make payment by cheque, sent by post, which recipients can deposit or cash at banks or building societies.

“In most cases the cheque will be issued to the first named person on the Council Tax bill.

“We are expecting that the cheques will commence being issued at the end of May 2022, once the council has carried out the required validation for non-direct debit payers.

“The council will not be asking people to provide their bank details for this and therefore any requests made for this purpose should be treated with extreme caution.”