£150 tax rebate: Sheffield MP questions Government over administration of rebate to eligible households

A Sheffield MP has taken the Government to task over the delivery and administration of £150 tax rebate that aims to help eligible households with the rising cost of living.
Sheffield South East MP Clive BettsSheffield South East MP Clive Betts
Sheffield South East MP Clive Betts

Sheffield South East MP, Clive Betts, who is also the chairman of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LUHC) Committee, has fired off a latter to Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, seeking clarification about the operation of Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak’s announced policy that millions of households will receive a council tax rebate.

The correspondence from Mr Betts is the latest in a series of letters from the LUHC Committee, pressing the Government on details of how the council tax rebate will be administered, the process for people to receive the £150 rebate, and the guidance to councils who have been made responsible by the Chancellor for delivering the rebate.

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The correspondence also notes the series of recent or current Government examples of one-off grants paid to councils which attempt to assist households and individuals facing hardship and questions whether these, in effect, are moves to create, ‘a parallel, discretionary, locally-operated welfare benefit system outside the conventional one’.

He said: “There are suggestions the Chancellor is looking again at a council tax rebate later this year to help households with increasing energy bills. The reality is the Chancellor’s first effort at support through a council tax rebate is already proving to be complex and there are a variety of issues which risk people being unable to access this help quickly and smoothly.

“The Government needs to get a grip on the operation of the council tax rebate and give clear guidance to councils so that this rebate is delivered to households reliably and effectively. If the Chancellor is minded to bring forward additional support to households through the council tax system later in the year then it is even more crucial that every effort is made to create a process that works now.”

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.