Around 20,000 households across Liverpool are yet to receive payment of the council tax rebate.
Liverpool Council has confirmed that it has made more than 90,000 payments to residents of £150 as part of the £32m support scheme announced by the UK government to support people with increasing energy costs. However, a portion of the 110,000 households who pay their council tax by direct debit have yet to receive the cash.
The local authority rubber stamped the proposals which form two schemes - a core programme consisting of a rebate for properties in council tax bands A-D and discretionary programme that will help households outside of those bands and those who are eligible but may need further support. A total of £1.6m was made available to Liverpool Council by the government for the discretionary scheme on top of the £32m main pot.
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In a statement, deputy mayor of Liverpool, Cllr Jane Corbett, said: “This has been a huge undertaking as there are around 225,000 eligible households in Liverpool. We have made over 90,000 payments since the beginning of May out of the 110,000 people who pay their Council Tax by Direct Debit as we already have their account details on our Council system, with the remaining households using Direct Debit being paid within the next few days.
“Alongside that we are setting up a straightforward application system for those 115,000 people who don’t pay by Direct Debit and will be announcing those details shortly.” A cabinet report in February said it was likely the scheme would take “a number of weeks to complete” owing to the large volumes to be processed.
Residents in neighbouring authorities such as Knowsley received their payments as early as the end of April. Any excess funds not spent by Liverpool Council will be returned to the UK government.
Cllr Corbett added: “So many people right across the city are now really struggling to make ends meet. Please don’t forget that we have support systems in place to help where we can.
“Please do contact us via our freephone number (0800 456 1523) for our Liverpool Citizens Support Scheme or for benefits advice you can ring us on 0800 028 3697. Details can also be found at liverpool.gov.uk/benefits.”
