Uncertainty on when Council Tax rebate will be given in BCP

Last month Mr Sunak announced that households who fall into council tax bands A to D in England will receive a one-off £150 payment.

This meant the majority of households, more than 100,000, in the BCP Council area were set to get a payment.

And unlike the £200 energy bill rebate being issued later this year, the council tax rebate will not need to be repaid at a later date.

The responsibility for issuing the council tax rebate is with local authorities.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak

Councils have until September to pay out the money but residents in the BCP Council have been left in the dark over when they can expect to receive their non-repayable payment.

• Read more: How to check your council tax band

In a recent Facebook Live broadcast, BCP Council leader Cllr Drew Mellor said: “We all know that the cost of living at the moment with very high levels of inflation, so we are going to be getting a £150 rebate across council tax.

“That needs to be delivered by September. We are working absolutely flat out, our teams internally, working out how we can actually move that forward quicker than September and we certainly intend to.

“It’s equivalent effectively to doing a whole new bill round, which is an immense annual exercise, and it is happening at the same time as that bill exercise.

Cllr Drew Mellor (Image: BCP Council)

“We will do everything we can to bring that well forward in front of September.”

• Read more: How much your Council Tax bill will increase in BCP

A BCP Council spokesperson said: "Our team are working hard to deal with an exceptionally high number of enquiries and the volume of work involved in arranging the rebate payments is equivalent to that seen during the annual billing period.

"Unfortunately, the guidance for the rebate payment has been released at the busiest time for Revenues Departments and we cannot currently give an exact date for payments.

"We will publish further details on our website and social media channels when they are available.

"For more information, please see out webpage on the rebate: www.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/Council-Tax/Energy-Bill-Rebate.aspx"

Those who pay Council Tax by direct debit could expect their rebate by mid-May, a recent council update said, but no guidance has been given for those who pay their Council Tax through a different method.