The Council has now issued £150 Council Tax energy rebate payments to all eligible households in Rotherham and residents who were paid by cheque are encouraged to cash the funds as soon as possible.
In total, over 108,000 of the Government-funded payments have been made to homes that fall within Council Tax bands A-D – 75,667 to direct debit payers direct into their bank account and 32,366 by cheque. These are one-off payments, not loans, and do not need to be repaid.
Rotherham Council is amongst the first local authorities in the country to complete payments to all eligible households.
Unless requested otherwise, cheques have been issued to the first named person on the Council Tax bill. Residents who have received payment by cheque have the option of returning the cheque and requesting that it is issued in a different name (such as a partner) if they wish.
Anyone in receipt of a cheque payment who doesn’t have a bank account can contact the Council to make arrangements to be paid in cash. There is no charge for this service.
And anyone who is unable to cash the cheque because they are housebound should contact the Council to arrange an alternative method of payment, again, without charge.
So far, more than 81% of cheques issued have been cashed (figure correct as of 6/7/22). Cheques must be cashed by 9 September 2022. If cheques aren’t cashed by this date, where possible, the Council will deduct the payment amount from any outstanding Council Tax arrears.
Councillor Saghir Alam, Cabinet Member for Corporate Services, Community Safety and Finance at Rotherham Council, said: “We want to see every penny of financial support provided by the Government helping Rotherham residents immediately so we are encouraging those 6,000 or so people who have received payment by cheque to cash it as soon as possible .
“Distributing payments on this scale is a significant task which many local authorities have struggled with and I am proud that we are one of the few Councils in the country to have already issued payments to all eligible residents. I would urge anyone who has received a cheque but is unable to bank or cash it for good reason to contact us so that we can make alternative arrangements to suit them.
“I’d also encourage anyone who is struggling with the spiraling cost of living to look into the additional local financial assistance the Council has in place to help hard pressed Rotherham residents. Full details are on our website www.rotherham.gov.uk/council-tax-benefits .”
The Government also provided the Council with £615,000 in funding for discretionary support for energy bills, to be targeted at households in Council Tax bands E to H.
The Council opted to allocate this funding equally, with 7,155 payments of £90 per household all now distributed, either direct into bank accounts or by cheque.