Council Tax rebates are on their way despite delay

ONLY a third of Oldham residents eligible for a £150 council tax rebate have so far received the money.

Oldham Council says more than 20,000 payments, equating to 33 per cent, have been made to people who pay council tax by direct debit and are due the rebate.

Admitting delays in making payments “has been frustrating” the local authority hope to issue the majority of payments this month.

The council tax rebate, designed to combat cost of living issues, provides a payment of £150 to households living in council tax bands A–D.

Payments should have started from April 2022 and will not need to be paid back. But the roll out scheme has been delayed across the country.

An Oldham Council spokesperson said: “We know how important this payment is to our residents.

“Our officers have been working incredibly hard over the last few months to ensure we could issue rebates to eligible households as quickly and as smoothly as possible.

“This has involved upgrading our systems to prevent residents experiencing any transaction failures when rebates are issued, something many other councils have done.

“We appreciate this has been frustrating. But we hope residents can understand we did not want to rush this process and get things wrong which would have caused unnecessary disruption.

“Payments directly into the bank accounts of those who are eligible and pay their council tax by Direct Debit and are well underway and we expect to issue the majority of these payments in May.

“Some payments to Direct Debit payers may need to undergo additional administrative checks to ensure payments go to the correct person, for example where the Direct Debit payee differs to the liable person for council tax.

“This may involve us writing to you by letter or email to clarify bank or Council Tax liability details, but we will not ring to ask for confirmation of your bank details.

“If you don’t pay your Council Tax by Direct Debit and are eligible for a rebate, you do not have to do anything as we’re in the process of issuing you a barcoded letter which contains details of how you can redeem the cash payment at a local post office.

“These letters are expected to be delivered in June so please wait for this to arrive and do not chase us for payment.

“Please continue to check our website for more information and updates via www.oldham.gov.uk/energyrebate and we want to thank residents for their continued patience.”