Payments made to Scarborough residents to ease cost of living crisis

People can get a one-off £150 rebate

Author: Local Democracy Reporter, Anttoni James NumminenPublished 29th Jun 2022

Payments totalling more than £6m have been made to Scarborough residents as part of a scheme to ease the cost of living crisis.

As part of the scheme administered by local authorities in England, households in council tax bands A to D who use their property as their sole or main residence as of April 1 2022 can apply for a one-off £150 rebate payment.

As of June 23 2022, more than 41,000 payments had been made to households in the Scarborough borough area totalling £6.2m.

Eligible properties that have not yet received a rebate are eligible to do so until September 30, while Scarborough Council has said that it will also continue to “identify any eligible property for an automatic payment that has yet to apply”.

Direct debits for the rebate can be set up via the council’s website.

The council has also approved a policy for discretionary payments to be made in circumstances where households are not eligible to receive payment under the standard criteria.

This discretionary funding is part of an additional package of £144 million of Government support for households in England.

The discretionary payments are available in the following circumstances:

  • Households in council tax bands E to H who receive local support for council tax.
  • Households in council tax bands E to H who do not receive local support for council tax, but receive a relevant qualifying reduction including universal credit or income support.
  • People who are not liable to pay council tax, but are liable for an energy bill from a utility provider.
  • Properties in council tax bands A to D where the move-in date is between 2 April 2022 and 30 April 2022

However, there is no provision for top-up payments to those who are eligible for the standard scheme.

The Government has said that the one-off £150 payment will benefit around 80 per cent of all homes in England and will not need to be repaid.

Scarborough Council has asked those making applications via their website to ensure they select the link “under the category that applies to you” as any application made under an incorrect category “may result in you being unable to proceed”.

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