Tens of thousands of ‘the least well off’ in Bolton still to receive £150 council tax rebate

Calls have been made to act swiftly to pay tens of thousands of the ‘least well off’ council taxpayers yet to receive a £150 rebate. In February the Government announced everyone with homes in council tax bands A to D, will get a £150 payment to counter rocketing energy bills.

Those who pay their council tax bills by direct debit have had the rebate paid but it is estimated that around 30,000 households in Bolton do not pay council tax by direct debit. Last month Bolton Council set up an online claim form on their website and since then thousands more rebates have been processed.

At a full council meeting this week One Kearsley councillor Paul Heslop expressed concerns about the system of payments. He said: “There are nearly one in three households in this borough who do not pay by direct debit and have not yet received their £150 entitlement.

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“Unless this council acts swiftly, we may find that the £150 payment due to some of the borough’s least well off, will actually be paid out after the first instalment of £325 payment in July of the latest government initiative which was announced 16 weeks after the original £150 payment was announced.

“The online application for non-direct-debit residents finally appeared on May 28 on the council’s website and both Coun Newall and I have facilitated Kearsley residents in the application for their £150 payment. “However, it is impractical and simply wrong to expect councillors to ensure that the estimated 1,500 households that fall into the non direct debit payers category per ward are claiming their £150 entitlement.”

Council leader Martyn Cox responded