Council to pay extra money to families who qualify through energy rebate scheme

To ensure as many Sefton households as possible benefit from the national Council Tax Energy Rebate Scheme, the Council is making payments to thousands of eligible families with children.

Today’s Sefton Council Cabinet meeting agreed the payments for families in Council Tax Band A to H properties that receive means-tested Council Tax Reduction.

Families with one or two children will receive £18 and families with three or more children will receive £22.

These payments will be in addition to the payments of £20 and £30 that the Council has already made to these families through the Energy Rebate scheme.

Cllr Paulette Lappin, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Regulatory, Compliance and Corporate Services, said: 
“We want to make sure that as much as possible of the remaining money available from Energy Rebate Scheme, is distributed to Sefton households facing rocketing electricity and gas bills, and further increases to prices in the shops.

“With an end-of-November deadline to spend the £109,000 of discretionary funding we have left, we have agreed today to make these extra payments that will help families with children, who are in receipt of means-tested Council Tax Reduction.”

In total, Sefton Council paid out around £15 million of automatic payments and, once these final payments agreed today are made, a further £708,000 of discretionary funding through the Energy Rebate scheme.