Barrow residents to be given helping hand with energy bills

The local authority has been given £162,000 by the Government to assist those not eligible for an energy rebate under the existing scheme.

This scheme requires councils to pay £150 to households in council-tax bands A to D.

"In rounded numbers, there are 18,000 accounts where direct-debit details can be used to send a payment to taxpayer bank accounts," said a report discussing payments under the existing scheme.

"The software to enable this payment is currently being tested and these payments are anticipated to be transacted at the end of May.

"There are 13,000 accounts where an application process is required; there are verification and validation requirements to ensure that payments are correct and that the liable party and bank accounts match.

"The application process is also being created and tested; this will be an online form for customers and, in the background, council officers will perform checks against government records."

Barrow Council is free to distribute the £162,000 as it sees fit.

A report, produced ahead of a meeting of the borough council's executive committee on Wednesday, proposed the discretionary energy-rebate money be used to fund '£150 payments to the households in bands E to H that are in receipt of council-tax support' and said: "For households in bands E to H that are not in receipt of council-tax support and where the liable party occupies the dwelling, an equal amount of the discretionary fund will be calculated."

The executive committee has been advised to approve the rebate principles outlined in the report and delegate authority to the council's director of resources to finalise and publish the discretionary energy-rebate scheme, make awards within the agreed guidelines and maintain the scheme.

The executive committee has also been advised to convene a 'hardship working group' to determine further action to ensure full expenditure if funds are left over.