Eligible Arun households urged to apply for £150 payment before looming deadline

Households in council tax bands A-D are eligible for a £150 payment as part of a £37 billion government support package to help with the rising cost of living.

Households which pay council tax via direct debit should have received the rebate automatically.

But those paying via other methods and those who are exempt from council tax may need to apply if they have not already done so.

Arun District Council is encouraging households to do this online or using a paper form before August 31.

In Arun, some 50,000 eligible households have already received the money, which does not need to be repaid.

But around 4,500 were yet to apply in July, according to a council spokesperson.

This followed a mass mail out of reminders to residents.

Households which miss the deadline will have £150 credited against their council tax account instead.

The government also awarded ADC more than £370,000 to give to struggling households, regardless of their council tax band.

The council said it could help up to 2,489 households with this money but it had only made 125 payments at the end of June.

An ADC spokesperson explained that officers will promote the discretionary scheme once the mandatory £150 payments have been made.

“We have until the end of November to spend the money whereas the mandatory scheme ends on September 30,” they said.

The council spokesperson did not confirm if the money would have to be handed back to central government if it is not distributed.

“We plan to make best use of the funding but will follow protocols in place at the time should there be any surplus,” they said.

The Local Government Association, which represents councils across England and Wales, said local authorities had ‘worked hard’ to get payments to eligible households.

“It is great to see that 15 million of them have received this so far, including over 90 per cent of those on direct debits,” a LGA spokesperson said.

“Councils are continuing to focus their efforts on those who do not pay their council tax by direct debit, or where the details of those who pay by direct debit do not match council records.”

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has since urged councils to ‘keep pace’ with making payments to remaining households.

At the end of April, some Arun residents were having trouble claiming the payment.

This included residents with certain council tax exemptions who had their claims rejected by the online system in error.

Some residents criticised the system, which is being used by a number of councils, for being too complicated and excluding those without internet access.

ADC has since created a guide to claiming the rebate and paper forms can be requested by emailing [email protected].

Residents are being asked to only contact the council if they cannot find the information they need within the guide.