Issue details

Background to report:

In February 2022 the Government announced a package of support known as the Energy Bills Rebate (EBR) to help households with rising energy bills.

The package consisted of:

·        Non-repayable payments of £150 to households occupying properties in council tax bands A-D (including those valued in band E but subject to a disabled band reduction)

·        A £200 reduction to electricity bills applied by energy companies in October, to be paid back over the next five years. (This has now been superseded and increased to a £400 reduction which does not need to be repaid)

·        £144 million of funding to billing authorities to support to other energy bill payers who are not eligible under the terms of the core scheme, or to provide carefully targeted ‘top-up’ payments to the most vulnerable households in bands A to D.

Dacorum has been allocated £289,350 to create its local scheme – this is funding which will need to be returned to Government if not spent, but will not be topped up if our spending exceeds the allocation. 

Local authorities have discretion over the design and implementation of their local scheme. This paper outlines a proposed local scheme for Dacorum.