More than 330,000 Nottinghamshire homes to receive council tax discount

council-tax-bill
Council tax
By Andrew Topping, Local Democracy Reporter

Almost 90 per cent of Nottinghamshire homes will now pay less council tax from April than they did last year after the Government announced a rebate to tackle the cost of living crisis.

And councils will still be able to collect the extra income if they are increasing their bills, with Whitehall to pick up the cost so services can receive investment.

It follows Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcement of a £150 council tax discount for residents living in bands A to D, revealed in a move to tackle rising bills and a surge in energy costs.

The council tax rebate will not need to be repaid and will be issued directly by local authorities, with councils to automatically adjust residents’ bills if they pay by direct debit.

If residents pay in instalments, the discount will be split equally across each of those individual payments.

Properties in bands A to D make up 88.4 per cent of all homes in the county, with 330,959 Nottinghamshire households to benefit from the rebate.

Councillor Richard Jackson (Con), chairman of Nottinghamshire County Council’s finance committee, welcomed the move and said it will support residents with soaring household bills.

It comes as his authority proposes a four per cent rise on its precepts to fund vital social care and highways services.

And Cllr Jackson says the council will now be able to do this without residents feeling the squeeze.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Overall, after the rebate, just under 90 per cent of Nottinghamshire households will be paying less in council tax than they did last year.

“It has no effect on services, we will still be investing and protecting our services as part of the upcoming budget.

“It’s obviously important [to residents] and comes on top of the announcement the chancellor made for energy bills. It does go some way to alleviating peoples’ concerns on the cost of living issue.”

The announcement comes as Nottinghamshire authorities begin setting their council tax bills for the coming financial year.

Rushcliffe Borough Council has confirmed a 2.43 per cent rise on its bills from April, working out at £3.57 per year for Band D homes and £2.38 for Band A properties.

Broxtowe Borough Council will increase bills by £5 for Band D homes, equating to £3.33 for Band A houses.

Mansfield District Council is freezing its precepts, while Ashfield, Bassetlaw, Gedling, Newark and Sherwood and Nottingham are yet to announce their plans.

Nottinghamshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Caroline Henry, who also collects a precept, will be increasing her Band D bills by £9.99 from April, working out at £6.66 for Band A homes.

And the fire authority has approved a 1.95 per cent rise, which will see bills increase by £1.62 for Band D and £1.08 for Band A properties.

The council tax rebate comes alongside a £200 offer for domestic energy customers to tackle the fuel and energy rises, due to be paid in October.

This will be used to support households in managing the increase in the energy price cap, with a rise of £693 approved on Thursday due to an “unprecedented” increase in gas prices.

It will take the average household heating bill from £1,277 to £1,971.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: “Right now, I know the number one issue on people’s minds is the rising cost of living.

“That’s why the Government is stepping in with direct support that will help around 28 million households with their rising energy costs over the next year.”

However, Labour believes the Government should also scrap VAT on energy bills to help people cope with the rising costs.