In addition to the £7M received for the main scheme, we have received an additional £273,300 to provide a Discretionary Rebate Scheme.

The purpose of this funding is to provide support to other energy bill payers who are not eligible under the terms of the main scheme, or to provide carefully targeted ‘top-up’ payments to the most vulnerable households in bands A to D. The Government expects that all support from the Discretionary Fund is targeted towards those most likely to be suffering hardship as a result of the rising cost of living.

In order to align with the intention of the funding which is to provide support to low income households including those who were not previously eligible we will provide support to the following groups in two phases:

Phase 1 - Closed on 30 September

Households in Bands E-H in receipt of Council Tax Reduction

If you fall under this category, as at the qualifying date of 1 April 2022, you will receive a single one off payment of £150.

Where you have a current direct debit in place, the rebate will be paid directly into your bank account, payment processing is due to start during week commencing 8 August 2022.

Those not paying by direct debit were sent a letter inviting them to apply.

Houses in Multiple Occupation and similar

If you live in a house in multiple occupation (HMO), a hostel, or you do not have a Council Tax liability liability but you are directly responsible for the energy bills, you were able to apply for a £50 payment, provided you were eligible as at the qualifying date of 1 April 2022. This amount could have been  uplifted to £150 where it is reasonable to do so and where there is evidence of energy arrears on 1 July 2022.

Please refer to the Discretionary Policy for full details of eligibility criteria.

Phase 1 closed to applications on 30 September 2022.

Phase 2 - We are currently working on who will be eligible for a top up and will be contacting households affected in the next few weeks.

Targeted top-up to households in Bands A-H in receipt of maximum Council Tax Reduction

After the closure of Phase 1, we will write to eligible householders, confirming the top up amount they are due to receive. Payment will be made automatically using the same payment method as before unless the customer requests an alternative.

Phase 2 payments will be allocated by 30 November when the Discretionary Scheme closes.