THE council has started the process of paying energy rebates to residents living in Cheshire West.

After successfully testing software to ensure payments could be made accurately last week, Cheshire West and Chester Council began to issue the £150 rebates to those residents living in a Band A-D Property and who pay their council tax by Direct Debit.

The sequence of payments is linked to the dates that Direct Debits are normally made to pay council tax, these being 2nd, 9th, 15th, 20th and 28th of the month.

The first allocation of rebates to residents in omore than 30,000 properties totalledin excess of £4.5 million and is linked to Direct Debits, normally made on 2nd of the month. This payment should appear in bank accounts today (May 4).

The second tranche of rebates to residents in a further 29,800 properties will total almost £4.5m and is linked to payments by Direct Debit on 9th, 15th and 20th of the month and should appear in bank accounts from May 5. 

The Energy Rebate is allocated from central Government funding.

Residents who pay their Direct Debit on 28th of the month should receive their Energy Rebate by the end of this week.

The council’s finance teams will need to contact some residents where there are mis-matches on the account and are working through this process as quickly as possible.

Residents have been advised not to contact the council direct, the council will contact those people where additional information is needed.

Cllr Carol Gahan, cabinet member for legal and finance, said: "The council appreciates how important it is to allocate the £150 Energy Rebates to those residents eligible to receive them, as quickly as possible.

"The council does not hold residents’ bank details and so utilising the software systems to allocate the rebates accurately and quickly has been an essential part of the process."

Residents who do not currently pay by Direct Debit will be contacted shortly to explain the process for receiving their rebate.