Cost of Living Awards
2023/24 Council Tax e bills update
The 2023/24 Council Tax annual e-bill notifications were sent on the 15th March 2023. The email notification contained an inaccurate message which advised “Details of the £150 Scottish Government Cost of Living Award can be found at http://www.inverclyde.gov.uk\costofliving.”
This message related to the 2022/23 Cost of Living Award Scheme which closed on 24th August 2022 and there is no scheme in place for the 2023/24 financial year. The e-bill is correct and payments should be made in accordance with that notice.
Enquiries relating to your Council Tax notice can be directed to Inverclyde Council on 01475 712961
Inverclyde Council - Cost of Living Award - £350
The fund closed to new applications on 24 August 2022.
Inverclyde Council agreed as part of the 2022/23 council budget additional support of £3m to low income families and a further £500,000 met from the council’s share of Scottish Government funding towards supporting recovery from Covid-19. A one-off payment of £350 has been made to almost 10,000 households in Inverclyde who at 24 February 2022 were in receipt of Council Tax reduction and certain households exempt from paying Council Tax, including those occupied exclusively by students.
Payment and Delivery
The majority of payments were paid directly to bank accounts. Those who qualified and did not reply with their bank details received a credit to their 2022/23 Council Tax account.
Requests for the £350 payment to be refunded will be treated in the same way as other Council Tax account credit balance refund requests with credits being offset against current and prior year debt. Refunds can be requested by contacting the service directly by email or through the Customer Service Centre.
Scottish Government - Cost of Living Award - £150
The fund closed to new applications on 10 August 2022.
A Cost of Living Award was announced as part of the 2022-23 Scottish Budget announcement on 10 February 2022. It was additional support for low income households to help tackle the cost of living crisis. The Cost of Living Award was for £150 and was provided to households in receipt of Council Tax reduction, certain households exempt from paying Council Tax and households liable for council tax for a council tax Band A-D dwelling.
Payment and Delivery
The Scottish Government’s overriding objective was for the award to be made to eligible households before the end of April 2022. Local Authorities had discretion over the method used to make direct payments. Inverclyde Council’s administrative systems can facilitate payments being made as a credit to the council tax accounts of eligible persons so in line with the majority of councils in Scotland, a payment was made to the 2022/23 account. The result is a reduction in monthly instalments or for those whose accounts are placed into credit, a refund can be requested by contacting the service directly by email or through the Customer Service Centre.
Treatment for Benefits and Tax
For information about how the Cost of Living Awards are treated for Benefits and Tax, see document “Treatment for Benefits and Tax” within the Documents section of this page.
To find out how Inverclyde Council uses your data visit our web site www.inverclyde.gov.uk/site-basics/privacy