East Devon expects 50,000 £100 energy payments from January

East Devon District Council expects to deal with about 50,000 payments under the Government's new Household Energy Payment, which is due to start in January 2027 for eligible households living in council tax bands A to D.

The issue was raised unexpectedly at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, November 4, when deputy leader Cllr John Loudoun (Sidmouth Rural, Independent) asked how the latest announcement would affect the team responsible for council tax and benefits.

Libby Jarrett, the assistant director for revenues, benefits and customer services, said the council was preparing to deliver the payments at speed, alongside changes to council tax and business rates. She estimated that about 50,000 payments would be needed across East Devon.

"It all sounds relatively easy when you hear it like that. There is a lot of work to make that happen," she told councillors.

For households already paying council tax by direct debit, the Government expects authorities to use bank details they hold to make transfers. For other eligible households, councils will need a separate mechanism, potentially involving applications and additional checks.

Ms Jarrett said her team had learned from the energy rebate programme in 2022 but would need to divert experienced staff from their normal duties. She explained that the council's collection systems were not designed to pay large numbers of people, bringing extra requirements for data cleansing, bank details, assurance and reconciliation.

"We need to draw on the knowledge and can't just bring in staff to do that," she said. The council was still waiting for detailed guidance on parts of the scheme.

The 2022 operation involved about 13 members of staff, although not all of them worked on it full-time, and Ms Jarrett anticipated a similar scale of staffing this time. She expected the public-facing scheme to run for roughly five or six months, with preparation before launch and additional checking after it closed, amounting to a total period of approximately nine months.

A separate discretionary scheme was also expected, with a policy to be brought to councillors for approval.

Council leader Cllr Paul Arnott (Coly Valley, Liberal Democrats) asked whether local authorities might receive Government help towards the cost of delivering the payments.

Simon Davey, the council's director of finance, said new-burdens funding was expected to help with administration costs, but that money would not solve the biggest practical problem: finding staff with the right knowledge to handle complex data and deal with residents.

He said the demands would arrive just as council tax and business rates bills were being prepared and sent out. "You can't suddenly just grab people to do that work for you," he said.

Under the Government's announced Household Energy Payment scheme, qualifying households in England in bands A to D are due to receive £100 from January 2027. The Government has said people who pay by direct debit should not need to apply, while full details for other households were still being developed at the time of the meeting.

The East Devon discussion was an operational update, not a decision to open applications immediately. Officers said the detailed delivery process would become clearer once the Government issued further instructions.