Non-motoring > £150 Council Tax Rebate - Death Threats Miscellaneous
Thread Author: zippy Replies: 27

 £150 Council Tax Rebate - Death Threats - zippy
Went out for a pint this afternoon with a mate.

He was telling me his wife (and other staff), who is a clerk at a local council in the council tax dept., has been receiving death threats for not getting the £150 rebates out to council tax payers.

Some have been coming to their home address and the police have been involved.

Apparently the council staff's names have been harvested from replies to general queries and passed around via social media.

They are awaiting software from their council tax software supplier so can't issue the rebates until it's received.

There are some sick people about.
 £150 Council Tax Rebate - Death Threats - bathtub tom
I'm expecting to move soon, so cancelled my council tax direct debit. I received notification I'd get an access code to claim this rebate. With nothing forthcoming, I tried to contact the council, nothing happening (you're 22nd in the queue).

I can understand why folk are getting frustrated.
 £150 Council Tax Rebate - Death Threats - Bromptonaut
Never been threatened though colleagues have had to escort people from the premise.

Had one or two get a***y on the phone latterly.

Our main advice service is mostly run by volunteers; I will be one on the phones tomorrow.

Over the pandemic we've lost a lot, maybe 50%, of volunteers. Recruiting now but training takes quite a while. Wait times, if you've got a problem, are way too long.

On my paid days I'm on a contract to deliver focussed advice on claiming one benefit. People who haven't the patience to wait for a reply hit the 'claim UC' option and then get very argumentative when I say I cannot help them.

They're not answering; you've GOT to step in the breach.

For a while I'd take their details and send a task to the local office.

No longer got the time for that; target for in scope calls involves so many daily contacts I can no longer do it.

Ever so sorry but goodbye...
 £150 Council Tax Rebate - Death Threats - CGNorwich

>> I can understand why folk are getting frustrated.
>>

I can’t Its only a only couple of tanks of petrol when allis said and done. A sense of proportion is required.
 £150 Council Tax Rebate - Death Threats - smokie
For others it's food for a week or more.
 £150 Council Tax Rebate - Death Threats - CGNorwich
Hardly an excuse for threatening violence though is it?
 £150 Council Tax Rebate - Death Threats - sooty123
I think there's quite a range between getting frustrated and threatening violence
 £150 Council Tax Rebate - Death Threats - smokie
Not in our nice cosy world here but out there in the real world it's almost a way of life in some quarters (and I don't mean just the roughest).
 £150 Council Tax Rebate - Death Threats - martin aston
Thirty odd years ago I was running a utility billing department when I got a visit from the CID. They were monitoring a local garage that they knew to be connected to London organised crime . The police expected they were going to run up debts and disappear and said we should on no account visit to pursue any debts. Threats of violence had been made to other companies trying to pursue payment. As a precaution meantime they recommended that any staff dealing with correspondence related to this business use false names.

It seemed a bit over the top in those more innocent times but we complied and sure enough the business folded. We wrote off what we were owed.

At least we were forewarned and able not to get involved. We didn’t owe the thugs money so could just stop our pursuit of the debt. In the current situation where councils owe the money they are not in control of the situation and it must be very worrying to those involved.

I do wonder at the naivety of central government when they set up these schemes. I bet council employees knew right away the sort of issues they would face in practice.
 £150 Council Tax Rebate - Death Threats - smokie
Our local council has a presence on social media. All sorts of rubbish is written there, showing (and to some extent propagating, for it acts somewhat as an echo chamber) a total misunderstanding of the councils role, obligations and limitations.

I know someone who has responsibility for updating and responding on behalf of the Council and they are given some advice on how to manage awkward customers. It occasionally gets personal and it is very hard to not give as good as you get, but they just have to grin and bear it and remain professional, at times in the face of fairly extreme provocation.
 £150 Council Tax Rebate - Death Threats - zippy
>> I do wonder at the naivety of central government when they set up these schemes.
>> I bet council employees knew right away the sort of issues they would face in
>> practice.
>>

It was suggested that just not collecting the first payment may have cost more but would have been a lot easier to implement.
 £150 Council Tax Rebate - Death Threats - Bromptonaut
>> I can’t Its only a only couple of tanks of petrol when allis said and
>> done. A sense of proportion is required.

If you're on Universal Credit and single it's nearly half of what you get to live on for a month - i.e. the Standard Allowance.

More than half if you're under 25.

For all sorts of reasons mostly either rent, debt or previous overpayments a lot of folks don't even have the full allowance to live in.

And don't get me started on the Benefit Cap or the Two Child Limit.

 £150 Council Tax Rebate - Death Threats - Lygonos
£150 this year, paid back (possibly by those who didn't benefit from the £150) at £30 for the next 5 years?

Who makes this s*** up?

Freezing prescription charges to "put money back in peoples' pockets"

And the inefficient steamer also know as Student Loans?

Pfft :-)
 £150 Council Tax Rebate - Death Threats - zippy
>> Who makes this s*** up?

It's a case of faffing around the edges when the real problems threaten millions.

Under the Tory Govt. food bank usage has gone from 61k in 2010/11 to 2.2 million in 2021/22.

Of course they will claim it's a raging success by increasing the availability of foodbanks in the UK.

www.statista.com/statistics/382695/uk-foodbank-users/
 £150 Council Tax Rebate - Death Threats - CGNorwich
I was listening to the radio this morning and they were talking about the rising use of food banks. They were commenting on the suggestion by an MP that perhaps one of the problems is that many no longer know how to cook. A manager of a food bank said that things were so tough that they were now even supplying an unemployed chef with food.

To be fair I don’t know where this food bank was located but certainly around here I can’t envisage a genuinely unemployed chef. Restaurants are closing three days a week because of staff shortages. I do sometimes wonder whether perhaps some people might do a little more to help themselves.


 £150 Council Tax Rebate - Death Threats - CGNorwich
But for most of the population it’s a pretty insignificant amount . About half a percent of the median household income in the UK. A targeted response to the genuinely needy would be more sensible than doling out £150 to all and sundry.

 £150 Council Tax Rebate - Death Threats - Falkirk Bairn
To target low income households in order to give them more money is, or would be, a logistical nightmare.

How do you get a list? Verify the people claiming? Are you sure they are who they say they are ? Does their income/assets etc fall below a certain level?

Many months later you might have a list. You would certainly have a huge administration bill and still not necessarily hit the target individual / family / pensioner for the cash.
 £150 Council Tax Rebate - Death Threats - Bromptonaut
>> To target low income households in order to give them more money is, or would
>> be, a logistical nightmare.

How about using the benefits system as with the uplift during Covid?
 £150 Council Tax Rebate - Death Threats - Falkirk Bairn
Many working poor are struggling - they do not necessarily qualify for benefits and there would be missed.
 £150 Council Tax Rebate - Death Threats - Bromptonaut
>> Many working poor are struggling - they do not necessarily qualify for benefits and there
>> would be missed.

If they're working poor then they're probably eligible for Universal Credit. They can either check on line at eg turn2us.org.uk or speak to a benefits adviser.

UC is pretty much sure fire way of targeting the poorest. If it made sense in the pandemic then why nor now?

If the rules were changed so that people migrating naturally or of their own volition were not disadvantaged compared to those told their legacy benefits will stop - ie managed migration - it would be a great incentive to accelerate the move off legacy and onto UC.

Those who may slip through the UC net - homeowners with low earnings are a case in point - can be targeted by other schemes such as extensions of Warm Homes or the Winter Fuel payment.
 £150 Council Tax Rebate - Death Threats - Terry
There is no excuse for death threats - if those making them can be identified they should be punished appropriately.

There is also no 100% reliable way of giving the £150 benefit. They all have major flaws.

Basing it on council tax band has the fundamental advantage that heating bills heat houses and a complete record of council tax bands is available. Complexities due to sheltered housing, different payment methods, unfair to low income large house owner (often pensioners).

Using UC will exclude many on stressed incomes who should be helped. Many getting UC may live in shared accommodation, or with family - starts to get complex.

Councils have arrangements to help those on low income with council tax. This may be an option by adjusting support.

The fundamental problem is that the rebate announcement left little time for implementation just as councils were arranging for the new council tax year, emerging from Covid shutdowns etc. I am being somewhat charitable in this - some are efficient, other councils leave a lot to be desired.

 £150 Council Tax Rebate - Death Threats - sooty123
I wonder what the cost of the scheme ?
 £150 Council Tax Rebate - Death Threats - smokie
It's in here Sooty www.gov.uk/government/news/millions-to-receive-350-boost-to-help-with-rising-energy-costs
 £150 Council Tax Rebate - Death Threats - Falkirk Bairn
My Local Council deducted £150 off bands A to D.


Pay in 10 instalments £15.00 off each payment
Pay in 12 instalments £12.50 off each month.

OK it is not £150 in your hand for many but the reductions on smaller homes & flats was introduced quickly.
i.e 1st April was £12.50/£15 less than it would have been.

I know there are people in larger homes who might be feeling the pinch BUT no quick solution is going to catch everyone and likewise some households, with parents & older children working, will get £150 even although they might be "well off" and not needing a handout.

 £150 Council Tax Rebate - Death Threats - sooty123
Thanks, so about 3.3 bn.
I looked up my council about this, they repeatedly state it's not a council tax rebate. The gov are just using the councils lists about council tax to pay it. Pedantic perhaps.
 £150 Council Tax Rebate - Death Threats - Terry
There is no 100% quick way of delivering the benefit to the target audience - however that is defined. The other reality - whatever means used to select the target group for support, there will be anomalies.

Linking support to property makes fundamental sense. Houses use energy and it is lower income groups likely to find energy cost increases difficult. Hence council tax groups A-D as the focus.

There is a simple choice - do it quick and accept there will be gaps and anomalies, or nail down all the details - wait a year or two when all the issues have been resolved.

In the circumstances 80-90% right and quick is better than 95%+ and slow. Others may take a different view.
 £150 Council Tax Rebate - Death Threats - sherlock47
This Government seems to be happy with 80% achievements!

M3 Motorway fatal accident -
Nick Harris, the chief executive of the government agency, said the crash was caused because the SVD failed to distinguish between the lorry and the bridge. He insisted, however, that he had “absolute” faith in the technology.

“We’re very clear about the specification of [SVD technology], which is that it is to spot at least 80 per cent of stopped vehicles, not 100 per cent,” he said. “In the M3 incident last week, the system was working and spotted vehicles that stopped around the incident.
 £150 Council Tax Rebate - Death Threats - Manatee
I imagine it would be fairly easy to take £150 off the DD where council tax band =A/B/C/D. But only around half of council tax payers are on DD and I think that's the messy bit.
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