Central Government recently announced that a new £500 million Household Support Fund grant will be made available to local authorities in England.
Central Government recently announced that a new £500 million Household Support Fund grant will be made available to local authorities in England, as the country continues its recovery from the pandemic.
The objective of the funding is to support those Warwickshire residents, who are struggling and need immediate financial support this winter with food, energy and water bills. At least 50% of the total funding is ring fenced to support families with children, with the remainder being made available to other households genuinely in need of support this winter.
Warwickshire’s allocation is £3.47million to cover the period 6 October 2021 to 31 March 2022. The funding will be distributed via Warwickshire County Council’s Local Welfare Scheme, which successfully distributed £3.2m of COVID funding to the most vulnerable facing financial hardship during the last ten months.
Priority support is being offered to families with children eligible for benefits related free school meals during school holidays as it is recognised that some families who are struggling financially have difficulty covering these periods. Those eligible and registered children will automatically be receiving support towards food costs over the October half term via Huggg supermarket vouchers.
Warwickshire County Councillor Heather Timms, Portfolio Holder for Environment and Heritage & Culture said: “We welcome news of this Government funding which will enable us to offer targeted help to those who will struggle financially over the next few months.
“Last winter, we allocated £1.8m of government funding to make 51,000 awards to families and individuals in need so they were better able to meet food and fuel costs - this funding means we can do even more.
“The grant will bolster the work of our well-established Local Welfare Scheme. If you or someone you know is facing hardship right now, I encourage you to look online and get in touch with us, to find out what help there is.”
For information about wider support from the council and other services, go to:
www.warwickshire.gov.uk/facinghardship
People can contact the Warwickshire Local Welfare Scheme team on 01926 359182 or 0800 408 1448 or visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/localwelfarescheme