Low-income families will be getting more targeted support through their local councils, with an £842m extension to the Household Support Fund, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has announced.
The extra funding, which will be given as grants to struggling families, is available from April 1, and will be used by local authorities to allocate money to directly help those most in need with essential food and energy costs until the end of March 2024.
Twelve local councils in the North East and Teesside will receive a total of nearly £48m, with the largest single recipient being Durham, which will receive £9,352,199.30.
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The new pot of money, which is in line with an earlier promise by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak when he was Chancellor and will be distributed until March 31, 2024 to help poor families cover essential living expenses. The HSF was first launched in October 2021, and has been extended through various schemes since, with the latest allocation being the fourth.
“The Household Support Fund has already helped vulnerable families across England through these challenging times and I am pleased it will continue to do so for another full year," said Mims Davies, DWP Minister for Social Mobility, Youth and Progression. "This is just one part of our extensive and targeted £26 billion support package, which includes payments worth £900 for millions of people on benefits and additional support for disabled people and pensioners, whilst every household will continue to save money thanks to our Energy Price Guarantee.”
To obtain grants from the Household Support Fund, applicants must contact their local authority. If you’re not sure which local council you come under, you can find out by entering your postcode into the Government’s online tool.
Household Support Fund grants are intended to help people on low incomes pay for everyday essentials. Exact eligibility criteria, and the amount of money on offer, will vary between different local authorities, who have some autonomy on how they use the Fund to reach the vulnerable people in their communities.
The Government has valued its package of cost of living support at £15 billion, with over £121m being paid out to the North East in HSF payments so far.
The full breakdown of the latest cash in the North East is:
Durham: £9,352,199.30 (£23,380,498.26 to date)
Gateshead: £3,673,259.90 (£9,183,149.75 to date)
Newcastle: £5,796,807.70 (£14,492,019.24 to date)
North Tyneside: £3,219,996.10 (£8,049,990.24 to date)
Northumberland: £4,960,660.00 (£12,401,650.00 to date)
South Tyneside: £2,969,708.01 (£7,424,270.04 to date)
Sunderland: £5,347,123.83 (£13,367,809.57 to date)
In addition, councils in the south of the region will receive:
Hartlepool: £1,986,042.51 (£4,965,106.27 to date)
Middlesbrough: £3,307,229.89 (£8,268,074.73 to date)
Redcar and Cleveland: £2,592,762.33 (£6,481,905.84 to date)
Stockton-on-Tees: £3,371,747.94 (£8,429,369.85 to date)
Darlington: £1,827,707.50 (£4,569,268.75 to date)
A DWP spokesperson said: "This comes on top of extensive support for those in need in the coming months. The most vulnerable will receive direct payments in 2023/24, which include up to £900 delivered in three payments to those on means-tested benefits, a £150 payment for those on disability benefits, and £300 on top of Winter Fuel Payments for pensioner households. Benefits and pensions will also increase by 10.1% in April, with the minimum wage seeing its largest ever cash rise, hitting £10.42 an hour. And more widely, the Energy Price Guarantee will save the typical household £500 in 2023/24."
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