The roll-out of £100 gift cards to over 4,500 households in East Renfrewshire has been approved as part of a package of covid recovery and cost of living support.
Cabinet members at East Renfrewshire Council have agreed how to spend around £1.5m of Scottish Government funding and set aside £511,291 for the ‘Scotland Loves Local’ cards.
They must be spent in local shops and will be provided to low income households with those receiving council tax reductions, in bands A to G, eligible.
READ MORE: Glasgow homes get details on £105 gift cards to be used in city shops
Other projects approved by councillors include a community hardship fund for housing association tenants in Barrhead and winter clothing support for school pupils.
Council leader Owen O’Donnell, Labour, said: “I think we all welcome this additional investment, it’s much needed for the residents of East Renfrewshire. I am sure it will be welcomed by them as well.
“I really look forward to the update to cabinet later in the autumn on further initiatives we can do, this is important for our residents and it’s important we help them as much as we can in covid recovery and to help tackle the cost of living crisis.”
Money has been provided from the Scottish Government’s £80m local authority covid economic recovery fund, which was announced in February.
The ‘Scotland Loves Local’ cards are expected to launch in autumn and would help 4,532 households. A similar project has recently launched in Glasgow, with 85,000 households able to use the cards at more than 700 city businesses.
Almost £170,000 is to be used on providing support to Barrhead Housing Association tenants. “This will include discretionary financial awards, taking account of the size of the household and nature of the hardship being experienced and what will stimulate proactive recovery from Covid,” a report by council officials revealed.
A community hardship will allow access to grants of up to £250 for activities related to skills development and employability and clothing for a specific event or need, such as a job interview or a winter coat.
Councillors have agreed to use £65,000 for winter clothing support to help low-income families across the area. “This project would provide a cash payment to school pupils who are in low-income households but do not quite meet the eligibility for the family bridging payments being provided by the Scottish Government,” the report stated, adding between 500 and 600 pupils will benefit.
There is £250,000 to “top-up” a Scottish Welfare Fund budget, extend a current humanitarian discretionary fund and provide a new fuel poverty fund. It is expected the cash will help make 300 extra Scottish Welfare Fund payments, 400 discretionary payments and 300 fuel poverty payments over 12 months.
A Black and Minority Ethnic Business Network is expected to be set up using £35,000 of the funding. This would involve engaging with “the BAME community to identify businesses needing support and businesses able to offer peer support” as well as developing “a suite of materials in required languages and appropriate business related topics”.
The report by council officials to East Renfrewshire’s cabinet stated: “The challenge facing all local authorities is that the funding, whilst welcome, is finite in nature and will not fully satisfy the potential demand for support.
“To address this challenge, this proposal delivers a range of different supports with the dual policy aim of supporting both low-income households to become more economically active and local businesses to grow.”
A full list of projects which will receive can be viewed here.
READ NEXT:
Some Glasgow children still being taught to read at secondary school
Glasgow police probe after man head-butted at Buchanan Bus Station taxi rank
Fire closes Glasgow M74 northbound as emergency services race to the scene
Glasgow M8 driver 'clocked doing 137mph on motorway after snorting cocaine'
ScotRail to add more trains and extra carriages for Coldplay concerts at Hampden
