A pot of more than £24m to help struggling families throughout the North East has been given to 12 local councils in the region as part of an extra £421m winter boost to the Household Support Fund. The money, which came from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) to target low-income families, was announced in October and will be distributed up until March 31 to help poor families cover essential living expenses.
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.
Most council have used some of the allocation for families in receipt of free school meals and to help pensioners, with some prioritising families who were not eligible for the Government's cost of living payments. Money has also gone to charities and support groups to enable them continue supporting low-income groups.
The full breakdown of the cash in the North East is:
Durham: £4,676,099.65
Gateshead: £1,836,629.95
Newcastle: £2,898,403.85
North Tyneside: £1,609,998.05
Northumberland: £2,480,330.00
South Tyneside: £1,484,854.01
Sunderland: 2,673,561.91
In addition, councils in the south of the region will get the following: Hartlepool £993,021.25, Middlesbrough: £1,653,614.95;' Redcar and Cleveland: £1,296,381.17 and Stockton-on-Tees: £1,685,873.97, Darlington: £913,853.75 bringing the total for the region to £24,202,622.51.
“The Household Support Fund has been an important Government support scheme for many of those in need over the past year, and I’m very pleased that our decision to extend it means it will continue to help people with the costs of essentials - including food and energy - this winter,” said DWP minister Victoria Prentis.
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. Here's what the seven council in our area have told us what they are doing with the cash:
Newcastle City Council
"We have received almost £2.9 million from the Government's Household Support Fund to support vulnerable households and individuals. The support will be allocated to fund the following:
- Free School Meals: We paid £250k towards Frees School Meals vouchers during October Half Term, a further £668k for vouchers for the Christmas holidays and will be supporting with approximately £334k at February Half Term. The vouchers are issued by the schools.
- Cost of Living - Top Up Element: We have identified 2507 Housing Benefit recipients who were not entitled to the full £650 Cost of Living Payment from the Government between July and November in 2022. We wrote to these residents in December to advise that they will be receiving an award, the amount of the award and that the award will be split with half being paid in December and half in January. Depending on their circumstances these payments will be between £300 and £650 in total. Between now and end of January we will be paying out £950k as part of this element;
- Hardship / Application Element: Referrals for hardship payments is now open. In order to be eligible, applicants need to be a resident and householder (i.e. responsible for the household bills) in Newcastle upon Tyne, have a budget deficit (have more money going out than coming in) and have sought advice from one of our partner agencies to address the issues causing the budget deficit. If the resident meets the criteria, the agency can make a referral for a £200 one off payment. A full list of agencies who can give advice and make referrals, if eligible can be found on our webpage. This funding is limited;
- Funding is also be used to support cost of living and discretionary schemes being delivered by Newcastle City Council and Your Homes Newcastle."
Sunderland City Council
Sunderland City Council’s cabinet secretary Coun Paul Stewart said: "We’re all very aware of the cost of living crisis and are helping residents wherever possible, and for that reason the council has included all of the information about the range of local and national help on the council’s Cost Of Living Hub. The following payments will be made automatically based on the information that the council held in November and that Together for Children hold for free school meals entitlements. Households do not need to apply for these:
- Payments to all low-income pensioners receiving Council Tax Support or Housing Benefit and/or pensioners receiving adult social care services from the council ( and where not in residential care). The value of the payments will depend on final numbers of households that are being supported but it's estimated that approximately 12,500 households will receive support;
- Payments will be provided to many low-income long-term disabled households receiving Council Tax Support or Housing Benefit and that also receive adult social care services from the council ( and where not in residential care) or that have a range of powered equipment - it is estimated that up to 4,500 households will receive support;
- Winter support vouchers to the value of £60 per child were provided during the Christmas holidays to low-income vulnerable families using free school meal entitlement as an initial criteria;
- Targeted support for care leavers and vulnerable customers of the Financial Safeguarding Team will be provided by Together for Children and the council respectively.
The date of payments is to be confirmed but should be by January / February and all households will receive an award notification letter."
Gateshead Council
"The Government has given us a Household Support Fund of £1.8m to be used to support vulnerable households who are at risk of going cold or hungry this winter. It is a very small part of the overall support the Government is giving to households. The scheme runs until March 31, or when the money runs out, whichever is first. The HSF will be used to support households in the most need, in particular those who may not be eligible for other Government support.
The money will used be for:
- Food co-ops, food banks and other food projects;
- Warm Spaces programme;
- to reconnect gas and electricity supplies;
- Free school meals for eligible children during the half-terms and Christmas holidays;
- A £30 voucher given to households eligible for free school meals at Christmas."
Durham County Council
"Support is offered in the following ways:
- A one-off food voucher of £110 was issued by schools and other education establishments to households with children eligible for free school meals. You have three months from receiving your email to go onto the website and choose which supermarket you want your voucher for. Your supermarket voucher is valid for 12 months;
- A grant to target support for vulnerable households without children via professional referrals, for help to purchase essential household items;
- A one-off distribution of food vouchers to care leavers, worth £110 each;
- Food and fuel vouchers distributed by partners to target support at vulnerable households without children
- A discretionary food voucher scheme administered by the council's Housing Solutions team to provide food vouchers to vulnerable households (including temporary accommodation and Gypsy, Roma Traveller households) to help with food costs or to offset their fuel costs;
- A discretionary grant scheme administered by schools to provide clothing/shoes/uniforms etc. for children identified by school staff as those most in need;
- Grants to local partners to administer and target support through existing schemes for households experiencing fuel poverty (including County Durham Foodbank and East Durham Trust);
- Grant to the Bread and Butter Thing to support with the provision of fuel/energy costs for "off grid customers";
- £110 to kinship carers;
- £60,000 to provide Feeding Families hampers;
- A grant to Durham Carers Centre to support all age carers;
- Grants to other small third sector providers to support individuals with food and energy costs.
Anyone who is struggling, but not identified or supported through this scheme should contact the team administering our Welfare assistance scheme, for advice and information on other support which may be available."
Northumberland County Council
"Partners including the council have been working together to provide residents with up to date information, guidance and support this winter, which is available on the NCC Cost of Living webpages. The Fund is used to support households in the most need – particularly those who may not be eligible for the other support Government has recently made available, including the cost of living payments. An overview of how we have used the Household Support Fund in Northumberland is below:
- In Northumberland the Household Support Fund continues to support vulnerable households with children. All eligible families have received £80 per child to cover the Christmas Holiday period, and will receive an additional £150 per child for the period before March 31, with additional payments being provided for February and Easter School Holiday periods.
- Vulnerable households with pensioners who are in receipt of 100% Council Tax Reduction have also received a £140 payment through the Household Support Fund;
- Any household struggling in Northumberland can get advice and support through Northumberland Communities Together response hub on 01670 620015 from 9am to 6pm 7 days a week or email NCT@northumberland.gov.uk"
North Tyneside Council
"The link for applications on our website is here and we have used North Tyneside Council’s Household Support Fund allocation by:
- Continuing to provide all families who are entitled to income related free school meals with a supermarket voucher worth £15 for each week of the school holidays per eligible child and £45 one off warm clothing grant (supermarket voucher) for these children. These are automatically issued to those eligible and no application is required;
- Support for young people leaving care – this is automatically awarded to eligible young people by the leaving care team
- Online grants for vulnerable households in need – this is an online application-based process, and each case is considered individually. It’s accessed via our website;
- Working with certain organisations to provide direct support to the residents they support, including help through food vouchers, utility top ups and food parcels.”
South Tyneside Council
"Grant payments will be made automatically to pensioners on low incomes in receipt of specific benefits and food vouchers provided where a child is in receipt of free school meals to cover the school holiday periods. Residents in need that are known to voluntary sector organisations may also be entitled to support. Funding has also been provided to established foodbanks
Separate to above there is some additional funding which is available through the Council’s ongoing local welfare provision scheme which is subject to an application process. There are details on the Council’s website which can be found under the Cost of Living and Warm Spaces section https://www.southtyneside.gov.uk/article/12684/Overview."
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