‘What’ve we learned from the pandemic?’
Community leader asks council how Household Support Fund is helping residents
AS Staffordshire residents facing rising bills a community leader has asked the county council how it is helping households struggling to make ends meet.
The cost of living is rising for families this month, with council tax, energy bills and National Insurance contributions among the expenses going up.
Many residents have already faced financial challenges during the past two years as a result of the covid pandemic. Local authorities in Staffordshire stepped in to support vulnerable households through measures such as food parcels.
Last week the Government announced a £500m extension to its Household Support Fund, which was launched last year. Funds have been distributed to local authorities to help residents in need.
Leek councillor Charlotte Atkins asked what action was being taken by Staffordshire County Council to support struggling families during the coming months.
Speaking at a scrutiny committee meeting on Tuesday (March 29) she asked: “How is the Household Support Fund, where you have an additional £5.5m, being used to help particularly disadvantaged communities deal with the cost of living crisis? Clearly there are going to be families who are really going to be struggling to feed their families.
“During the covid lockdowns we had food parcels. What have we learned from that period and how are we going to use that knowledge and understanding to help families cope with a cost of living crisis which is likely to be fairly prolonged?”
The meeting was told that the county council had worked with district and borough authorities to target the Household
Support Fund towards families facing financial hardship and £1m had been allocated to support residents with council tax arrears, while more than £780,000 had been earmarked for vouchers for 26,000 children eligible for free school meals.
A further £615,000 was handed out to residents who had applied for help to buy emergency items and food and £300,000 went towards heating homes during winter.
Council leader Alan White said: “As far as the Household Support Grant is concerned, it isn’t a great deal of money when it is divided by eight districts and boroughs and it is not going to go very far. Is there any learning we can draw out from our experience with covid?
“We would all hope the communities that pulled together in the way they did during covid would pull together to help those people who are struggling. But that’s not really a great answer is it?
“I think we all have to acknowledge the cost of living crisis. It is here, people’s fuel bills are going to be landing on the doorstep this week. It’s a challenge we have not seen for a generation or two.”
The council’s chief executive John Henderson added: “The point about the cost of living crisis is something we’re still coming to terms with. The Household Support Fund has been helpful for some families in relation to that.
“There are other things we’re doing, such as the Warmer Homes work which is making people’s energy more efficient from a climate point of view and getting people better heating can also help with the issues people are facing due to the rising fuel costs.
“The cost of living crisis has implications for the council as well as residents. We will find our own costs rising quite considerably over the time to come.”