£5.5 million funding to help households most in need

THOUSANDS of families are in line for help towards food costs during the summer holidays after Staffordshire County Council was awarded more than £5.5m Government funding.

As households across the country face rising food and energy bills, senior county councillors have approved plans to assist residents struggling to make ends meet.

Staffordshire County Councils started providing food vouchers to help families during school holiday periods in October 2020. And now funding to continue this assistance has come forward from the Government’s Household Support Fund.

Speaking at cabinet meeting on May 18, the council’s deputy leader Philip White said: “It’s important that we are mindful that many families and individuals, through no fault of their own, are struggling with the rising cost of living.

“The county council will be delivering £5.5m worth of support to households most in need. This includes food vouchers and activities for schoolchildren, financial support for care leavers and help with energy bills for pensioners.

“These are very important initiatives where the county council can help people where it counts most. I urge people to look on our website for details of how those and other schemes, such as the Staffordshire Warmer Homes Fund, can provide help for them.”

The council plans to issue all care leavers in Staffordshire with a £50 e-voucher to help with food costs, cabinet members heard. The county council will also work with district and borough authorities to provide support to other residents in need, including pensioners, as well as continuing the work of the 2021/22 Winter Warmth project to help residents struggling to pay bills.

Councillor Mark Sutton, cabinet member for children and young people, said: “In March the DWP announced an extension to the Household Fund grant and the scheme runs until September 30. The county council has discretion on how exactly the funding is used - at least one third must be spent on families with a third being spent on pensioners.

“It is proposed to continue providing families of children who are in receipt of benefit-related free school meals a £15 e-voucher per child for the May half term. It is also proposed to provide a £30 e-voucher for two weeks of the summer holidays when there is no provision for the Holiday Activity and Food Programme which will run for the other four weeks of the holidays.

“Having successfully distributed millions of pounds worth of support in the last two years we know from the stories people tell us that this support really makes a difference in their lives. Thousands of people will benefit from help with their food, fuel and water bills, including the families of 27,000 children as part of the Holiday Activity and Food Programme.”