Safety net Crisis vouchers to offer emergency funds
PRE-PAID cards that can be used to buy food and pay for fuel and school uniforms are available for Bristol residents who have reached crisis point and have no other source of money.
The emergency payment vouchers, which have helped at least 4,500 citizens since April 2020, will remain available for at least another year after Bristol City Council authorised the continued delivery of the scheme.
Paid for by the council’s Local Crisis and Prevention Fund, the vouchers will be a lifeline for households facing severe financial hardship as the country enters its third lockdown in its battle against Covid.
Awarded on a discretionary basis based on individual circumstances, the emergency payments are intended as a last resort for families in dire need following a crisis, or in order to prevent one, according to council policy describing the fund.
The payments do not come as cash and cannot be used to buy items such as cigarettes, alcohol, scratch cards and computers.
Citizens who apply can typically receive one emergency payment in any rolling 12-month period.
The current contract to administer the emergency voucher scheme for food, fuel and school clothing is due to end in March. The council’s ruling Labour administration last month authorised the council to award another contract from April.
The one-year contract could be extended until March 2024 and deliver up to £1.5million in emergency payments over three years altogether, according to cabinet papers.
Setting out the details at December’s cabinet meeting, deputy mayor for finance Craig Cheney said: “The [contract] procurement will enable grant assistance [for] up to around 2,000 low income households in food and fuel poverty.
“These households are part of some of our most vulnerable communities and making sure support and assistance for these types of schemes are available is a key priority for us.”
According to current council policy, the Local Crisis and Prevention Fund can only supply emergency payments for food and pre-pay top-up of gas and electricity in the form of supermarket vouchers.
Examples of items that cannot be paid for using the fund include:
» cigarettes, alcohol or illegal drugs
» gambling, including scratch cards and the lottery
» rent arrears
» luxury clothing items
» any repairs to a property
» legal fees or court fees
» needs arising outside of the UK
» education or training needs (excluding school uniform)
domestic assistance, respite care, or care of pets
» debts to government departments (including council tax)
» any expenses which the local authority has a statutory duty to meet
» cash back or ATM withdrawal or swapping for cash in store or by any other means entertainment goods such as televisions or computers, or any entertainment services.
The council’s Local Crisis and Prevention Fund was boosted from £200,000 to £1million in 2020/21 thanks to additional money from the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) Covid-19 Hardship Fund.
The expanded fund has benefited over 4,500 households so far in 2020/21, the paper states.
Cabinet member for women, families and homes, and lead member for children’s services, Helen Godwin said the hardship fund had been a “real safety net” this year.