Emergency housing payments of £180,000 in six months

Emergency housing payments for vulnerable people made by Peterborough City Council added up to more than £170,000 in six months.

Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) figures show that the council spent £179,415 between April and September 2018 on helping people on benefits who are struggling to cover housing costs. The Government awarded the council £543,328 for the Discretionary Housing Payment scheme for the 2018/19 financial year.

In the first six months Peterborough City Council spent a third of its annual budget.

Payments can be awarded to claimants if they have been affected by specific housing policies and could be at risk of homelessness, or if they have emergency costs unrelated to welfare reforms.

Of the money spent so far, 63 per cent has been due to the benefit cap.

Funding for the scheme in 2017/18 was £687,855.