The Wiltshire households struggling most with bills will be supported by a £5m government scheme.
Those struggling to buy food, pay essential utility bills or meet other essential living costs will be given funds from the £5.4m pot provided by the Department for Work and Pensions.
Similar grants in the past have been used to help provide free school meals to eligible families during school holidays and support to households on a low income where the residents are over 65 years of age.
Wiltshire Council will submit its delivery plan of the fund to the Department for Work and Pensions by mid-May.
The funding was discussed by Wiltshire Council at a cabinet meeting on March 28.
There was some concern in the meeting about how people who are hard to contact but seriously struggling will be reached by the council.
Councillor Ian Thorn said, “We’ve got many residents that struggle frankly to engage through the internet and smartphones and so on. So clearly a large number of the people that would benefit are not plugged into the system.”
Wiltshire Council Cabinet member for public health Ian Blair-Pilling responded and said: “I entirely take your point. We can’t just slap it on a website and expect people to get at it. But we have considerable experience in getting around this and reaching the difficult-to-reach people.”
A council officer added, “Across the council, every directorate has a way of going into communities and talking to residents so this absolutely will not just be on a website.”
Leader of Wiltshire Council Richard Clewer said, “The Household Support Fund is proving to be vital to those who need it most at this continuing challenging time and we are working hard to ensure it gets to the right people.
“We are currently in the middle of finalising our plans for the next phase of the fund and as soon as we’ve confirmed all the details, we will engage with our partners to work with us to help us deliver it.
“We can assure people that we’ll allocate this funding as quickly as we can and thank people for their patience while we get everything arranged.”
Information about the next phase of the Household Support Fund will be available atL
https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/benefits/household-support-fund-summer
Wiltshire Council also has a range of cost-of-living advice and support, and this can be found at https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/article/6665/Council-tax-benefits-and-financial-support
Pictured: Leader of Wiltshire Council Richard Clewer discussing the plans at the cabinet meeting.
