We've supported over 14,000 vulnerable households
Thursday, 12 May 2022
We've supported over 14,000 vulnerable households using funding allocated by the government’s £421 million Household Support Fund.
We were allocated £1,483,073 to support residents with food, energy and water bills and other essentials between October 2021 and March 2022. The Household Support Fund replaced the COVID Local Support Grant and is designed to support those most in need during the country’s economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Department for Work and Pensions announced the Household Support Fund in September 2021, and we identified a number of groups needing support.
Over 12,000 households with children, and 214 care leavers (young adults between 18 and 25 years old that spent time in care before they were 18 years old), received vouchers to help with the cost of food and utilities over the 2021 October half term and Christmas holidays, and this year’s February half term and Easter holidays
We supported 384 residents of permanent, legally licensed, residential park homes and council-managed caravan sites, who received funding to cover food and utilities for two weeks at Christmas, and for 4 weeks over the winter.
Over 350 households received support as top-ups to emergency and grant provision.
And a further 2,500 households with children were identified as needing extra support and were allocated funding to cover food costs for two weeks over Christmas and four weeks over the winter.
We also allocated some of the funding to organisations designed to support vulnerable households including Citizens Advice, Bedfordshire Rural Communities Charity, Age UK, three food banks and Grand Union Housing. Between them, those organisations supported a further 5,000 households.
Councillor Sue Clark, our Executive Member for Families, Education and Children, said:
It’s important not to underestimate the impact the pandemic has had on households across Central Bedfordshire, with many facing uncertainty as a result. I am pleased we have been able to support so many households and hope the Household Support Fund helped ease some of the pressures our residents may have been facing. I am also grateful to the partner and voluntary organisations we worked with who used the funding to support a further 5,000 households.
I am also pleased that the government has extended the Household Support Fund from 1 April 2022 to 30 September 2022. We've been allocated a further £1,483,073 which means we can continue to support those most in need.
More information about the extended Household Support Fund will be made available in due course.