Vulnerable low-income families struggling to feed their children or pay spiralling energy bills are set to receive financial help from B&NES Council.

The Council has been awarded almost a million pounds by the Government to help households with increasing living costs this winter. Councillor Richard Samuel, Deputy Leader and cabinet member for Resources and Economic Development has approved the money to be used to provide £250 grants to support low-income households to meet rising energy costs and provide food vouchers during the remaining half terms in the 2021 financial year to households whose children receive income-related free school meals.

The Council is also allocating £100,000 from the funding to the district’s Citizens’ Advice Service to help vulnerable residents pay their rising energy bills. The money will be used by the service to help residents most in need, including those with key meters. This funding is separate from the £250 grants available from the Council.

Councillor Kevin Guy, Council Leader, said: “We’ve all felt the impact of the recent rise in the cost of living and in particular, rocketing energy prices. This has resulted in some people having to make difficult choices between feeding their family or keeping them warm. This is unacceptable.

“As many families rely on Citizens’ Advice to provide advice and support, it makes sense to allocate a portion of the funding to them so they can help people before they reach crisis point. ”

Simon Lawson, Chief Executive of Citizens’ Advice B&NES, said: “We’re seeing more and more local residents come to us for help with the rising cost of living. Fuel bills especially are a big concern as it’s getting colder now and many people are worried that they won’t be able to afford their bills if they put the heating on. We’ve worked with B&NES Council on similar schemes before, so we’re really pleased to be able to use this funding to help those who are most in need.

“People can apply for help with their fuel bills online by visiting: www.citizensadvicebanes.org.uk/fueltopup/ or they can ring our freephone Adviceline on: 0808 278 7897 from 9.30am to 2.30pm every weekday and our specially trained volunteer advisers are ready to help.”

The Council has supported more than 2,000 low-income households with almost a million pounds of food vouchers for children during half term breaks over the past ten months.

Qualifying households will be entitled to one £250 payment. Applicants will need to apply for support and provide evidence of their eligibility. The scheme is planned to run until 31st March 2022. However, due to the limited funding available, once all funding is exhausted no further awards will be made.

To qualify for the scheme applicants will need to be in receipt of one of the following benefits: Income Support, Income-based Jobseekers Allowance, Income-related Employment Support Allowance, Pension Credit Guaranteed Credit, Housing Benefit, Universal Credit, or combined household earnings or pensions of less than £350 per week. Household means a person or unit of people who live together and all normally contribute, whether equally or not, to household bills and have capital of less than £2,000.

Successful applicants will receive a pre-paid debit card to pay for energy related bills including gas and electricity; topping up of key-meters; purchasing other household fuels and paying for other energy related services such as boiler maintenance. All cards would need to be used by 31st March.