Financial support extended to help North Yorkshire families eligible for Household Support Funding

It was announced yesterday (March 24) the scheme will be extended from April, with £1bn to be invested in Household Support Funding nationally.

The fund was initially designed to help people meet essential living costs over Christmas and winter.

In October, the County Council was awarded £3.5m in Household Support Funding from the Department for Work and Pensions.

In North Yorkshire, the county, district and borough councils put together a criteria to provide supermarket vouchers to families who had a child under the age of 19 living at home and who received means-tested council tax support or reduction.

It involved setting up an entirely new benefit service using limited data shared from eight local authorities and a proactive outreach and communications campaign.

Letters were sent to families who qualified and the take-up was 98 per cent, with 93.4 per cent of those eligible, applying before Christmas, enabling 8,370 households to receive their first e-voucher before Christmas.

The scheme proved so effective, it has been named as a finalist in the iNetwork Innovation Award.

That current phase of Government funding for the Household Support Fund has now closed, and anyone who has already received a unique code to access the vouchers has until March 29 to claim their Household Support Fund e-voucher payment.

But a new round of increased funding for the national scheme has now been announced.

North Yorkshire County Council and its district and borough council partners are currently working out details of the new phase of the scheme and will be in touch with those who are eligible for any payments.

Residents do not need to contact the council themselves.

Neil Irving, North Yorkshire’s Assistant Director for Policy, Partnerships and Communities, said: “We are currently awaiting details of the new round of funding announced in the Spring statement.

"As soon as the details of the new scheme are finalised, we will be getting in contact with those who are eligible, to let them know how to claim.”