Herts County Council sets out winter package of support for vulnerable residents
Supermarket vouchers to help struggling Hertfordshire families during school holidays will be available this winter thanks to the extension of a Government grant.
The coupons – for those eligible for benefit-related free school meals – will be funded from part of the county council’s latest £6.17m allocation from the Household Support Fund (HSF). Since 2021 the council has received more than £40m from the HSF.
They will be made available during the Christmas and February half-term holidays, at a rate of £15 a week.
The vouchers are just one of the ways Herts County Council (HCC) is set to allocate the grant to support vulnerable residents with essential living costs such as energy, food and water.
On Monday (November 4), the plans were approved by a meeting of the council’s cabinet.
The school holiday supermarket vouchers will account for £2.4m of the overall grant, with a further £105,000 to support homeless families and £560,782 to provide winter essentials to families in crisis.
Also included in the plans are £850,000 in vouchers for food, energy, water or other essentials available through HertsHelp and £550,000 through district and borough councils, such as East Herts.
Around £200,000 will be made available to food organisations, such as food banks, and a further £200,000 in energy grants, with £33,000 for the warm spaces programme in libraries.
Others set to benefit from the range of schemes include care leavers and those with learning difficulties aged over 19, gipsies, travellers and refugees.
A further £55,000 has been allocated for festive grants to provide food and drink for community events.
There will also be 150 vouchers available to pensioners who are new recipients of Pension Credits.
At the meeting, the plans were presented to the cabinet by the executive member for children, young people and families Cllr Fiona Thomson, also deputy leader of the council.
She said that the latest allocation would provide additional support to vulnerable households with the costs of energy, water bills, food and wider essentials.
She also catalogued items including vouchers for care leavers and the provision of winter essentials – such as slow cookers, warm bedding and winter coats – to low-income families in crisis.
Cllr Fiona Thomson referenced support for food banks and energy support, as well as support for homeless people and survivors of domestic abuse – and increased capacity for Citizens Advice and the Money Advice Unit, to provide financial advice and vouchers for pensioners on low incomes.
The leader of the county council, Cllr Richard Roberts, highlighted the contribution of the HSF.
“It is quite staggering that the support post-Covid – and during Covid – has been some £40m,” he said.
“And I reflect that I think it is the partnership work that was honed and developed and brought to help so many during that period that helps us make sure that this money is well spent and arrives with those that most need it.”
