Decision details
Award of funding from the Household Support Fund to support low income pensioners identified by the Department for Work and Pensions
Decision Maker: Director of Resources and Assurance
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Is Key decision?: No
Is subject to call in?: No
Purpose:
Herefordshire Council has received an
allocation of £1,329,601.78 from the Department for Work and
Pensions (DWP) under the Household Support Fund. The expectation is
that the funding should be used primarily to support households in
most need, with a requirement that the majority of the funding
should support families with children and pensioners who would
otherwise struggle with energy, food and water bills as well as
other essential costs. Specifically, at least one third of the
allocation should be ring-fenced to support low income pensioner
households.
To help identify these households, DWP has provided information on
pensioner households in receipt of pension credit. With this
information the Council has set an eligibility requirement that to
receive a payment under this element of the Household Support Fund,
residents will be of state pension age, in receipt of Pension
Credit Guarantee and living in Herefordshire, but not in a
residential or nursing care home. Latest data indicates that there
are about 3,200 single or couple households who meet this
eligibility criteria. They will receive a one-off payment of
£170.
Low-income households spend a larger proportion than average on
energy and food so will be more affected by price increases.
Consumer prices, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI)
rose by 9.4% in the 12 months to June 2022, up from 9.1% in May.
The Bank of England expects inflation to rise further to around 11%
in 2022 before levels start to fall during 2023. There have been
significant increases in the price of energy and food and this is
likely to increase with a further rise in the price cap on energy
in October 2022.
By utilising the funding from government, this will have a positive
impact on low income households by minimising the debt burden on
those that struggle to pay essential bills.
Contact: Andrew Lovegrove, Director of Resources and Assurance Email: Andrew.Lovegrove@herefordshire.gov.uk.
Publication date: 11/08/2022
Date of decision: 05/08/2022
Accompanying Documents: