Bolton extends £2.7m Household Support Fund for six months

This comes with the Household Support Fund, which had been threatened with the axe, was extended by the government from this April to September.

Bolton has been awarded just over £2.7m, but town hall leaders have warned this still leaves vulnerable people in a dangerous position when the programme ends in the Autumn.

Council leader Cllr Nick Peel said: “What the government needed to do instead was to have a long-term plan of assistance for people to help them access employment and deal with their bills.”

He added: “I think this is a bit of a clumsier way for the government to be dealing with it and after September it really is a stumble in the dark.”

This phase of the Household Support Fund will be worth around £2.7M (Image: Newsquest)

The latest £2.7m payment represents the fifth round of funding Bolton has received as part of the programme, which has been worth a total of £13.9m to the borough so far.

The Household Support fund was introduced in October 2021 in response to the cost-of-living crisis and has made £421m available to authorities all over the country.

The money is used to support people on low incomes with food and energy bills as well as housing costs in exceptional circumstances where people are facing an emergency.

In last year’s budget, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt appeared to signal that the Household Support Fund would be axed from April this year.

But following an outcry from town halls around the country, including Bolton, the scheme has now been extended up to the end of this September.

A report put before the council recommends spending around £1.5m of this money on vouchers for children on free school meals.

The rest is recommended to be divided between £250,000 for pensioner targeted support, £225,000 for targeted support for people on disability benefits and other similar areas.

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This will also include around £150,000 for the Money Skills Service, which provides people with financial and debt advice.

The report said: “Energy bills may of particular concern to low-income households during the period of the scheme and local authorities should especially consider how they can support households with food and the cost of energy.

“It can also be used to support households with essential costs related to energy and with wider essential costs.”

The council is set to decide on approving this phase of the scheme at a cabinet meeting on Monday, April 22.