“We are here to help you” – Council and partners to help residents with rising costs of living. | The Shuttle: Blackburn with Darwen Council News

Household Support Scheme 960×600 – Family

Published Tuesday 15 February 2022 at 13:10

Blackburn with Darwen Council and its partners have joined together to support as many residents as possible in response to the rise in food and energy bills especially over February half term.

The campaign will point residents to local and national services and areas of support on a range of topics including money and debt, homes and housing, fuel costs, food, gambling and work and employment.

It is in response to the recent national rises in food costs and gas, electric and water bills which are hitting many people and families across the community.

Help includes the ongoing Household Support Scheme for families and children and other vulnerable adults through the winter period to get support with utility bills, food and other essentials to help keep people who may be struggling to stay warm and fed.

The scheme is run by the Council and partners and will run until 31^st March. It is aimed at families with children and other vulnerable people who may or may not meet the threshold for benefits but may be affected by increased fuel prices, job losses and self-isolation.

Funding may be available for:

Blackburn with Darwen children, families and vulnerable adults who have an annual household income below £21,152 for single claimants and below £31,731 for couples.

For more details on the scheme and what it can offer, and to see if you qualify for support, you need to complete the online referral form: www.blackburn.gov.uk/WinterHSS

All children eligible for free school meals in the borough will be issued a £15 voucher by their school for half term that can be used to buy food from Blackburn or Darwen Markets.

Partners organisations which can offer support include: Shelter, Rummage Rescuers, Jubilee Tower Credit Union, Lancashire Women, Carer’s Service, Age UK, Care Network, Stop Loan Sharks and Community & Business Partners.

Household Support Scheme 960×600 – Older lady

The Council can also offer support for Council Tax and other household bills:

Residents can opt to pay Council Tax over 12 months not 10 months – whilst this doesn’t reduce the amount payable, it does allow it to be spread so that each monthly payment is less;
Local Council Tax Support Scheme – https://blackburn.gov.uk/benefits/council-tax-support-scheme
S13A Hardship Relief (exception relief) which is considered on a case-by-case basis but exists to support vulnerable people who genuinely need support with their Council Tax;
Availability of targeted discounts, exemptions and disregards including, for example, for the severely mentally impaired, students, carers, apprentices, nursing home residents, substantially or permanent disabled (all dependent on circumstances). And war pensions are disregarded for the purposes of Council Tax;
Subject to a necessary means test and evidence of difficulty with payment, there is flexibility with the payment of Council Tax for those who need it through agreement of payment plans.

Close working with Advice Services (in particular, Shelter) so that vulnerable customers who are having difficulty paying their bills are offered a holistic review of their circumstances and expert advice to access the support they may need;
There is the recently introduced Breathing Space Scheme for people with debts who need time to obtain appropriate debts advice etc. More details are here Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Space) guidance for creditors – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk))
Availability of Discretionary Housing Payments to help qualifying residents with housing costs.

Councillor Mustafa Desai, Executive Member for Adults and Health, said:

We know that residents will be worried about the ongoing increase in the cost of living.

The Council has a long history of supporting local people who are in the greatest need and this will continue now, when more of our residents may find themselves in financial difficulty.

Our Help Hub, established in March 2020 in urgent response to the first lockdown, has seen us strengthen our partnership working with a range of local agencies, include food banks, credit unions, and voluntary sector partners.

Almost two years on, these partnerships are still there and as such the Help Hub continues to provide the service to anyone who contact us for support.

As well as helping with access to food for people in the greatest need, our staff can also work with residents to help with budgeting and money advice as well as advice with training and employability.

We are here to give support, and we know that many will need this help at the moment.”

Councillor Vicky McGurk, Executive Member for Finance, added:

Winter is a difficult time for many of us, as we use more gas and electric to heat our homes and of course this leads to bigger bills. This is added to the rising costs of food which means our weekly shop costs more and it can be a huge struggle to cover both of these.

We recently launched the Household Support Scheme to help families with their utility bills, as well as other essentials to help keep people warm over winter including boiler servicing and repairs.

This help is not just available to households in receipt of benefits, and I would urge anyone who is struggling this winter to check out the criteria on the Council website. We’re here to help.”

How to access the BwD Help Hub: www.blackburn.gov.uk/helphub

More help from our partner agencies can be found here: