Wyre Council offers financial support for working families

Household Support Grants are now available from Wyre Council for working families struggling with the cost of living.

Wyre Council has received £860,000 for the fourth round of the Household Support Funding from the Department for Work and Pensions to offer financial support to residents who have not had previous assistance.

Since 2022, the council has awarded around £1.2m in three rounds of Household Support Funding, making over 15,500 payments of between £50 and £300 in the form of Post Office vouchers, supermarket vouchers and payments to bank accounts, to households on the lowest incomes.

Now, Wyre Council is able to offer support to those in need who have not qualified for previous Household Support Grants, like those in employment who have dependent children, who earn too much to claim social benefits yet still struggle with the daily cost of living.

To be eligible to apply for help from the scheme, applicants must live in the Wyre area, be liable to pay council tax, have dependent children and not be in receipt of social benefits other than child benefit, and therefore haven’t received any of the cost of living payments made by the Department for Work and Pensions.

The full criteria for applying is:

·         you live in Wyre and are a council tax payer; and

·         you are a couple or single adult with dependent children in respect of whom you receive child benefit; and

·         you do not claim any other social benefits (for example Universal Credit, Income Support, Job Seekers Allowance, Tax credits); and

·         you are responsible for the payment of the household energy bills in respect of your home; and

·         you have less than £16,000 in savings; and

·         your total annual gross household income is below £40,000 for a single adult and £52,000 for a couple

Councillor Lesley McKay, Portfolio Holder for Resources at Wyre Council comments,

“We are dedicated to ensuring residents are able to receive the support that is available to them and are really pleased we’ve been so successful in allocating past rounds of the fund with our officers making the process as easy as possible for people. We intend to use our fourth round allocation to provide financial support to council tax payers with children, whose incomes are just over the limits for claiming social benefits, but who are nevertheless struggling to meet the increased costs of living.”

Applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis and awards are at the discretion of the council. Evidence will need to be uploaded as part of the application process, for example; bank statements and wage slips and Wyre Council has the right to refuse an application even if an applicant meets all of the criteria.

For more information and to apply online, please visit www.wyre.gov.uk/householdsupport