1 October 2024 to 31 March 2025
The UK government have announced that they will be extending the Household Support Fund for six months, from 1 October 2024 to 31 March 2025. Telford & Wrekin Council has been allocated a further £1.5 million.
In Telford and Wrekin, as well as our application-based scheme (details below), we are planning on using the funding to:
- Support state pension-age residents who receive Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Reduction with one £100 supermarket voucher per household, which will be issued by the end of January 2025. We will contact residents directly who qualify with details of how to redeem their voucher.
- Support the continued provision of food vouchers during school holidays for children who would usually be entitled to income-related Free School Meals, the Pupil Premium, Service Pupil Premium, Talking 2's or Early Years Pupil Premium. Vouchers will be issued for the following holidays:
- October 2024 half-term: £15 per child
- Christmas 2024: £15 per child per week (representing a total of £30 per child for the two weeks of the holiday)
- February 2025 half-term: £15 per child
Please note: the planned amounts may reduce, dependant on the number of eligible children.
View our Frequently Asked Questions about school holiday food vouchers
Awards will be made in the form of supermarket vouchers.
We will continue to contact residents directly who qualify with details of how to redeem their voucher.
Application process
There will continue to be an application process for residents who are suffering exceptional financial difficulties. Residents can apply for a small grant, usually in the form of a supermarket voucher or an energy voucher/payment. View details of the qualifying criteria and application process.
There are lots of other ways we can help during this cost of living crisis. View information about the support available from the council and our trusted partners, where it can also be downloaded in the form of leaflets.
The government have also created a Cost of Living Hub, with information on the support that is available to help you with the cost of living. This includes income and disability benefits, bills and allowances, childcare, housing and travel.
Find out if you are eligible for Free School Meals
Struggling financially? See what help is available to you
1 April 2024 to 30 September 2024
In the 2024 Spring Budget, the UK government announced that they would be extending the Household Support Fund for six months, from 1 April to 30 September 2024. Telford & Wrekin Council was allocated a further £1.5 million.
In Telford and Wrekin, the funding was used to:
- Support the continued provision of food vouchers during school holidays for children who would usually be entitled to income-related Free School Meals, the Pupil Premium, Service Pupil Premium, Talking 2's or Early Years Pupil Premium. Vouchers were issued for the following holidays:
- May 2024 half-term: £15 per child
- Summer 2024: £10 per child per week (representing a total of £60 per child for the six weeks of the holiday).
Awards were usually made in the form of supermarket vouchers.
We contacted residents directly who qualified with details of how to redeem their voucher.
Application process
There continued to be an application process for residents who were suffering exceptional financial difficulties. Residents could apply for a small grant, usually in the form of a supermarket voucher or an energy voucher/payment. View details of the current qualifying criteria and application process.
Find out if you are eligible for Free School Meals
Struggling financially? See what help is available to you
1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024
For the period from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, Telford & Wrekin Council was allocated a further £3 million from the Household Support Fund by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
In Telford and Wrekin, the funding was used to:
- Support the continued provision of food vouchers during school holidays for children who would usually be entitled to income-related Free School Meals, the Pupil Premium, Service Pupil Premium, Talking 2's or Early Years Pupil Premium. Vouchers were issued for the following holidays:
- May 2023 half-term: £15 per child
- Summer 2023: £10 per child per week (representing a total of £60 per child for the six weeks of the holiday)
- October 2023 half-term: £15 per child
- Christmas 2023: £15 per child per week (representing a total of £30 per child for the two weeks of the holiday)
- February half-term 2024: £15 per child
- Easter 2024: £15 per child per week (representing a total of £30 per child for the two weeks of the holiday).
- A small grant was provided to pension age residents receiving Pension Credit Guarantee Credit or Savings Credit and who were also in receipt of either Housing Benefit or Council Tax Reduction. We allocated this small grant during the winter months.
Awards were usually made in the form of supermarket vouchers.
We contacted residents directly who qualified with details of how to redeem their voucher.
Application process
There continued to be an application process for residents who were suffering exceptional financial difficulties. Residents could apply for a small grant, usually in the form of a supermarket voucher or an energy voucher/payment. View details of the current qualifying criteria and application process.
Find out if you are eligible for Free School Meals
Struggling financially? See what help is available to you
1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023
For the period from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023, Telford & Wrekin Council was allocated a further £1.5 million from the Household Support Fund by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
In Telford and Wrekin, the funding was used to:
- Support the continued provision of food vouchers during school holidays for children who would usually have been entitled to income-related Free School Meals, the Pupil Premium, Service Pupil Premium, Talking 2's or Early Years Pupil Premium. Vouchers were issued for the following holidays:
- October 2022 half-term: £15 per child
- Christmas 2022: £15 per child per week (representing a total of £30 per child for the two weeks of the holiday)
- February half-term 2023: £15 per child
- Easter 2023: £15 per child per week (representing a total of £30 per child for the two weeks of the holiday).
- A small grant was provided to pension age residents receiving Pension Credit Guarantee Credit or Savings Credit and who were in receipt of either Housing Benefit or Council Tax Reduction.
Awards were usually made in the form of supermarket vouchers.
We contacted residents directly who qualified with details of how to redeem their voucher.
Application process
There continued to be an application process for residents who were suffering exceptional financial difficulties. Residents could apply for a small grant, usually in the form of a supermarket voucher or an energy voucher/payment. View details of the current qualifying criteria and application process.
Find out if you are eligible for Free School Meals
Struggling financially? See what help is available to you
1 April 2022 to 30 September 2022
For the period from 1 April 2022 to 30 September 2022, Telford & Wrekin Council was allocated a further £1.5 million from the Household Support Fund by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The DWP stated that at least one-third of the funding needed to be spent on families with dependent children and a further one-third on pensioners.
In Telford and Wrekin, the funding was used to:
- Support the continued provision of food vouchers during school holidays for children who would usually have been entitled to income-related Free School Meals, the Pupil Premium, Service Pupil Premium, Talking 2's or Early Years Pupil Premium. Vouchers were issued for the following holidays:
- May 2022 half-term: £15 per child
- Summer 2022: £10 per child per week (representing a total of £60 per child for the six weeks of the holiday).
- A small grant was provided to pension age residents receiving Pension Credit Guarantee Credit or Savings Credit and who were in receipt of either Housing Benefit or Council Tax Reduction.
Awards were usually be made in the form of supermarket vouchers.
We contacted residents directly who qualified with details of how to redeem their voucher.
Application process
Since 28 June 2022, there has been an application process for residents who are suffering severe financial difficulties. Residents can apply for a small grant, usually in the form of a supermarket voucher. View details of the current qualifying criteria and application process.
Find out if you are eligible for Free School Meals
Struggling financially? See what help is available to you
October 2021 to 31 March 2022
Telford & Wrekin Council was allocated £1.5 million of funding by the DWP to support residents who were struggling to make ends meet between October 2021 and 31 March 2022.
The funding was used for vouchers and services to resolve financial problems that residents faced as a result of their increased household costs over the winter period.
In Telford and Wrekin, the funding was used to:
- Support the continued provision of food vouchers during school holidays for children who would usually have been entitled to income-based Free School Meals. These supermarket vouchers, for £15 per child per week, were provided for the October half-term, Christmas, February half-term and Easter school holidays.
- Provide a small grant in February 2022 for families in the borough on the lowest incomes. These families were in receipt of either:
- Income-related Free School Meals
- Early Years Pupil Premium
- Universal Credit, be eligible for free prescriptions based on their income and be in receipt of Housing Benefit or Council Tax Reduction.
- Provide a small grant in February 2022 to pension age residents receiving Pension Credit Guarantee Credit and who were in receipt of either Housing Benefit or Council Tax Reduction.
The funding also provided an additional £50 grant for any customer who qualified for help through our Discretionary Housing Payment or Council Tax Reduction Hardship Payment schemes between November 2021 and March 2022.
All of the grant awards were made in the form of energy or supermarket vouchers.
We contacted residents directly who qualified with details of how to redeem their voucher.
Supermarket vouchers were also provided to other agencies who offer support in the borough, for them to distribute directly to help people with food, utility and other costs.
Find out if you are eligible for Free School Meals
Struggling financially? See what help is available to you
Last updated: 01/10/2024 16:56
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