New household support fund aimed at low-income older people launched in Burnley

The DWP has asked councils to support low-income households that cannot increase their income through work, such as pensioners and people with disabilities.

Coun. Sue Graham, executive member for finance and performance said: “Earlier this year, we gave supermarket vouchers to low-income families with children. This time, help is being offered to households of anyone aged over 60 in receipt of council tax support, and households that get a disability band reduction on their council tax.”

There is no application process so there is no need to contact the council about the fund. Burnley Council will send out letters to all eligible households over a six-week period starting from June 17th.

To collect a payment, the letter can be taken, along with a form of identification, to any post office branch. Subject to fund availability, the value will be £90. This is a one-off payment, and only one payment is being made per household.

Lancashire County Council is using their allocation of household support fund to provide vouchers for low-income households with children during school holidays. Parents and carers should speak to their child's educational setting to find out more.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak recently announced a £500m. increase for the Household Support Fund, extending it from October until March 2023. This brings the total Household Support Fund to £1.5 billion.

To help pay for the extra support, the Chancellor said a new temporary 25% Energy Profits Levy would be introduced for oil and gas companies, reflecting their extraordinary profits.