READING Borough Council is could be providing further support for residents as early as this month through a voucher scheme designed to ease the cost of living for households.
It comes as part of a proposed Household Support Fund, which will see more than £2 million of grants from the Department for Work and Pensions ear-marked to tackle living costs until March 2024, due to be discussed at a committee meeting on Monday, July 10.
Families who receive pupil premium school meals, which are free, as well as care leavers, will receive two equal payments of £125 before the end of the year.
If green-lit, The first payment will be sent next month, followed by the second in December, in the form of Post Office vouchers.
There are more than 4,000 families eligible by council estimates, including 236 care leavers.
Residents above pension age who do not receive direct government support but do receive housing benefit will be provided with a one-off payment of £450 in October.
Around 900 people are estimated to be eligible for this payment.
There will also be an application process open to anyone for financial support from the council, though this initiative will priorities low-income households which are at risk of falling into crisis.
Under the application process, low-income households at risk are defined as households in receipt of low-income benefits, or other related state benefits, such as a Personal Independence Payment), and residents who are not in receipt of any income-based or other state benefits, but have specific circumstances which have negatively impacted their overall cost of living, such as an unexpended or increased expenditure.
Councillor Jason Brock, Reading Borough Council Leader, said: “Sadly, the rising cost of living shows no sign of abating, and hardly a day passes without more bad news on this front and even more people across Reading are struggling as a result.
“The Council has designed a local scheme which targets support towards those residents who need our help the most.”
He continued: “As well as providing support to families eligible for free school meals, care leavers and some older people, the supplementary application-based process – which goes live in July – will enable us to help other residents who do not necessarily fit into those defined categories but nevertheless find themselves, through no fault of their own, in circumstances which mean they are struggling to cope.”
Councillor Liz Terry, lead councillor for Corporate Services and Resources, said: “This continues to be an extremely worrying time for families and individuals across the town, with bills continuing to rise and the prospect of further increases over the coming months.
“We have gone through a process to identify those families and other residents who will need the Council’s support, however we know there will be other residents in need of help who did not meet the criteria set.
“That could be for any number of reasons or personal circumstances, so a supplementary application-based approach has been developed for this year’s local Household Support Fund scheme to help us to identify those residents and, where necessary, provide some financial assistance in these difficult times.”
Reading’s Household Support Fund proposal will be discussed at a meeting of the Council’s Policy Committee on Monday, July 10.
The full report can be found via: democracy.reading.gov.uk
