Flintshire Council to launch a discretionary Cost-of-Living support scheme

Flintshire Council has received additional funding to provide support to households considered “in most need” and may have been excluded from the £150 ‘Cost of Living’ grant scheme.

The council has been working in partnership with Welsh Government to administer the £150 ‘Cost of Living’ grant scheme to help households whose homes are in council tax bands A-D along with households in council tax bands A-I that receive Council Tax Reduction, formerly known as council tax benefit.

43,000 payments have already been made to eligible households to help with rising energy bills. The equates to a total funding distribution of £6.4m and a take-up rate of 91% for eligible households, thanks to the way in which the scheme has been promoted and the intuitive way in which the Council have automated payments for most households.

The Council’s Cabinet is now expected to introduce a Discretionary Cost of Living Support scheme which will result in £150 awards to households in Bands A to D who are resident, but exempt, from Council Tax.

These include households occupied by Care Leavers, those with severe mental impairments, or all student households.

£125 awards will be provided to support households in the upper Council Tax Bands (E to I) where the household consists of only one resident or in cases where the households qualify for a banding reduction because the property has been adapted to meet the needs of a disabled resident.

As part of the Council’s commitment to protecting vulnerable families from poverty, a £125 ‘top’-up’ payment will be provided to households whose children are in receipt of Free School Meals (as at 15 February 2022) and who may have already qualified for the basic £150 payment.

A small part of the discretionary funding will also support the Council’s wellbeing commitments of tackling food poverty and will allow the ongoing development of the ‘Well Fed’ food hub to allow all residents, especially those in rural communities, to access fresh, nutritional meals at affordable prices.

Cllr Paul Johnson, Cabinet Member for Finance, Inclusion, Resilient Communities, said:

“As a Council, we understand the pressures facing many households in Flintshire as inflation levels increase and the global market is pushing up energy bills significantly.”

“The Discretionary scheme will follow the successful roll-out of the main scheme and we are committed to helping a further 7,700 residents.”

“The Discretionary policy along with the main scheme will ensure that nearly 78% of Flintshire residents now qualify for a Cost-of-Living grant.”

“We are a financially responsible Council and as we are committed to ensuring residents continue to receive payments quickly, we will be in touch as soon as possible with those households who are now eligible for a Discretionary grant.”