Stockton Council to offer energy bill support instead of supermarket vouchers this winter
The council are one of many around the country who aren't able to offer the food vouchers over the school holidays
Stockton Council say they are still determined to help families struggling with the cost of living crisis this winter - though they won't be offering supermarket vouchers over the school holidays.
It's after an investigation found 21 councils across the country were no going to offer the £15 a week vouchers - to help with food costs for families with children who receive school meals, with Stockton on that list.
The Local Government Association says some authorities simply cannot afford to provide the help, with the amount of Government grants being handed out.
The council leader explained they were focusing on helping people pay energy bills - by offering vouchers for those costs in January - but also giving children free meals through a holiday activity scheme.
Families with children receiving free school meals were offered £15-a-week food vouchers during school holidays since a successful campaign led by footballer Marcus Rashford during the pandemic. But the government stopped direct funding in October 2021, replacing it with the household support fund and giving councils discretion over how to help struggling families.
Stockton Council leader Bob Cook said support vouchers would be on their way in January to help struggling households pay high energy bills from the recent cold snap, following government guidelines. These will be available for more than 17,000 households eligible for council tax reduction.
He said vouchers would be distributed in January to make sure support was staggered and reached households through the winter: “What the government have asked us to do this time is to try and make sure it goes to energy so we’re offering energy vouchers, so people can afford the energy in the cold months.
“When people are short of money and bills start coming in, especially for the electricity and gas, it gives them a chance to be able to put something towards that. That was our thinking.
“Obviously people’s bank accounts are quite short after Christmas. That’s when the cold weather starts to come in, so it goes towards heating bills. That’s what the government asked us to concentrate on for this payment.
“In the summer the energy bills would be quite low and that’s when we turned to food but this time of year, last week was freezing weather and obviously people use a lot more energy and gas in those months. People will find the next bill difficult to pay.
“We’ve got a scheme for kids during the holiday where they can get a meal as well. It’s not vouchers but they can go and get a meal,” he said, referring to a holiday activities and food (HAF) programme for children receiving free school meals.
“We’ve had a good response in the past for children attending it,” he added. The council’s website says bookings for this Christmas’ “Holidays Are Fun” programme are now closed.
The household support fund has been extended to March 31 next year and the council was given £1.6m from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to support low-income households most in need due to rising energy, food, bills and household costs.
People eligible for council tax reduction will be contacted in January with a voucher, exchangeable for money, to help pay energy costs – £100 for households with children, £55 for those without. People aged 18 to 25 who have left care will receive a £75 voucher.
Funding will also add to the council’s Back on Track scheme which supports vulnerable people in financial crisis. And low-income households which do not get council tax reduction and did not receive the government’s cost of living support payments can apply for discretionary payments.
Cllr Cook added: “There’s money we’ve got for anybody at crisis point, especially with heating and suchlike. So we’re doing quite a lot to make sure that we get the most vulnerable.
“If you do not receive council tax reduction then you could still access help via the Back on Track scheme or by applying to see if you could be eligible for support. As well as this, support will be given to partner organisations who operate food banks and community food pantries.
“We want to use the funding available to us to support as many people in the borough as we possibly can and helping with the rising cost of living is our top priority.”
Of those councils giving help in the form of vouchers, Middlesbrough Council offers those of highest value at £30-a-week. It says it has issued £60 vouchers to households with children receiving free school meals. There was no data for Redcar and Cleveland, Hartlepool or Darlington councils.
Zoe McIntyre, school food project manager at the Food Foundation, said: “It’s vitally important that children eligible for FSM have support during all the school holidays.
Additional funding for councils comes from the £421m household support fund, some of which is ring-fenced for families with children. However, not all councils are using this to supply food vouchers, and this creates a postcode lottery on who is receiving additional support and who isn’t.”
Alison Garnham, chief executive officer for the Child Poverty Action Group, said: “Short term responses cannot plug all the gaps. Families need the government to invest again in our social security safety net so that they can have a decent living standard and manage in tough times.”
Stockton North MP Alex Cunningham said today: “I’m really pleased that a Labour-run Stockton Borough Council is continuing to support our communities with its “holidays are fun” programme which not only provides food to young people in receipt of free school meals, but also a wide range of activities during the school holidays. It’s, however, clear that too many kids miss out on free school meals and I’ve long called for the eligibility to be widened to ensure no child goes hungry.
“I was delighted by our shadow education secretary’s pledge that a Labour government would provide free school meals to all primary age children as a step towards ending the scourge of childhood hunger. By doing this we can remove a real barrier to learning and ensure all children regardless of their background or family income can reach their potential.”
You can find out more about the Holidays Are Fun project through the council website.