Cost of living crisis: how the council in Rochdale is spending £4.6m to support vulnerable households

A Greater Manchester council is launching a new £4.6m package of support aimed at helping the most vulnerable people in the borough to cope with the ongoing cost of living crisis.The cash has been allocated to Rochdale Council via the government’s Household Support Fund (HSF) for 2023/24, and is targeted at those who would otherwise struggle to buy food, pay essential utility bills or meet other essential living or housing costs.

A council report notes the fallout from the pandemic coupled with the cost of living crisis means ‘demand will increase from our population, with thousands more in fuel poverty, in debt or under financial difficulties’.

The local authority is therefore putting four measures in place, which includes evouchers during the school holiday, help for older residents in Rochdale and assistance with spiralling energy bills.

What has Rochdale Council said about the cost of living crisis?

The council report has painted a fairly bleak picture of how some Rochdale residents are coping with the current financial situation which has seen the cost of household essentials including groceries and energy rise significantly. It says the town hall needs to act quickly to provide a safety net for the town’s vulnerable households.

The report said: “The number of people claiming out of work benefits has more than doubled and four times more people are accessing emergency food support.

“It is important that the council puts in place a comprehensive support package and should in particular support low income families and low income older households, but to include programmes that can reach out and support other people who are struggling.”

Bosses say it is impossible ‘to capture a full picture of the impact of the cost of living crisis across the borough’, so the council is proposing four different programmes of support through the HSF funding.

The scheme was signed off at the council’s latest cabinet meeting. All the money must be spent by the end of March next year.

What are the measures the council is proposing in Rochdale?

Rochdale Council is proposing four measures for the latest cash being allocated by Westminster to tackle the cost of living crisis. The first involves £2.73m of targeted support for low-income families through the provision of school holiday food evouchers.

More than 13,000 children in Rochdale are either eligible for free school meals or identified by children’s services as being in need. This includes young people who have been in care. Due to the current economic climate, bosses expect these two groups will grow and provision should be made for supporting up to 14,000 children.

They agreed that provision of £15 be set aside per child for each of the 13 holiday weeks that fall within the 2023/24 financial year.

The second measure involves spending £800,000 on targeted support for older people to help them with their energy costs. The council has already operated a targeted scheme focusing on pensioners claiming council tax support, which was paid for by the previous government funding. It wrote to these households explaining they were being provided with this funding to help with energy costs. It has already made payments to around 95% of them, with the money going directly imno their bank accounts. The council bosses strongly believe this support should continue and have agreed that around 6,666 households should each receive two payments of £60 over the 2023/23 financial year.

Thirdly,the council is spending £595,000 from the Local Household Fund. This allows people to access up to £100 in supermarket vouchers, £49 in fuel vouchers and white goods such as fridge freezers, ovens and washing machines.

The council is now looking to reach out to people with disabilities and will introduce new partners who work with disabled residents, such as assisted living, MIND and sheltered accommodation schemes. The local authority will also provide this additional support to children and adults who have major adaptations in their homes such as vertical lifts, stair lifts and showers, as these can force up energy bills. Town hall bosses say it is clear the ‘already high’ demand for this fund will increase and that more that 8,000 households will benefit from the investment.

Finally, the council is spending £550,000 on the Warm Homes energy support scheme and homelessness prevention measures. The council says it needs to increase its targeted help in order to keep the borough’s most vulnerable residents warm and safe. From October last year, the authority supported more than 2,600 people through a £500,000 investment in its Warm Homes scheme, funded by the Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership.

The scheme will now continue, offering people immediate support to ensure they can stay safely in their homes, emergency heatingand help with fuel bills, necessary improvement works in their homes, advice and signposting to the NHS and discussions about their health, finances or risk of social isolation.

The council has also allocated £50,000 to support the Homelessness Prevention and Tenancy Sustainability Project. The funding will be used to reduce or clear arrears and prevent residents from becoming homeless, working with landlord and tenant mediation.