STRUGGLING households may not know what help is available to fight poverty in a complex system of support, a council leader has said.

Cllr Richard Bell, Durham County Council’s deputy leader, said he wanted to raise public awareness of what help is out there for people.

Referring to a report on child poverty, he said: “I’ve just counted around a dozen various schemes.

“It’s not a very satisfactory position where central government has essentially devolved a lot of tasks that used to be performed by the Department for Work and Pensions.”

Cllr Bell, also cabinet member for finance, said councils were given a “very complex benefit structure”, affecting staff costs and resources.

He added: “I feel it also has consequences in terms of the public’s understanding of what help is out there and available.

“Complexity to me isn’t good, either from the point of view of the costs of administration or from the fact that recipients may not be aware that help is there. I do think it’s something we need to focus on.”

Paul Darby, corporate director of resources, told a cabinet meeting of measures to tackle poverty in vulnerable households from government grants and council budgets and reserves.

He said links to education and economic strategy were “crucial if we are to break the generational impacts in some communities”.

He pointed to That Bread and Butter Thing which set up 10 food hubs giving access to low-cost food and advice, with five more hubs planned.

He outlined schemes for food, energy, winter and household support targeting “hard to reach” homes, including food or fuel vouchers, hampers and holiday activities.

Other schemes concerned bills and costs, shopping, expenses, grants, finding work, housing payments and benefits, insulation, heating, council tax and homelessness.

The council report said £2.9m was used in 292 projects fighting the effects of Covid-19, including £50,000 to the Durham Foodbank.

A Poverty Action Plan, which makes “specific investments in local communities to build resilience”, is being updated and will be brought back to the cabinet in March.

Councillor Susan McDonald, cabinet member for digital and customer services, said: “We can be very proud of the various schemes we’ve put in place.”

She added: “These schemes have helped thousands and thousands of the most disadvantaged and financially vulnerable households right across the county.

“Poverty is a complex issue with no single definition or single measure.

“Poverty manifests itself in many, many ways. Its causes and impacts are multi-faceted, and it blights and holds back so many of our communities right across the county.

“The route out of poverty is equally complex, but ultimately it lies in access to more and better jobs.

“And this is why our economic strategy and education skills and training programmes are so vitally important.

“Our challenge is to raise aspirations and provide opportunities for all.

“We need to work hard to address these issues but also ensure that we have a strong safety net in place to support financially vulnerable households and particularly those in a crisis situation.

“And we need to work with partners to ensure the best support and advice is available when and where it’s needed.”

She said the challenges were influenced by national policy: “That said, we have a broad range of local interventions in place.”

In tackling fuel poverty, the council gained £10m in grants for insulation and renewable heating for 600 homes, and helped 1,724 households get energy efficiency grants.

Projects in the last year included £131m in self-employed income support, £4.7m from the Covid Local Support Grant providing 295 hampers and more than 100,000 vouchers, and £270,000 in grants for vulnerable households with children.

The measures included:

- The Household Support Fund - £4.6m to help vulnerable households with food, bills and other essential costs until March;

- Emergency food support with parcels or shopping services;

- Daily living expenses and settlement grants;

- Test and trace support payments - £500 lump sums for people on low incomes who are self-isolating;

- The Kickstart, Durham Works and numerous other schemes helping people into placements, work, training or education;

- Free school meal vouchers, which 24% of eligible children are not claiming, and free holiday activities and food programme for those children;

- The Healthy Start Scheme helping with milk, food and free vitamins, with almost 2,000 eligible people not taking it;

- The Council Tax Reduction Scheme and top-up payments - more than £60m to reduce council tax bills, described as “above and beyond the level people would receive anywhere else”;

- A housing payments scheme to meet shortfalls in rental costs and welfare assistance scheme to help people in crisis;

- Insulation, boilers, renewable heating and energy efficiency measures, help with lowering energy bills and managing money;

- The Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme helping people to rebuild their lives until 2024;

- Fuel vouchers from £100,000 to the East Durham Trust and the Durham Foodbanks, from grants to support vulnerable households;

- Help with housing benefit.