Council grants to provide crisis support to vulnerable Darlington households will continue into next year.
The Household Support Fund, which provides funding to help with significantly rising living costs, has been extended to March 31 2025.
A total of £913,853.75 will be distributed as part of the support programme.
Schemes included in the household support programme include providing food vouchers, supporting food banks and supporting the elderly. An estimated 5,000 households will benefit from £330,000 in funding for supermarket vouchers as part of an auto-enrolment campaign scheduled for December.
An estimated £50,000 has been pledged for the town’s network of six foodbanks.
The council said: “All food banks are seeing an increase in demand. Whilst there are numerous reasons why people use food banks the increase in fuel costs is cited frequently as is reducing monthly budgets. There is an increase in demand from working families but also a growth in demand from the elderly.”
The 160 estimated care leavers in Darlington will receive a £100 payment. Funding for the uniform exchange scheme, providing clothes for low-income families and reducing the cost burden for parents, will continue.
A council report read: “As part of a number of measures to provide help with global inflationary challenges and the significantly rising cost of living, the Household Support Fund (HSF) will be extended from 1 October 2024 to 31 March 2025.
“The last rounds of the fund covered a full year however this grant covers a six-month period. Allocations have been published with Darlington’s being £913,853.75 which is the same level as the last extension.”
Darlington Borough Council’s cabinet approved the latest proposals at a meeting on Tuesday.
However, Matthew Snedker, leader of the Darlington Green Party, said public services have been “whittled away” and are continuing to affect hundreds of families in the town. He said: “The history behind the problem we have in Darlington is down to many years of austerity cuts to local services.”
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Cllr Snedker added: “This is very much a sticking plaster on the gaping wound of perpetuated poverty in Darlington, the persistent poverty that we’ve seen over the last 10 years and more. It isn’t anything we’re not used to, seeing the number of foodbanks increasing. It’s shocking that people have to apply for pension credit to get the winter fuel allowance.”
Meanwhile, the local authority’s council tax support scheme is set to be extended for another year after it received cabinet approval.
The scheme means working-aged people can only receive a maximum of 80 per cent support towards their council tax. From April 2023, care leavers under the age of 25 were made exempt from council tax. A final decision will be made later this month.
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