News / Brisotl City Council
Bristol families to share £4m payout
Bristol’s poorest families will share a £4m payout from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
City councillors agreed on Monday how the money from the latest round of the government’s Household Support Fund will be split to ensure the money goes to those most in need.
Half of the cash, which is for the six months up to the end of March, is for supermarket vouchers during school holidays for children who receive free school meals, with £15 for last month’s half-term break and the same amount for February, plus £30 when the kids are off over both Christmas and Easter.
is needed now More than ever
Another £500,000 will go to food banks and other schemes that tackle food poverty, £100,000 to help about 300 low-income households with housing costs, and £120,000 for refugees and asylum seekers who cannot access state benefits or other help.
Councillors agreed on how to split the money on Monday – photo: Hannah Massoudi
A total of £220,000 will pay for £400 vouchers each to 100 care leavers and 450 foster children towards food and heating costs, £50,000 for Bristol Age UK to provide emergency support for older people, and £380,000 for at least 760 vulnerable families who cannot afford their energy bills or who need heating systems repaired or installed.
Disabled residents in food or fuel poverty will share a £25,000 grant, while £404,000 will go to the advice sector with a focus on giving help to pensioners who have lost out through savage cuts to the Winter Fuel Allowance.
The DWP money comes with rules about eligibility, but it can be used to help families to pay for food, gas, electricity, water, phone, broadband, essential household items such as white goods, beds, bedding, clothing, baby and sanitary products, and, in exceptional circumstances, housing.
Councillors welcomed the cash boost for vulnerable households but expressed concern that the announcement came so late – photo: Hannah Massoudi
Bristol City Council can determine who needs the assistance most but must have a process in place for people to apply for the financial help.
The strategy and resources policy committee unanimously agreed how the money would be split and was told an urgent officer decision had to be taken in September to use just over £1m of the funding to pay for food vouchers during last month’s half-term holiday and the Christmas break for 22,700 children who qualify for free school meals.
Councillors welcomed the cash boost for vulnerable households but expressed concern that the announcement came so late and that, because the previous government had only extended the scheme for half a year from April to September, the local authority was given little time to plan how to spend it.
The new government has confirmed that the Household Support Fund will continue until at least March 2026.
Main photo: Karen Johnson
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