East Riding of Yorkshire Council launches Winter Grant Scheme

A discretionary grant scheme to help households struggling in the run up to Christmas has been launched.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council has launched the scheme to support those most in need with the cost of food, energy (such as heating, cooking and lighting), water bills (including sewerage) and other essentials (such as sanitary products), warm clothing, soap, blankets, boiler service/repair, and purchase of equipment including fridges, freezers and ovens.

The Winter Grant Scheme is funded from one-off central Government funding announced on 10 November 2020 called the Winter Support Grant, which enables local authorities to provide financial support to those most in need this year.

To help ensure fairness of applications and access to the grant across the winter for those who need it, East Riding of Yorkshire Council will implement the Winter Grant Scheme as a discretionary scheme across multiple time periods until the one-off funding has been fully utilised.

Period one of the scheme will cover the period 1 November to 31 December 2020. Applications for period one will need to be received by Sunday, 20 December.

It is expected that the discretionary funding available will not be sufficient to provide support to all residents, therefore period one will target and prioritise support for the following:

• to support households with children, where the applicant meets the criteria to entitle a child to free school meals
• to support households who have claimed universal credit since 23 March and income is less than £16,000 annually
• to support individuals who have a social care package and have seen an increase in their household food and fuel since 23 March 2020
• to support individuals where their annual income is less than £13,600 annually.

Councillor Richard Burton, leader of East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said: “This year has been extremely challenging for some of our residents and I am heartened that we have the Winter Grant Scheme available to support those in need.

“Knowing that this grant will make the difference of keeping children warm and well fed over Christmas, or offering those residents struggling to cope financially the peace of mind that they can manage a difficult winter, is an indicator that East Riding of Yorkshire Council continues to do all it can to support those in need at the end of an unprecedented year.”

For more information, criteria for the grants and how to apply, go to https://covid19.eastriding.gov.uk/support/

Where residents may not be eligible for this grant, the council has a benefit eligibility checker, this can be used to see if you are entitled to other forms of financial support http://www.budget.entitledto.co.uk/eastriding/budgets/

The council also has an emergency assistance scheme available to residents who have had an interruption to their income and where they require support to remain in the community.

For more information, criteria of the grants and how to apply, go to https://www.eastriding.gov.uk/living/emergency-assistance/