Bristol City Council is spending £4 million this winter on supporting vulnerable people struggling with the cost of living. The money will be spent on services like free school meals during holidays and helping people with unaffordable energy bills.
The Household Support Fund is aiming to help get through the winter months as inflation skyrockets and the economy enters another recession. The money is coming from the government, with millions being given to other councils across the country.
Council bosses approved the spending plan for the £4 million at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, November 1. The mayor said the list of how the cash will be spent was “heartening, but not enough”.
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Deputy mayor Craig Cheney, cabinet member for finance, said: “Bristol will receive £4 million to support those in need with the cost of food, energy, water bills and other essential household items from October to March.
“We will be spending £1.9 million on free school meals for children over October, Christmas, February and Easter; £709,000 will be given to various charities to assist low-income households with food and fuel poverty; £350,000 to add to the local crisis prevention fund; and £220,000 to assist care leavers and foster families with food and heating costs.”
Bristol mayor Marvin Rees added: “That list is actually in line with what we’re trying to get done. We want to be ambitious for the city but ambitious in a way that’s compassionate and inclusive. In the middle of all this it’s a heartening list to go through. It’s not enough, but it is heartening.”
Extra support for people struggling with the cost of living is also available on the council’s website, with details of a helpline, help with fuel bills and food, advice for older people and disabled people, and locations of Welcoming Spaces set up as warm hubs across Bristol.
The Household Support Fund was first announced in September last year, and this £4 million is the third rollout of the fund. This time less cash will be earmarked for the elderly, after Bristol’s MPs urged the government to loosen the rules about how it should be spent.
Cllr Cheney said: “This is the third round of funding under the Household Support Fund scheme, with criteria being the same as before but without the need for any grant to be ring-fenced to any particular cohort. In previous iterations of this, for example 33% had to be given to the elderly, despite the fact that Bristol’s population is not 33% elderly. Our MPs have lobbied in parliament to get that changed, and have been successful in that.”
