Thousands of North East families will receive a £301 cost of living payment this spring.
A total of 395,000 families on means-tested benefits will automatically get receive the cash, which will be the first of five direct support payments totalling £1,350.
And, 349,000 people on disability benefits in the area will also automatically receive a £150 payment this summer.
READ MORE: DWP could owe 50,000 disabled people who were moved to Universal Credit money
After confirming the payment schedule for five cost of living payments through the 2023/24 financial year, The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has today announced in Parliament more detail on the support.
Work and Pensions Secretary, Mel Stride said: “These direct payments will help people right across the UK over the next financial year, continuing our consistent, targeted and substantial support for the most vulnerable.
“Our Energy Price Guarantee also means that every household is being helped through this period of high inflation, caused by Putin’s illegal war and the aftershocks of the pandemic.”
Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt said: “High inflation, exacerbated by Putin’s illegal war, is hurting economies across the world and making people poorer.
“These payments are the next part of the significant support we are providing to people across the UK, with more than 8 million vulnerable households receiving up to £1,350 directly into their bank accounts this year.
“This latest payment will provide some temporary relief, but the best thing we can do to help families and businesses is to stick to the plan to halve inflation this year.”
Exact payment windows and qualifying periods for eligibility will be announced in due course, but are designed to ensure a consistent support offer throughout the year.
Payment windows will be broadly as follows:
· £301 – First 2023/24 Cost of Living Payment – during spring 2023
· £150 – 2023 Disability Payment – during summer 2023
· £300 – Second 2023/24 Cost of Living Payment – during autumn 2023
· £300 – 2023 Pensioner Payment – during winter 2023/4
· £299 – Third 2023/24 Cost of Living Payment – during spring 2024
There are several benefits that could make claimants eligible for the £301 Cost of Living Payment, including Universal Credit and tax credits – through which 5.4 million people across the UK are expected to qualify, and Pension Credit, through which 1.4 million pensioners are expected to be paid. 1.3 million will be eligible through legacy DWP benefits such as Jobseekers Allowance and Income Support, for a total of 8.1 million people.
Eligible individuals do not need to apply for payments, as they are made automatically. Those eligible for cost of living payments through tax credits, and no other means-tested benefits, will be paid by HMRC shortly after DWP payments are made.
This builds on the government’s wider support package, which includes further funding for the Household Support Fund, bringing its total value for October 2021 to March 2024 to over £2 billion.
The fund is distributed to English councils, who know their areas best and are then able to offer direct support for those most in need in their region.
Government bosses say every household with a domestic electricity supply is also benefitting from the Energy Price Guarantee, which is saving the average household around £900 this winter and a further £500 in 2023/24 by capping energy costs.
Benefits will also be rising in line with inflation from April, which will see a 10.1% increase for pensioners and those on the lowest incomes, whilst the National Living Wage will see its biggest ever cash rise, bringing it to £10.42 an hour.
This all follows on from 2022’s support package, which included:
· A £650 Cost of Living Payment for means-tested benefit claimants, split into two payments, each of which supported over eight million households
· Further £300 and £150 payments, which reached over eight million pensioner households and six million disabled people respectively
· A £150 Council Tax rebate for all households in Council Tax bands A-D in England
· A £400 energy bill discount for all households, which will continue to run through March 2023
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