£200,000 to help pensioners with fuel costs

Those living on their own will get help

A Devon council is to dish out £200,000 of grants to help pensioners pay fuel bills this winter.

It comes after the government decided to scrap the universal winter fuel payment so only people receiving pension credit are eligible for the £200 or £300 benefit.

North Devon Council is looking to help the remaining pensioner households, just under 1,000, who receive a council tax reduction such, as people living alone or on low incomes.

It has enough money from the Household Support Fund (HSF)  to give £200 grants to each.

The council’s strategy and resources committee is to allow officers to decide whether there should be a blanket award or each individual household assessed according to their income.

Since October 2021, the council has handed out more than £1.6 million to the most vulnerable households in North Devon through the fund.

In this sixth round of HSF funding, it has £350,000 for the next six months, and the remaining £150,000 will be allocated through applications made to the council.

The application process will start in the next few weeks.

Currently 2,700 pensioners receive a council tax reduction in North Devon, with 1,700 of these getting pension credit, which makes them eligible for the winter fuel payment.

Councillors are concerned that people just over the benefit threshold will struggle this winter and they want a new system to ensure everyone who needs it gets the payment.

The authority has written to the government condemning the scrapping of the universal payment.

North Devon is understood to be the first council to write directly to residents eligible for pension credit but currently not claiming. This amounts to 280 people in the district.

Most district and borough councils in Devon have launched publicity campaigns to encourage take-up of the benefit.