Covid fund becomes 'cost-of-living' fund

East Devon has £257,000 available

East Devon District Council has agreed to change the name of the “covid-19 hardship fund” to the “cost-of-living hardship fund,” with the money left over from the scheme being used to help households in need.

It follows a meeting of the council in October, during which councillors asked officers to create “an additional discretionary energy support fund based on evidence from the poverty dashboard data.”

Currently, the district council has £257,000 left from the renamed scheme, and they intend to use it to provide “targeted” assistance to those struggling to make ends meet.

The fund is currently due to be rolled out on 1 April, after the end of the current Housing Support Fund (HSF) being delivered across Devon.

Under the HSF scheme, qualifying households in the county receive grants of up to £650 to help with bills, enabling them to avoid falling behind on their council tax.

This scheme, which in East Devon runs on a budget of a third of a million pounds, is being delivered through vouchers that must be collected before the end of March. Any money not used by then will be taken back.

However, if the HSF cash runs out before 31 March, East Devon may start eating into the £257,000 pot, playing virtually the same role as HSF.

The difference is that additional groups in need of support can be identified in the cost-of-living fund, but they are yet to be identified.

As for energy bills, East Devon Council will soon receive an Additional Support Fund – a £400 payment for residents who live in park homes or on commercial premises, such as flats above shops.

They also hope to have an Additional Fuel Fund to help those whose homes are not heated by mains gas or electricity. This will be targeted at households that did not receive the government’s £400 discount on their energy bills in the second half of 2022.

However, it is not yet known whether either of these funds will cover the residents of Cranbrook, who were left without hot water last month after issues with supplier E.on’s heating supply.