It is really important to me that residents are aware of the support available to deal with ongoing cost of living pressures, and that we get more support where needed. Right now, all residents with an electricity bill will be able to access a £400 discount from October, on top of the £150 Council Tax rebate earlier this year. The groups most vulnerable to rising prices are also receiving targeted support, including a new, one-off £650 payment to more than 8 million low-income households on Universal Credit, Tax Credits, Pension Credit and legacy benefits, a separate one-off payment of £300 to pensioner households and £150 to individuals receiving disability benefits. The National Insurance starting threshold rose in July, providing a tax cut to 30 million people, whilst fuel duty has been cut by 5p per litre. A full list of central Government support is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-support-for-the-c….
This funding is alongside 7,500 Free School Meal-eligible children receiving a £50 food voucher from North Lincolnshire Council over the summer. A further 1,000 families on the lowest incomes will also receive a voucher in our area. I know that they are providing more than 3,200 pensioners across North Lincolnshire with £60 worth of vouchers to help with food shopping, and around 1,200 pensioners on housing benefits across North Lincolnshire have also received £75 to help with the cost of living.
I am trying to point as many residents as possible towards the Household Support Fund, which provides grants or supermarket vouchers for those who have no other way of paying for their energy bills. You can find out more at northlincs.gov.uk. There is also information on childcare cost support and pension credit below.
I am personally campaigning for more support to help people struggling with the cost of living. Just recently, I held a meeting with a Government Minister on Standing Charges, stood up in the Commons to ask when supply-side reforms will translate into cheaper supermarket prices and have written to North Lincolnshire Council on several occasions to ensure all money is being distributed. I have signed a letter to the Chancellor asking him to cut VAT for hospitality businesses, and wrote to the Department for Health and Social Care before the public sector pay awards last month to convey local calls for an NHS pay rise.
