Household Support Fund

Financial support is available for people in North Somerset who are struggling with their household finances.

We have been awarded a £2.6m grant from the Government's Household Support Fund to give to households in need by the end of March 2024. This funding is provided by the Department for Work and Pensions.

The grant money is being made available to support those most in need to help with food, energy, water and other essential living needs.

We will be contacting certain households automatically and we also have an application process.

If you have children living with you who are entitled to free school meals at a North Somerset school, you could be eligible to receive two food vouchers per child - £60 in July and £60 in December.

This means if you have two school-age children living with you, you’ll receive £120 in July and £120 in December. These vouchers are funded by the Household Support Grant and cover the period to March 2024.

Schools will issue the vouchers automatically. They are linked to your free school meals eligibility, so you do not need to apply for them or request them. Schools will begin issuing the vouchers in July and November.

If you receive Council Tax support and are of working age or pensionable age, you will receive a £60 voucher in July and November.

If you qualify and we have your correct contact details, your voucher will be sent by letter.

If you are struggling with the rising living costs and need extra help to afford energy and water bills, food, and other essential living needs, you may be eligible for help. We can award one voucher per household.

You will need to complete an online application form and provide us with some details.

To be eligible for the scheme you must be:

• a household in North Somerset
• experiencing financial hardship and not have enough resources to meet your immediate short-term needs

We will contact you to let you know the outcome of your application. If you are eligible, you will receive a voucher which will be emailed to you within 28 days.

If you need urgent financial help you may be able to use our welfare provision scheme.

We can provide urgent financial help following a serious fire or flood, or for clothing, gas and electricity, household furniture and lots more.

If you need to contact us, apply for Council Tax support or review your Council Tax account, sign into MyAccount.

In November 2022, the government announced an extra £842m household support fund for vulnerable households. We will be receiving £2.6m from this fund.

Some of the funding will be paid to other local services to support their work with vulnerable households. This will include the fuel banks, handyman service and the Salvation Army’s fuel top-up scheme.