logo
UK households urged to apply for new £300 cost of living payment

UK households urged to apply for new £300 cost of living payment

Daily Mirror2 days ago

The money is being issued as part of the Household Support Fund, which is a pot of cash that is distributed by local councils to struggling or vulnerable residents
Thousands of households are being urged to check if they qualify for up to £300 in cost of living help. City of Doncaster Council is issuing the support as part of the Household Support Fund.
The Household Support Fund is a pot of cash that is distributed by local councils to struggling or vulnerable residents. The majority of local authorities choose to give cash grants or vouchers to pay bills, but it does vary depending on where you live.

City of Doncaster Council is providing help to households that are in receipt of one of the following benefits:

Housing Benefit
Council Tax Reduction
Universal Credit which includes the housing element
Means-tested free school meals
If you're in a household with one dependent child, you will get a £100 payment for food, while £200 will be paid for two dependent children, and £300 for three dependent children.
The council described a dependant child as one you are receiving Child Benefit for. A single payment will be made for energy bills to households that meet the eligibility criteria.
Get cost of living tips straight to your WhatsApp!
As the cost of living crisis continues to burn a hole in people's pockets, the Mirror has launched its very own Money WhatsApp community where you'll get all the latest cost of living advice and money-saving tips straight to your phone.
We'll send you the latest breaking updates and exclusives all directly to your phone. Users must download or already have WhatsApp on their phones to join in.
All you have to do to join is click on this link, select 'Join Chat' and you're in! We may also send you stories from other titles across the Reach group.
We will also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose Exit group. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
You can apply for the payments through the City of Doncaster Council website. If you received a payment under the previous Household Support Fund and your circumstances have not changed, you will automatically get these payments and do not need to apply.
If you're not a Doncaster resident, it is worth checking what support your local council can offer you through the Household Support Fund. For example, Hull City Council is giving £200 to pensioner households.

Meanwhile, low income families will get a £40 school uniform grant, as well as food vouchers in school holidays for those eligible for school meals.
Hartlepool Borough Council is awarding £100 food vouchers to all households where a child is aged between two and 19 and is eligible for free school meals. Households with pensioners who are in receipt of council tax support will get £100 in bank payments or food vouchers this year.
Worcestershire County Council is giving Malvern, Worcester, Wychavon, Bromsgrove, Redditch and Wyre Forest residents up to £500 in energy help.
There is up to £500 available for homes with children under 18 or full-time students under 21, or up to £300 for adult-only households aged 18–66. Pensioner households can also get up to £300.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

'We don't want them': Trump announces travel ban on 12 countries
'We don't want them': Trump announces travel ban on 12 countries

STV News

timean hour ago

  • STV News

'We don't want them': Trump announces travel ban on 12 countries

Donald Trump has announced a travel ban on 12 countries from entering the United States on Wednesday, a key policy resurrected from his first term as president. Taking effect just after midnight on Monday, the ban will see citizens from 12 countries including Afghanistan, Iran, Libya and Haiti banned from entering the US, with tightened restrictions on seven more countries. In a video posted on social media, Trump said: 'We will not allow people to enter our country who wish to do us harm. 'We cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen those who seek to enter the United States.' He linked to new ban to Sunday's terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, saying the move 'underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted' including temporary visitors and those who overstay their visas. "We cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen… That is why today I am signing a new executive order placing travel restrictions on countries including Yemen, Somalia, Haiti, Libya, and numerous others." –President Trump — The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 4, 2025 The suspect in the Boulder attack is from Egypt, a country not included on Trump's travel list. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says he overstayed a tourist visa. The affected countries are: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, The Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen There is also expected to be tighter restrictions on people entering from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. Delaying the ban until after the weekend is seen as a cushion to avoid chaos that airports which unfolded during the president's first travel ban in 2017. The ban contains some exemptions, such as athletes travelling for major sporting events, Afghan nationals holding Special Immigrant Visas, as well as 'minorities facing persecution in Iran.' Trump blamed 'deficient' screening and a refusal by the countries to take back its own citizens as reasons why the ban has been reintroduced, relying heavily on data from the DHS which reports on overstayed tourists, business and student visas. Afghans on Special Immigrant Visas are exempt from the ban but the inclusion of the country on the list has angered supporters who have worked to re-settle Afghans. Around 14,000 Afghan refugees arrived in the 12 months through to September 2024 with Trump suspending refugee resettlement in his first day in office. Shawn Van Diver, president and board chairman of #AfghanEvac, said: 'To include Afghanistan, a nation whose people stood alongside American service members for 20 years, is a moral disgrace. 'It spits in the face of our allies, our veterans, and every value we claim to uphold.' There was chaos in 2017 as visitors coming to study, work or see family were detained at US airports. / Credit: AP Iran's government, which Trump has called a 'state sponsor of terrorism,' has not reacted to the ban so far, which bans visitors but not those already holding visas in the US. Haiti, which avoided the travel ban during Trump's first term, was also included for high overstay rates and large numbers who came to the US illegally. Haitians continue to flee poverty, hunger and political instability, while police and a UN-backed mission fight a surge in gang violence. Other nations on the list such as Libya, Sudan and Yemen, all face ongoing civil strife. The Sudanese civil war has been ongoing since 2023, while Yemen's government has been battling Houthi rebels for over a decade. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country

Hundreds of thousands more children to access means-tested free school meals
Hundreds of thousands more children to access means-tested free school meals

The Independent

time2 hours ago

  • The Independent

Hundreds of thousands more children to access means-tested free school meals

The government has announced a major expansion of the free school meals policy in England, set to begin at the start of the 2026 school year. Every child whose household is on universal credit will be entitled to free school meals, a change from the 2018 eligibility criteria of a household income less than £7,400 per year. The Department for Education claims the expansion will lift 100,000 Children across England out of poverty and put an extra £500 in parents' pockets. Campaigners and unions have welcomed the move, with the Child Poverty Action Group calling it a 'game-changer' and the National Education Union describing it as a 'necessary and overdue first step'. The announcement follows The Independent's Feed the Future campaign, which called for free school meals to be extended to all schoolchildren in England from households on universal credit.

Newport residents may in future be able to WhatsApp council
Newport residents may in future be able to WhatsApp council

South Wales Argus

time6 hours ago

  • South Wales Argus

Newport residents may in future be able to WhatsApp council

That's one of the ambitions set out by council leader Dimitri Batrouni as he seeks to transform the local authority into an organisation fit for the future. 'My ideal is people's engagement with the council is pretty much automated, 24/7. So people can ask something they want to know at any time, and the system gives them the answer. It's all about convenience,' said Cllr Batrouni. The idea is in the early stages but it's something he would like to see tried out before the next council elections in 2028. Cllr Batrouni favours WhatsApp or a similar platform because while not everyone uses the internet, most people are comfortable with messaging. 'We were speaking to a company this morning which was talking about WhatsApp, and I really like that proposal. I want to explore and see if it works, and we might just do a trial, but WhatsApp is just so easy for all generations.' He stressed that human interaction remains important. 'We will always have that face-to-face element, there will always have an ability for someone to speak to human being. But in the future. I don't know if 11.30pm, and you have a panic if it's been day tomorrow, rather than going to go trawling through the website, what I would love you be able to do just WhatsApp the council, the council. You know, within five seconds, 'actually, don't worry, your bin day is Friday'.' Cllr Batrouni was speaking during a wide-ranging interview with the Argus to mark him having been at the helm of the city council for just over a year, having taken over from Jane Mudd after she was elected Gwent Police and Crime Commissioner in 2024. His first year in post was about focusing on fixing the basics, he said, the things that regularly annoyed the people he was talking to. 'I've nearly visited every single school, spoke to every head teacher, visited staff to see frontline issues,' he said. 'I went out on the refuse truck to see what it's like collecting bins. I went on street cleaning. I've gone on grass cutting. I've gone out front line to listen to people who deal with frontline services that residents really, really care about. Newport City Council leader Dimitri Batrouni visits a city school alongside deputy leader Cllr Deb Davies. (Image: Newport City Council) 'I wanted so my first six months was about listening, then I acted. What you saw on the budget is a response to what I've heard. 'We want extra grass cutting because the grass is too long', 'We want more road resurfacing because there was too many potholes', 'We want the street lights back on, because we don't feel safe at night'. 'Those bread-and-butter issues I called it, and that's why I call it the bread-and-butter budget, because that's what it focused on, doing what people were asking us to do. We got on with painting and cleaning the minimum footbridge we've got on with cleaning the clock tower. We listened and then acted.' 'Aldi would be perfect' - Residents speak out over new Aldi store for Newport Tesco Clubcard announces changes for customers with new deals on offer Now, Cllr Batrouni wants to look forward, harnessing technology including artificial intelligence to provide better services. 'There are huge benefits to residents, to taxpayers, by getting this right,' he said, while acknowledging handling of sensitive data needed to be done very carefully. 'If you get it right, you can streamline to make it more convenient for residents, but also a highly efficient organisation.' He added: "When I say efficient, I also mean for staff, not losing staff, but staff being able to concentrate their time on higher added-value stuff, because they're not dealing with operational stuff that systems can do these days. 'Fierce' and 'forthright' councillor becomes city's new mayor 'It won't mean job big job losses. What it does mean, though, is change. We cannot operate as we are. The world's moving so fast in this space.' When asked when residents would see the difference, Cllr Batrouni asked people to be patient for now. 'You have to build the fundamentals first,' he said. 'This is the not exciting bit but you have to integrate and merge your systems. You have to make them be able to speak to each other. You have to ensure the data is clean. You have to get those building blocks absolutely spot on, because only when you have that base, you get all the nice, whizzy stuff that people start to notice.' This is part one of the Argus interview with Cllr Batrouni. We will be running a series of articles in the coming days.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store